With billionaires biohacking themselves amid an insurgent wellness boom, growing interest around exercises for longevity proves more and more of us are paying attention to our health than ever before.<\/p>\n
You may not be motivated entirely by a desire to improve your lifespan, but there\u2019s no denying that exercise is the key to remaining mobile, disease free, and independent for longer.<\/p>\n
Can exercises for longevity really help us live longer?<\/p>\n
Humans were made to move our bodies; we\u2019re designed to do it. In fact, experts believe regular, heart-thumping movement is just as important for a long life as having a healthy diet and cutting out things like cigarettes and booze.<\/p>\n
Just ask Dr Alka Patel<\/a>, longevity and lifestyle doctor, and founder of the Million Hour Club<\/a>. \u201cExercise isn\u2019t just about looking good in the mirror\u2014it\u2019s about keeping your mitochondria firing, your inflammation down, and your heart beating strong for decades to come,\u201d she says. \u201cIf longevity is your goal, movement is your medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Kai Koch<\/a>, consultant physician at Marylebone Health<\/a> agrees with Patel, pointing to data from the World Health Organization which found that almost a third of the world\u2019s adult population are physically inactive. \u201cThis has risen by around 5% in the last decade and at current rates is projected to rise to 35% by 2030,\u201d Koch warns. \u201cPhysical activity is now widely accepted as the \u2018holy grail\u2019 lifestyle factor that can give the greatest bang for its buck in terms of improving overall health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n Muscle mass is important, too. Rhodri Whittaker, a PT at Absolute Body Solutions<\/a>, calls muscle mass the \u201carmor of the body.\u201d \u201cMuscle has so many functions, but structurally, it provides physical protection to bones and joints, increasing fall survivability,\u201d he says. The more you can maintain as you age, the better your chances.<\/p>\n What does the science say?<\/p>\n Before we dive into what you should be doing and when, it\u2019s worth taking a little more time just to appreciate the plethora of ways a good workout can help you both now and in the future. There\u2019s a lot of data on the subject. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine<\/a> found that engaging in 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, aligns with optimal mortality reduction, reinforcing current physical activity guidelines.<\/p>\n It also helps slow one of the key markers of aging. Experts like Patel think that telomeres\u2014the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes\u2014are the main culprit when it comes to showing signs of age. Our telomeres shorten as we age, and so far, there\u2019s nothing we can do to reverse the process. But we can slow the decline.<\/p>\n