Moderate Exercise Increases Longevity, Study Finds
Want to live longer? The key is exercise, according to a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association - but it doesn't take hours and hours of daily workouts at your local gym to reduce your risk for premature death.
The study found that 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week for people older than 60 - for instance, brisk walking at the equivalent of 2-3 m.p.h. - improves their fitness level enough to help them enjoy a longer life and better health. Researchers found that boosting fitness levels even improved longevity for older adults who are obese.
Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., Professor of Exercise Physiology and Director of the Kinesiology Program at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, found the results unsurprising.
"Fitness has consistently been shown to attenuate (or eliminate) most of the health risks associated with being fat," he says. "Unhealthy adult weight gain is mostly likely attributable to an ‘imprudent lifestyle,' with the extra body fat being a visible reminder. However, losing the body fat is not always necessary to improve health."
While obesity is a health problem, Gaesser says, it's not nearly as hazardous as people often believe - especially for people who are moderately overweight (with a body mass index between 30 and 35).
"Improving fitness by increasing physical activity will have multiple health benefits, even if average body weights don't change that much," he says.
Walking is the most efficient way to boost your level, Gaesser says, because it's easy to do and overcomes the most common barrier to getting more exercise - a perceived lack of time.
"It makes sense to focus on goals that are more readily attainable," he says. "Taking a brisk walk for 30 minutes a few times per week is much more doable than losing 25 pounds and keeping it off."