Exercise can improve everything from your appearance to your energy levels to your mental wellbeing, and it does wonders for your lifespan, too. But there are science-backed ways to give your workout a bigger boost when it comes to longevity. Adding these to your fitness routine may actually help you live longer.
- Be social when you sweat - A study of 85-hundred adults in Denmark tracked their health for 25 years to analyze the relationship between team sports and longevity. People who hit the gym alone as their main source of exercise added an average of 1.5 years to their lives, but tennis players added an average of 9.7-years. So why such a big increase in longevity? Study author and cardiologist James O’Keefe says it’s because tennis is extremely interactive. “At every point you’re talking,” he explains. “It’s just a very natural way to emotionally bond with people, besides getting your exercise.”
- Add squats to your workout - Squats have been found to increase bone strength and help fight dementia, but one study finds they can also promote a longer life. Researchers found older adults between 51 and 80 who are able to pick themselves up from a squatting position without using their hands are much less likely to die over the next six years than those the same age who can’t pick themselves up like that.
- Walk briskly - There has been a lot of research showing fast-paced walkers tend to live longer than those who just mosey around, including a study of 450-thousand that finds fast walkers have better odds of living longer than slower walkers, regardless of their body-mass index. Females who walk at a “brisk walking pace” of three miles per hour, or 100 steps per minute, live to an average age of 87, while slow walkers live to about 72. For men, the faster fellas lived to roughly 86, while the slower walkers have a lifespan of about 65 years.
Source: Eat This, Not That