Exercise for longevity

halleymw

Mostly on these boards exercise is talked about with the goal of either weight loss or fitness. I would like to share an interesting talk I heard on Doctor radio today. They discussed a recent study that showed that if you run daily at speed with high mileage, you decrease the longevity benefit of exercise If you go over 20 miles in a week, the benefit starts to decrease.. If you do over 25 miles a week, then your life expectancy goes down to be the same as that of a couch potato. They stated that the ideal running pace should be less than an 8 minute mile, and between 5-15 miles a week. They did state that HIIT was good, and also liked strength training and yoga.
They thought that the young could do the triathlons and marathons etc, but that as you got older your heart could not take such a rigorous exercise program. Atrial Fibrillation (an irregular heart beat) was increased 5 times in the heavy exercisers. Unlimited walking was ok. Swimming was good.
So to sum up: for maximum life expectancy, exercise moderately. Do strength training, HIIT, lower speed jogging 3-5 times a week for 5-15 miles total. No triathlons for us old geezers.
Mike

da_bears10089

good thing i don't run

concordancia

I dance, because it is the only form of physical exercise that has been shown to have an effect on dementia, and I figure it won't do me any good to live longer if I don't remember any of it.