For people approaching or had reached middle age or are in their senior years, the benefits of exercise are endless: weight control, improved circulation of blood and oxygen, increased muscle mass, better mood and improved balance.

'Doing some sort of exercise is very important for maintaining your functionality as you get older,' says Paul Takahashi, M.D., a specialist in geriatrics at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 'And it's absolutely never too late to start.'

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found a direct association between physical fitness and risk of death. The greater the person's capacity for exercise, the longer they live. In fact, it was found that physical fitness was stronger than smoking, high blood pressure or heart disease in predicting how long a person will live.

After taking into account the study participants age (because advancing age is another predictor of death), poor exercise capacity was the strongest predictor of death - stronger than factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes - regardless of whether or not the men had heart disease.

As Dr. Beth Abramson, cardiologist at Heart and Stroke Foundation in Toronto had put it, we should think of exercise as we do of medication.

Before you start working out, here are some points to consider:Points to Consider:

• Have a medical checkup.
• Start slowly.
• Have fun. This is really important!!
• Aim for 30 minutes or more of exercise most days of the week.
• Be creative.
• Pace yourself.
• Know when to stop.