Regular exercise is one of the best ways to increase your longevity and help you maintain your mobility and energy levels as you age—in other words, increasing the quantity and quality of your years of life.
That’s why one study (which looked at data from more than 100,000 adults over three decades) found that exercising regularly can lower your risk of early death anywhere from 21 to 31 percent, depending on how much you exercise. (Exercising more is correlated with further reduced risk of death.)
To help you put these valuable insights into action, here’s our guide to the best types of exercise for extending your life. We’ll cover aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and balance/flexibility exercises and provide practical tips to increase your physical activity in a sustainable and balanced manner.
Aerobic Activity
Also known as “cardio,” aerobic activity refers to exercise that raises your heart rate and increases your body’s use of oxygen. (It’s called “aerobic” because it refers to anything requiring oxygen.) During aerobic activity, you typically breathe harder to increase your oxygen intake.
Some of the most common aerobic exercises include walking/running, bicycling, swimming, and workouts on machines like ellipticals, rowing machines, etc. Regular aerobic exercise can reduce blood pressure, decrease risk of developing illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, improve mood/mental health, and more.
Muscle-Strengthening Activities
Muscle-strengthening exercise is sometimes also referred to as strength training, which focuses less on getting your heart rate up to improve your cardiovascular endurance, and more on maintaining and increasing muscle mass.
Popular muscle-strengthening activities include body weight exercises like pushups and squats, as well as weightlifting with free weights or weight machines. This type of exercise has numerous health benefits, with one study finding that 30 to 60 minutes of strength training per week can lower your risk of dying by 10 to 20 percent.
Balance and Flexibility Exercises
Exercises to improve your balance and flexibility are some of the most important for quality of life, as they help your body maintain its ability to function and complete your tasks.
For seniors in particular, regular balance exercises are one of the best ways to reduce the risk of falls and other injuries—among adults age 65+, falls are a leading cause of death, so it’s worth doing everything you can to prevent them.
Practical Tips for Incorporating Physical Activity
It’s one thing to know that regular physical activity is good for you, but it’s another thing entirely to put that knowledge into practice on a consistent basis. We all know how difficult it can be to stick to an exercise routine—that’s why we’re suggesting the following tips to help you get there:
Understand Moderate-Intensity vs. Vigorous-Intensity Activity
It’s important to understand the difference between these two categories of exercise, since quite a bit of research on the relationship between exercise and longevity relies on these distinctions. For instance, the study we mentioned at the beginning of this post centered around the weekly recommendation of 75 to 300 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity and 150 to 600 minutes of moderate-intensity activity.
Here’s the definition of the two categories: while moderate-intensity activities cause you to burn three to six times as much energy as when you’re at rest (AKA 3 to 6 METs, which are a measure of exercise intensity), vigorous-intensity activities burn more than six times as much energy as resting (meaning more than 6 METs). Examples of moderate-intensity activity include walking briskly, bicycling at around 10 to 12 mph, intensive cleaning like vacuuming and mopping, and mowing the lawn. Vigorous-intensity activities include hiking, jogging at 6 mph, and playing basketball or soccer.
Incorporate Variety
Boredom is one of the quickest ways to get off-track with your ambitious plans to exercise on a regular basis. That’s why you should do what you can to incorporate variety into your workouts, trying out different kinds of exercises whenever possible. Not only does this make exercising more psychologically appealing, it also helps you work out different muscle groups.
Consistency is Key
Exercise should be a habit, rather than something you have to push yourself to do every single time. For instance, instead of jumping in and trying to run a half-marathon right away, increasing the likelihood that you may injure yourself and end up stuck on the couch, shoot for exercise routines that you enjoy and can actually stick with. Set achievable goals to motivate yourself effectively.
Ready to Learn More About Life Expectancy?
You already know how important regular exercise is for health, quality of life, and increasing longevity. But what about other significant lifestyle choices, like diet, whether or not you smoke, alcohol consumption, and regular medical screenings?
To further investigate your own life expectancy, try our Life Expectancy Calculator—it draws on the latest research to provide an estimate that’ll help you understand how your choices may impact your long-term health.
Plus, be sure to visit our Life Lessons section regularly for even more posts that delve into the science surrounding life expectancy and offer evidence-based advice for increasing yours!
