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Accoding to a new study, elderly people with weak muscles may be at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers followed nine hundred and seventy seniors (average age eighty) who did not suffer from dementia at the start of the study. The participants were evaluated for cognitive function, muscle strength, among other tests. And during an average three and a half year follow-up, one hundred and thirty eight (roughly fourteen percent) of the participants had developped Alzheimer’s disease. Those with the highest levels of muscle strength at the beginning of the study were sixty one percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with the weakest muscles. This correlation stood up even after researchers accounted for other factors, such as body mass index and physical activity levels.

What’s more, is that the study also suggests weak muscles are also associated with increased risk of mild cognitive impairment—the earliest sign of cognitive decline.

Read on for more information about the study, and why you should motivate your older loved ones to hit up the gym more frequently.

All the latest information on Alzheimer’s disease.