When people grow old they start thinking that it’s the time to relax, instead of engaging into physical activity. But, this isn’t suitable for them as in the past a research suggested that exercise can boost memory and reverse muscle loss in elderly people, among numerous other benefits.

Published on Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, a study found that a regular program of physical activity helps you in fending off mobility-limiting disability.

Study researchers included over 1,600 sedentary people in the age group 70 and 89 years old with some functional limitations, but are able to walk nearly a quarter of a mile in within 15 minutes without the help of somebody or a walker.

Researchers told 50% of the participants to undergo a health education program including regular in-person sessions and a few stretching exercises, and the rest were told to engage into 150 minutes of aerobic activity and flexibility, balance, and strength training both at their place and in the study’s facilities.

One of the study authors Thomas Gill, a professor of geriatrics at the Yale School of Medicine said that walking was the program’s cornerstone.

The researchers tracked participants for nearly 2.7 years, and discovered that the physical activity program decreased the time people spent with a ‘major mobility disability’ by 25% in comparison to the education program.

Earlier findings from the same study demonstrated that the exercise program decreased the chances becoming disabled, and the present results showed that it boosted the recovery speed from disability episode and cut the chances of subsequent episodes.

Bradley Cardinal, a professor of kinesiology at Oregon State University said that they have done a very good job of demonstrating incredible power physical activity possesses. Cardinal, who wasn’t a part of the study, added, “It's the secret ingredient to successful aging in terms of quality of life”.