Research showing benefits of swimming

That's good to know. I figure it's probably about the same ratio if not more for women.

I'm not at all surprised...and that magazine has a huge readership - I wonder if this news will swell the ranks of the 50plus age groups. That would be great, but frankly, I don't need MORE competition!

Do we need to be told that? :rolleyes: What happened to the women? :confused:

Source: July/August 2009 issue of AARP magazine. Findings: 40,000 men followed for 32 years. During that time swimmers had a 50% lower death rate than all others. Conclusion: Keep swimming!! Wow, 50% is alot.

Actually that article doesn't add much what we have already known. Has there been any comparative study of swimming and cycling?

Ice dancing, that's the ticket. It's weightbearing and you can do it into 80s; I used to enjoy watching the active senior couples at noon skate waltzing. Swimming can be done after the knees quit and the ankles quit; it can be done with any variety of orthopedic limitations, which makes it good for nonagenarians. I expect that contributed something to the AARP results. There is a huge actuarial mortality spike at 85. Huge. Empire State Bldg size class. Those who make it past 85 (begin speculation) are less likely to continue running but can go on swimming. So data are in part artifactual. (In other words, it isn't swimming that gives you a longer life but your longer life that forces you to give up running and take up swimming - and also keeps you in the data pool to be measured.) Goodness, who cares. :)

From the division of "Pete's Sake!" "As if you needed another excuse to hit the pool this summer, new research shows that swimmers live longer than walkers and runners. And not just a little bit longer, either. In a study of more than 40,000 men ages 20 to 90 who were followed for 32 years, swimmers were 50 percent less likely to die during the study period than were walkers or runners." Here is the article link (oddly, the article is illustrated with a photo of an apparently youngish woman in the pool. Edit: looks like she is the author-editor of the piece): www.aarpmagazine.org/.../lap_it_up.html Now to find the original study. I am interested in how a 90-y-o man could be followed up for 32 years. There is a large U.S. Institutes of Health-AARP joint study on exercise, obesity, and mortality in a large sample of men and women combined that has recent (June 2009) citations online.

I'm not at all surprised...and that magazine has a huge readership - I wonder if this news will swell the ranks of the 50plus age groups. That would be great, but frankly, I don't need MORE competition! Invasion of the Noodler Hordes...:cane:

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that swimming is practically no-impact so there is less wear-and-tear on your body? Less injury or injury to fewer parts, etc?

Devil's advocate here, but is it not possible that those who swim might also lead a generally more active lifestyle? Might they also pay more attention to their diet? I'm not suggesting that swimming is not good for one's health, certainly it is, but I don't think it's a magic bullet in and of itself.