It was bound to happen. As baby boomers jog up on 60, their bodies begin to protest a bit more. The breakneck pace of some exercise classes starts to knock out more people–at least temporarily–with injuries. Tennis elbow, torn Achilles tendons, wrenched knees, sprained ankles, back problems and more plague the forever-youthful-wannabes.

So now, in addition to the burgeoning number of slow-moving yoga classes–once thought the province of weirdos and women, now even guys are going for it in a big way–we have a study that confirms the powerful benefits of t’ai chi, another eastern approach to keeping the body healthy, for frail elderly folks.

Speaking of which, who the hell invented the idea that if you speed the music up you get a better workout? And then the abomination of selling music by the beats-per-minute? Some insane exercise freak in California (no offense, Californians) who has little or no genuine feeling for music, is my guess. I was stunned the first time I saw an exercise CD with BPM listed after each recording.

I guarantee you there’s scientific evidence out there that people participate more enthusiastically (and have a higher heart rate) when they’re enjoying themselves to music that’s played at the speed the artist wrote the song–not simply abusing their bodies to rhythmic sounds.

I won’t be sorry when the pendulum swings away from classes taught with artificially speeded-up CDs back to normal and slower speeds–and especially back to music played the way it’s supposed to be.

…and it won’t be just the frail and elderly getting a better workout.