How Can Fitness Increase Your Life Span?

"With a fit body, you can do anything, achieve anything, and live longer."

We all wish to stay fit and live longer. Though there are a few things we cannot control that affect our health, like genetic factors, environment, and accidents, our health is one thing we can look after to increase our life span. The first thing we need to do is exercise and eat healthily. It will not only prevent various medical condition but will also keep us fit for day-to-day activities. 

Exercising offers numerous health benefits, from bone strengthening to mood enhancement and preventing chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. 

Studies dating to the late 1980s reveal that aerobic fitness helps people live longer. As you will continue following this blog, you will learn how exercising can increase your life span and what are the benefits of physical activity. 

Table Of Contents

1. Can Exercise Increase Your Life Span?

2. Health Benefits Of Physical Activity

3. Healthful Tips To Start Exercising

4. Dietitian’s Recommendations

5. The Final Say

6. FAQs

Can Exercise Help You Live A Long Life?

We have all heard that exercise helps you get in shape, lose weight, improve your balance, and lessen your risk of several ailments, including heart disease. 

However, multiple studies have shown that exercise also helps you live longer, which is actually logical because exercise lowers your risk of developing heart disease or cancer and ultimately reduces your chances of dying from these health conditions. 

Here, the rising lifespan is not only due to a lower chance of chronic illness but regular exercise also causes genuine biological changes that keep you youthful. To make you understand the relationship between physical activity and life span, below are a few studies:

1. Brigham Young University researchers investigated nearly 6,000 DNAs to reveal that active people lived longer than less active people. And this corresponded to a roughly 9-year difference in cell ageing between active and inactive cells.

2. Another research evaluated the hearts, lungs, and muscles of active and inactive 70-year and 40-year-olds. They saw that active senior men and women had similar heart and lung capacity and muscular strength to individuals 30 years younger. 

3. According to one study, 10% of fatalities in people aged 40 to 70 can be attributable to a lack of physical activity. A thorough assessment shows that regular physical exercise extends life expectancy by 2 to 4 years, which was a modest estimate. 

To enlighten you further, regular exercise, avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a nutritious diet, and consuming alcohol in moderation, can add 14 years to the life of a 50-year-old female and 12.2 years to the life of a 50-year-old male.

Health Benefits Of Physical Activity And Fitness

Exercising and being fit comes with various physiological changes that might assist in slowing the ageing process, and some of them are:

1. Prevents Weight Gain

Exercise helps with weight loss, maintains it by burning calories and increases muscle mass. Better muscle mass boosts your metabolism with the pace at which your body burns calories. When combined with ingesting fewer calories, it can reduce weight by creating a deficit. 

According to research by the National Institutes of Health, excessive obesity can reduce one's lifetime by up to 14 years. So, being active is essential to stay fit and living longer.

2. Prevents And Manage Medical Disorders

Doing frequent physical activity can assist with a variety of ailments, like:

• Stroke
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Blood pressure that is too high
• Diabetes mellitus type 2
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Several types of cancers
• Arthritis

You will make a suitable exercise routine while planning an appropriate diet to avoid such health conditions and enjoy a long life.

3. Offers Happiness And Confidence

When you exercise, endorphins release in your body to make you feel happier, calmer, and more hopeful. Doing sufficient physical activity may also increase your confidence, making you feel better about yourself. 

When you are an optimistic personality, you will have a longer life span and a higher likelihood of living past the age of 85.

4. Enhances Energy Levels

Physical exercise builds muscle, increases endurance, distributes oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, and keeps your cardiovascular system in peak condition. With this, you will feel more energetic to handle daily jobs in no time.

5. Improves Sleep

Exercise calms you down, making it easier to fall asleep and improving sleep quality because insufficient sleep is another cause of premature death. Therefore, 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is vital.

6. Fights Inflammation

Exercise offers an anti-inflammatory impact on the body. As inflammation raises the risk of illness, mortality, and loss of physical functions, you can fight all these issues with sufficient physical activity.

7. Improves Digestion

Exercise can enhance your overall health and prevent various problems by changing the bacteria composition of your gut. It improves your digestion and keeps your gastrointestinal tract in check.

Helpful Tips To Start Exercising

If you have not been active for months or years, here is how you can start your fitness journey afresh with your exercise routine:

1. Consult A Doctor

Before beginning a new training regimen, inform your practitioner about it and address your concerns. If you have any medical issues, they can propose the best workouts or refer you to an exercise physiologist for better results.

2. Set Goals

Here, your goals do not have to be huge. They can be as easy as walking five to ten minutes each week and stretching for 10 minutes daily.

3. Go Slow

As you start your exercise routine, go slow. Warm up and cool down properly to avoid injury and enhance your flexibility.

4. Stay Hydrated

Doing any physical activity makes you tired and feel dehydrated. So, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and energetic throughout the day because the human body consists of 70% water and thrives on it.

Dietitian’s Recommendations

A balanced diet and regular exercise may alone assist in increasing your life span. People who exercise often and eat properly have the lowest chance of falling ill, and even high levels of physical activity do not compensate for the detrimental health impacts of a poor diet. 

Remember, when you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle, it is best to avoid taking on too much at once. Taking baby steps is advisable.

-Dietitian Lavina Chauhan

The Final Say

Even if you have been inactive for a long time, there is still time to gain the advantages of exercise. According to research, persons who are overweight or have been sedentary for a long time can extend their life expectancy by incorporating modest physical activity into their daily routine. 

FAQs

1. What is the best time for exercise in a day?

You can exercise between 2 to 6 pm, as your body temperature is at its highest during this period, meaning you will exercise when your body is most ready.

2. When is the best time for walking?

Undoubtedly, morning is the best time for walking. You can go to the park between 7 to 10 am and enjoy numerous health benefits.

3. What are the different ways to increase your life span?

If you want to live longer, start exercising, go for a walk, quit smoking, limit alcohol, eat healthily, maintain your weight, sleep well, and leave behind the bad habits.

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