NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even 80-year-olds have no excuse for being couch potatoes, research suggests. A study has found that people 80 and older who exercise just a couple of times a week can improve their health.

It may seem unremarkable that exercise can provide health benefits, but few studies have looked at whether people 80 and older also benefit from a workout.

"Being 80 years of age or greater does not mean that you cannot benefit from exercise," Dr. Peter V. Vaitkevicius, who led the study, told Reuters Health.

The results of the study suggest that "you're never too old to start exercise," according to Vaitkevicius, who is at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan.

A report on the study is published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

In the study, 22 elderly people rode an exercise bike or walked on a treadmill about twice a week for an average of 20 minutes each time. Before starting the program, the participants were sedentary. Several had health problems, including coronary artery disease and arthritis.

Even this modest amount of exercise led to "nice improvements" in peak oxygen consumption, which Vaitkevicius called the "gold standard" of measuring physical fitness. Peak oxygen consumption measures how well a person is able to transport and use oxygen while exercising.

The size of the improvement, Vaitkevicius said, "was directly related to the time spent exercising." The more people exercised, the more their oxygen consumption improved, he said. Participants in the study, who were all residents of a retirement center, also experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading). In addition, their aerobic endurance improved during the 6-month exercise program.

According to Vaitkevicius, participants seemed to get more benefits from the stationary bike than the treadmill.

"It could be that the mechanics of a treadmill may be a little too much for an older patient," he said. He pointed out that older people may have trouble keeping their balance on a treadmill.

"The bottom line is that exercise is good," Vaitkevicius said. Although this study looked at aerobic exercise, he said that for older and more frail people, the ideal exercise program would also include strength-building exercises, such as weight lifting or resistance training, since the elderly tend to lose large amounts of muscle and strength. In addition, the Michigan researcher said that it may be a good idea to incorporate balance training, such as exercises that are popular in Asia.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2002;50:2009-2013.

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