Here is a study from Spain that looked at exercise over a 20 year period in the elderly population.
What it found was that, even though older patients had more time for leisure physical activities, their general physical fitness had declined.
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Among behavioral factors, smoking and BMI > 28 were negatively associated with Leisure Time Physical Activities. These results agree with previous studies showing that obesity was associated with lower activity. In the longitudinal analyses of the CHIANTI study, obese older population with low muscle strength had steeper decline in walking speed, walk 400 m or climb one flight on stairs as compared with those without obesity or low muscle strength. Spanish sedentary older people exhibited lower education level in both genders. Sedentary men consume alcohol less frequently and have a higher number of chronic diseases than women, while sedentary older women are obese, have never smoked and consumed more frequently 3 or more drugs than men.
Our results provide evidence that older people reporting a fair/poor/very poor self-rated health status have difficulties in walking and climbing stairs. Self-perceived health status is considered as a reliable predictor of PA, walking decline and mortality in older people. In fact, perceived poor health status has been associated with lower PA, as PA significantly correlates with self-reported health in older adult
 
Our study revealed an increase in Leisure Time Physical Activities , but not in physical fitness, from 1987 to 2006 in older Spanish people. Older people (age ≥ 80 years), married, with a greater number of co-morbid chronic conditions and obese exhibited a relatively lower Leisure Time Physical Activities. Similarly, older people (age ≥ 80 years, those taking a greater number of medications for chronic conditions, obese, and with worse self-perceived health status tended to have a relatively lower physical fitness. These results have potential implications for health services, as identification of these factors can help to prevent physical inactivity and improve the health status of older people in Spain