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Study summary · Muscle, strength & physical function

What are the age-related physiological adaptations to regular exercise training, specifically concerning the lung, heart, and skeletal muscles, and how does exercise training impact life expectancy in clinically referred populations?

Front Biosci · 2018 · PMID 29293447 · DOI 10.2741/4657

Plain-English summary written and published by Magellan Longevity · medical review by Gabriel Radu, DO (physiatrist, NPI 1376861765). We summarize what the paper reported — we did not run this study.

The takeaway

Regular exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness and physiological function, enhancing quality of life and promoting life expectancy, though it does not extend genetically determined lifespan.

The question

What are the age-related physiological adaptations to regular exercise training, specifically concerning the lung, heart, and skeletal muscles, and how does exercise training impact life expectancy in clinically referred populations?

What they tested

The review aims to emphasize that regular exercise training leads to age-related physiological adaptations in organs involved in oxygen delivery and utilization, and that it is important for promoting life expectancy in clinically referred populations.

How they did it

This is a review article that synthesizes existing evidence regarding cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max), age-related physiological adaptations to exercise, and the impact of exercise training on life expectancy in clinically referred populations.

What they found

Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) is a strong and independent predictor of all-cause and disease-specific mortality. Regular exercise training induces age-related physiological adaptations in the lung, heart, and skeletal muscles, which are the main organs involved in oxygen delivery and utilization.

What it means

Regular exercise training is crucial for promoting life expectancy in clinically referred populations by inducing physiological adaptations in key organs. While it cannot extend the genetically fixed lifespan, it can improve the quality of life during those years.

Limitations

The review acknowledges that regular exercise training cannot extend the genetically fixed lifespan.

The paper at a glance

Magellan’s evidence labelCardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) (our label for this citation — see PubMed for the paper’s own title and authors)
JournalFront Biosci
Year2018
PMID29293447 ↗
DOI10.2741/4657 ↗
TopicMuscle, strength & physical function

Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗

Molecules & mechanisms in this paper

Each of these is named in the paper’s own words above. Open the monograph for the full mechanism and its other citations.

Exercise trainingVO₂max

Cite this page

These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.

APA
Magellan Longevity. (2026). What are the age-related physiological adaptations to regular exercise training, specifically concerning the lung, heart, and skeletal muscles, and how does exercise training impact life expectancy in clinically referred populations? [Plain-English summary of Front Biosci 2018, PMID 29293447, DOI 10.2741/4657]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/s152.html
BibTeX
@misc{magellan_s152, title = {What are the age-related physiological adaptations to regular exercise training, specifically concerning the lung, heart, and skeletal muscles, and how does exercise training impact life expectancy in clinically referred populations?}, author = {{Magellan Longevity}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/s152.html}}, note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 29293447; DOI 10.2741/4657; Front Biosci 2018. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO}, urldate = {2026-08-11} }
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How this summary was made. Every section above restates what the published abstract of PMID 29293447 reports — the question, the design, the numbers, the authors’ own conclusion and their stated limitations. We do not add claims the paper did not make, and we keep negative and no-effect findings in. Magellan’s evidence grades are set from research like this and never from affiliate commissions.

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Educational information, not medical advice. This is a plain-English summary of published research; it is not a treatment recommendation and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual studies can be wrong, and a single paper rarely settles a question. Talk to your physician before acting on any research, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medication.