A recent study has highlighted the effects of exercise on life expectancy, and the findings may be unexpected.
While some invest heavily, spending $2 million annually to prolong their lives, most people have to depend on more straightforward methods to attempt to increase their lifespan. But do these methods work as effectively as we believe?
An investigation titled “The associations of long-term physical activity in adulthood with later biological ageing and all-cause mortality – a prospective twin study,” published in Springer Nature Link, explored the connection between physical activity and a reduced risk of mortality.
The research examined the health data of approximately 23,000 Finnish twins born before 1958.
Participants’ physical activity levels were assessed at three intervals: in 1975, 1981, and 1990, with mortality rates tracked until the end of 2020.
Based on the data, individuals were categorized into four groups: sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active.
Elina Sillanpää, associate professor in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä and head of the GenActive research project, stated that the study employed “novel methods” like polygenic scoring and epigenetic clocks to provide “new evidence” on the subject.
Polygenic scoring is described by Nature as “an estimate of an individual’s genetic liability to a trait or disease, calculated according to their genotype profile and relevant genome-wide association study (GWAS) data.” Meanwhile, epigenetic clocks are used to estimate biological age.
So, what were the study’s findings?
The research discovered that although biological aging was “accelerated in sedentary and highly active classes,” once other lifestyle-related factors were considered, these associations largely diminished.
The study explained, “Physically active classes had a maximum seven percent lower risk of total mortality over the sedentary class, but this association was consistent only in the short term.”
Furthermore, the study raised questions about the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations.
WHO advises “150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week,” yet the study found that this amount of exercise did not actually “lower participants’ mortality risk or change their genetic disease risk.”
Sillanpää commented: “Our results suggest that meeting WHO recommendations for physical activity is sufficient for life span benefits, and more intense exercise does not provide additional benefits. Similar results have been shown before. However, we also demonstrated that the association of physical activity and life span may be prone to bias due to several factors.
“People with diseases or underlying health conditions may be less active, and it’s natural for individuals close to death to move less, which may cause reverse causality.”
However, this doesn’t imply that one should abandon exercise entirely.
Ultimately, it indicates that exercise is just one component that influences longevity. Although the study suggests that the benefits on lifespan might not be as significant as perceived, it doesn’t mean you should stop being active.
Sillanpää added: “Other lifestyle factors may also explain the association; physically active individuals usually smoke less and have healthier diets. It’s important to note that physical activity is a voluntary behavior, and our genetic preferences partially explain whether exercise is easy for us or not. Some genetic variation may also be associated with healthy behavior and lower risk of common diseases, as shown by our group’s previous studies.”
It’s also crucial to remember that this is just one study, and numerous others indicate that increased physical activity can extend lifespan.
Even if your life is not necessarily extended, engaging in exercise and building muscle strength will enhance your quality of life.