If exercise were a pill, we’d want to put it in our water. If it were a drug, we’d want a lifetime prescription. Berkson reviews three studies that drive home this amazing link between “moving more” and “dying later.” One study looked at the exercise habits of 55,000 adults who were monitored for mortality outcomes over 15 years. It was found that overall, runners lived an average of 3 years longer compared to persons who did not exercise at all. By now you are probably thinking that you hate to run or you can’t run, but more research revealed that ANY kind of motion for almost any period of time, slows down the Mack Truck of Aging.
A second study found that all forms of activity—low, medium, and high intensity, for short stints, one to two days a week, or more intensity with longer duration—reduced premature death from “all” causes and reduced the risk of getting various cancers. Even “weekend warriors”, who work out once to twice a week for 75 to 150 minutes total, get longevity and cancer protections benefits.
A third publication found that regular exercise was just as effective as preventing death as drug interventions for patients with coronary heart disease, pre-diabetes, and other health conditions. In fact, with post-stroke individuals, consistent exercise was even MORE effective than just prescribing the appropriate drugs.
The moral of this story: Move it or lose it . . . years off your life, that is. Longevity, not poetry, in motion!