Research in the Journal of Applied Physiology as reported in an article by Alex Hutchinson in The Globe and Mail:
"Researchers in Sweden and at Ball State University in Indiana assembled two remarkable groups of octogenarian men. All of the volunteers were healthy, lived independently and were capable of completing a vigorous exercise test to exhaustion. The difference was that one group was composed of lifelong cross-country skiers who trained four to six times a week, while the other group didn’t do any formal exercise beyond the activities of daily living."
The research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that "the cardiovascular and skeletal muscle profile of the octogenarian athletes was approximately double compared with the untrained octogenarians. This is characteristic of a highly trained endurance phenotype and is likely reflective of their lifelong endurance exercise habits, as well as their genetic traits. The remarkable aerobic capacity (∼11 METs) and corresponding functional reserve among the octogenarian athletes are the highest ever recorded in this age group and places them in the lowest all-cause mortality risk category for men of any age. In contrast, untrained independent-living octogenarians have a low functional capacity (∼6 METs) and limited cardiovascular and skeletal muscle plasticity in response to high-intensity exercise programs."
The Globe and Mail adds that "Even compared to previous studies of lifelong endurance athletes in their 80s, the skiers were about 40-per-cent fitter, suggesting that the full-body workout provided by cross-country skiing is uniquely effective. In fact, their fitness “places them in the lowest all-cause mortality risk category for men of any age,” the researchers point out."
Trappe, S., Hayes, E., Galpin, A., Kaminsky, L., Jemiolo, B., Fink, W., … Tesch, P. (2012). New records in aerobic power among octogenarian lifelong endurance athletes. Journal of Applied Physiology, 114(1), 3–10. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01107.2012