Keeping active throughout life could help keep the body younger and healthier as we age, according to new research in the United Kingdom.

Carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham and King’s College London, the study set out to look at whether a lifetime of exercise had slowed down aging in a group of older adult participants.

The researchers recruited 125 male and female healthy amateur cyclists, who were aged 55 to 79 and had been cycling for nearly all of their adult lives.