Want to make sure your 50s won’t end in constant hospital visits and all sorts of treatments? Study says middle age and fitness go along just great for preventing development of chronic diseases. In other words, if you’re 50, fitness should be on your to do list.

It’s obviously not a secret anymore: if you are physically fit in middle age you will reduce your risks of developing some challenging and bothersome diseases later on. Keeping your body fit means it’s less likely you will suffer a chronic disease such as diabetes and even cardiovascular episodes. So middle age people should know the secret to reducing health risks later on is fitness.

A new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine confirms the connection between fitness and the prevention of chronic diseases. “It has been known for decades that if you are more fit, you live longer” said Dr. Jarett Berry, study author. “But it has not been clear that you have a higher quality of life, that you age better” he added.

More than 18.600 healthy men and women took part in Dr. Berry’s research. Participants in the study were asked to pass a treadmill test around age 50 then researchers compared results with the rate of eight chronic diseases.

Men that scored the worst in their fitness test presented a risk of chronic disease of 28 percent a year. Participants with better fitness test results had only a 16 percent rate of chronic disease a year. For women, the rate was slightly smaller than men’s, with 20 percent and 11 percent per year.

“Not only do the people with higher fitness live a little bit longer, the onset of chronic disease occurs even later” said Dr. Berry “so that the amount of time you spend in your life with chronic diseases is compressed into a smaller period of time”.

Obviously fitness is not the only thing that could keep you at risk from chronic diseases after age 50. People that workout usually eat healthier, don’t smoke or drink alcohol and are keeping a close eye on their cholesterol levels.