You’re probably sick of hearing me say it, but exercise (along with diet) is one of the two most fundamental things you need to stay healthy. Whatever other radical steps you might try to take or shortcuts you try to find, eventually it always comes back to those two things.
It might be frustrating, but the effort involved in trying to exercise more is normally worth it in the end. Put simply, people who exercise regularly live longer than those who don’t. If you care about longevity, you need to care about exercise.
There’s been a lot of research into how exercise impacts life expectancy (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395188/). Basically, it dramatically decreases your risk of developing the conditions that can kill you early, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks, heart disease, strokes and cancer. They’re all less common in people who exercise regularly.
Exercise done properly improves the health of your heart and lungs, strengthens bones and muscles, and can even have a positive impact on your mental health. All these things are likely to make your life longer and better.
While there’s a lot of room for variation in how you exercise, some of it does need to be hard enough to get your blood pumping. You need aerobic activity (the energetic kind that gets you out of breath) as well as strength and mobility training. A well-rounded routine will cover everything.
You do still need to be careful about injury, especially if you already have health problems. Pushing too hard, too fast can cause damage that will make things more difficult in the long run. From pulled muscles to broken bones and head injuries, failing to train safely can cause a whole range of issues.
Get to know your own body and what it’s capable of, and learn how far you can push without causing harm. Talk to doctors, physical therapists, personal trainers and other experts who can advise you based on your specific needs. Make sure that the rest of your lifestyle is designed to augment your exercise, such as eating and sleeping properly and giving up smoking.
Everyone’s a bit different in terms of what they get from exercise, but no one benefits from ignoring it completely. If you want to live a long life, it’s one of the most important things you can do.
