Editor’s Note: Seek advice from a health care provider before starting an exercise program.

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If you are a man or woman nearing 50, look at your middle. If you’re like most people, you may need to lean a little to see your feet. Yes, it’s the dreaded middle bloat — that expanding waistline can sneak up on you more often as you age, just like a receding hairline or more wrinkles.

Hard to fight, it seems like a ritual, part of the life cycle, right? But new research suggests that allowing your middle to expand is more beneficial than sending you shopping for the next size Brit — and it can also affect your physical abilities later in life.

The study followed 4,509 people aged 45 and over In a more than two-decade study in Norway, participants with a high or moderately high waist circumference at the start were 57% more likely to be “thin” than those with a normal waistline.

Frailty, however, does not mean bending over a stick that brings to mind a “wobbly” old man. Instead, frailty includes poor grip strength, slow walking speed, general fatigue, unintended weight loss, and low physical activity.

At the start of the study, obese people, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, were 2.5 more likely to be stunted than those with a normal BMI (18.5 to 24.9), the study revealed. Jan. 23, 2023, in the journal BMJ Open.

There may be several reasons, according to the study authors. Obesity increases inflammation in fat cells, which can damage muscle fibers, leading to decreased muscle strength and function, wrote Shreshti Uchai, PhD researcher at the University of Oslo in Tromsø, Norway, and her colleagues.

The results highlight the importance of staying on top of both weight gain and any increase in waist circumference, and to broaden the definition of frailty, the authors concluded.

“In the context of a rapidly aging population and obesity on the rise, growing evidence recognizes frailty as a ‘fat and frail’ cohort, rather than just a wasting disorder,” they wrote.

Exercise can help combat the growing frailty that aging can bring. Adults should do muscle-strengthening exercises that involve all major muscle groups at least two or more days each week. US Department of Health and Human Services Exercise Guidelines For Americans.

Losing body fat and building lean muscle can help improve balance and posture, says Dr. Nika Goldberg, medical director of Atria New York City and associate professor of medicine at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. He previously told CNN..

Try to do both aerobics and strength activities to stay fit and healthy.

“They appear to work together and help each other to achieve better results,” he said Dr. William RobertsProfessor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Medicine. “A balanced program of strength and aerobic activity is probably the best and most likely mimicking the activities of our ancestors that helped determine our current gene pool.”

To get you started on strength exercises, CNN Fitness contributor Dana Santas, a mind-body coach at Professional Sports; It suggests controlling body weight movements Before proceeding to the first Free weights.

Try this 10-minute bodyweight workout

Find details of these exercises and more Sign up for the CNN Fitness, But Better Newsletter seriesA seven-part expert-led guide to help you ease into a healthy everyday life.