Just a session of the right kind of exercise, depending on your age, can have protective effects on the body, says a new research.

Tinna Traustadottir, an assistant professor of biological sciences, worked with two groups of healthy adults, one was comprised of people aged 18 to 25, and the other was made up of individuals at least 50 years old, and found that exercise had the ability to overcome stressors by potentially boosting the antioxidant system.

Traustadottir said that they found that young people got protection from one bout of exercise, and their response to the oxidative stress challenge was lower. The older participants did not have a protective effect after one exercise session, which may be related to impaired cell signaling, a process that could potentially be improved with regular workouts.

Traustadottir’s ongoing research aims to identify where in the cell’s processes specific age-related changes take place. By better understanding cell signaling and the beneficial effects of exercise or phytonutrient supplementation, definitive recommendations could be made for improving the body’s reaction to oxidative stress, which could lower the risk for many chronic diseases.

The study is published in Age, the Journal of the American Aging Association.