I am 41, average build, fairly slim, non smoker etc. I don’t exercise at the moment, except what raising two young boys brings about. Will doing exercise really help me live longer? I mean the queen mum lived to 101 and never did any more than lift the odd gin bottle about. Whenever I went to the gym I always end up hurting something and running screws my knees. My feeling is to take it easy. Any real medical data for a guy like me, as opposed to some fat slob (sorry, gravitationally challenged) who needs the exercise to loose weight.
Well…there’s always Jim Fixx to look to. He was an avid runner and is often credited with popularizing the sport. He died of a heart attack at age 52 while running.
Still, I think the operative buzzwords today are “Everything In Moderation”. Wailing on yourself in the gym isn’t likely to be healthy. Neither is drowning yourself in alcohol. However, moderate exercise, a decent diet, moderate alcohol intake (or whatever your poison) and you’ll generally be ok. After that your genes are probably more likely to determine your lifespan than having french fries once a month.
Exercise will most certainly make your extended years more live-able.
I think the gist of the research is that modest amounts of exercise, and ultmately an overall improvement in one’s health through good eating and living, will lead to improvements in many aspects of health as you age.
Ultimately, you may live longer, but you will live better.
I highly recommend the scientific approach to such questions. Allow me to offer this link to you from Scientific American Frontiers.
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1110/segments/1110-4.htm
or this
Both get into nutrition more than exercise, but the evidence supporting good eating and exercise is hard to refute.
You may not live longer, but it’ll seem like it. 
There are plenty of studies demonstrating that exercise does extend your life. I’m sorry I don’t have any links, but they’ve been in the newspapers lately.
Jim Fixx had a congenital heart problem. Many people have died while exercising: basketball, running, etc. In most cases, congenital heart problems were found and running actually prolonged their lives.
Many people live to a ripe old age without exercising, tilting the bottle, smoking, etc. They can thank their parents for giving them such good genes. Hereditary is probably the most important factor, but by exercising you can overcome bad genes to some extent.
If you windup hurting something at the gym it’s because you’re attempting to do too much too soon. Get one of the instructors, if they have any, to help you out. Start out easy. If running is bad for your knees, try swimming or some other exercise.
It is well to remember, however, that Fixx’s father died in his early 40s as did his grandfather. Both deaths, Fixx contended, were results of a heart problem that Fixx said he had inherited. Fixx regularly said that he always considered himself lucky to have lived past 42. He credited his survival into his 50s as one of the miracles of running.
For the average person I don’t think that exercise would necessarily make them live longer. It would however help with osterporosis (spelled that wrong) and it would make the last years of life more bearable physically IMO.
Exercise would help truly out of shape/ morbidly obesis people live longer.
You may think they you’re getting enough exercise from raising your kids, but I doubt you have an increased heart rate for any long period of time. Keeping your heart rate above normal for a minimum of 20 minutes once a week or more is important for your heart, but many people don’t even manage that (I know some weeks I don’t). To find the elevated heart rate you should shoot for:
- Subtract your age from 180 (180-age)
- Modify this number by selecting one of the following categories:
a. If you have, or are recovering from, a major illness (heart disease, any operation, any hospital stay, etc.) or if you are on any regular medication, subtract 10.
b. If you have not exercised before, or if you have been exercising but have been injured or are regressing in your efforts (not showing much improvement), or if you often get colds or flu, or have allergies, subtract 5.
c. If you have been exercising for up to two years at least four times a week without any injury, and if you have not had colds or flu more than once or twice a year, subtract 0.
d. If you have been exercising for more than two years without any injury, have made progress, and are a competitive athlete, add 5.
You should consider some low impact aerobic exercises, if running is bad for your knees try a stationary bike or the elliptical running machines. You may be amazed at how much better you can feel when your heart is in shape. Its easier to breathe, you have more energy, your immune system works harder, its just feels like the right way to be.
Also, regular exercise has also been shown to be as effective as prescription antidepressants for you mood and state of well-being. google:antidepressants+Exercise Another positive to consider.
Barring accident or illness exercise will definitely improve and lengthen your life.
I remember reading a few years back that in lab studies with mice, the key to a very long life was a low (very low) calorie diet. There is conjecture that this will work for humans as well.
If it doesn’t work for humans, just become a mouse and eat a strip of lettuce every week.
I agree with the “more livable”…who cares if you make it to 90 if the last 20 of those years you’re in a wheelchair and unable to stand up straight?
But here’s a true story for you:
A friend of mine is a power lifter in his early 60’s. He’s a fanatical exerciser, into biking, hiking, and of course, power lifting, which he competed at. He is also a vegetarian.
So during a routine trip to the doctor, the doc suggests they do some heart tests. My friend’s family is rife with coronary artery disease, and his doc thought that at his age it should be checked. My friend scoffed, but the doc convinced him that it couldn’t hurt to check it out.
Well, turns out that at least one of his coronary arteries was 100% blocked. Completely. No blood flowing through it at all. Yet my friend was ridiculously fit, by all appearances.
According to his doctors, if he had not been such a health nut, he would have probably been dead or at least had one hell of a heart attack. But his fanatical exercise apparently had caused him to * grow * new vessels, which made up for the blocked artery.
True story, make of it what you will.
stoid
PS: Yes, he underwent a bypass.
OK I might be a bit healthier. But as some of the peple above have said, genetics is probably more important. Smoking drinking diet second. Take away those, how many years would I add by exercising regularly. I suspect about one or less.
Now I would have spent more than a year of my life doing all that exercise. I am not sure that the gain is that great, especially as I am “healthy” without doing any exercise. I hate swimming, stationary cycling.
(I am playing devils advocate a bit, but we do seem to be in grip of an exercise “mafia” trying to make me feel guitly all the time)
While I’m certainly not in the heart attack high risk area, I have started exercising more frequently (once a week up from never), and, for some reason, it does make me feel better and encourages me to eat healthier.
“I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.”
– Neil Armstrong
Actually, exercise is so booooring that it makes you think you’re living longer. The only exercise I can bear is walking and I walk four miles to my office several times a week. This seems to have helped since I am still going 37 years after a heart attack.
That is not necessarily true. No one knows whether nature is more important than nurture or vice versa. It quite possible that it’s different for every person.
How sure are you that you are healthy? When was your last stress test?
Dopers, its okay to not like or want to exercise – it is not okay to tell people in GD that exercise is unnecessary; you are spreading an erroneous belief. Don’t discourage others from an activity that most certainly will improve the quality and quantity of their life.
A guy asked me “If I spend an hour running, will I live an hour longer? If not, I’ve lost ground”.
It was a joke, but thinking about it he’s maybe not that far off the mark.
If between age 20 and 60 I exercise 5 hours a week, I’ve spent over 10,000 hours exercising. But if that adds only a year to my lifetime, I’ve only added about 6600 (waking) hours, and I really have lost ground. Even if it adds 2 years to my lifetime, I’ve only gained about 3000 hours of waking/non-exercising time.
There’s plenty of leeway in these figures, and of course things like quality of life have to be considered, but on a bottom-line basis it makes you (well, me anyways) think.
For the record I do exercise 5 or more hours a week, have been doing it for years, and will keep on doing it.
I can search around and find some figures on how longer you will live with exercise, but that’s not important. It can be several years. But as someone else noted, not only will you live longer but you will live healthier. You will be the healthiest corpse around.
Look at some people my age (64) and you will see a lot of decrepit people that can barely hobble around. I’m still running, playing tennis, etc. Nothing special about me. Guys older than I am are running faster times and playing better tennis.
At least as important, if not more important, is that I often enjoy running. Yeah, surprise. Exercise can be fun. I look forward to my weekend runs with a couple of friends through the county park, and bagels and coffee afterwards at Bagel Nation, with the bottomless cup. I also, of course, enjoy my tennis games. (Actually, I enjoy them more. :))
>> genetics is probably more important. Smoking drinking diet second.
>> That is not necessarily true. No one knows whether nature is more important than nurture or vice versa. It quite possible that it’s different for every person.
I believe that is wrong and that is is quite proven that many conditions are inherited. The best predictor of long life is your parent’s longevity. That is why I chose mine very carefully.
sailor, how 'bout a cite?
A couple of examples might be in order.
Strom Thurmond regularly swims, at least until recently, and has for the past seventy years or so or his adult life.
John Glenn appears to be one of those lucky guys who is just a kick-ass specimen. However, he too regularly exercises.
Both are sort of on the short side and appear to be naturally inclined to be active, both mentally and physically. barbitu8 appears to be one of those sorts of folks, too. (Maybe you should run for the Senate.)
This, I think, is one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to determine whether or not exercise actually helps. Those who live long and healthy lives seem to have a sort of vigor that requires them to exercise, but heck if I know whether or not that is the result of habit or natural inclination.
A couple of examples might be in order.
Strom Thurmond regularly swims, at least until recently, and has for the past seventy years or so or his adult life.
John Glenn appears to be one of those lucky guys who is just a kick-ass specimen. However, he too regularly exercises.
Both are sort of on the short side and appear to be naturally inclined to be active, both mentally and physically. barbitu8 appears to be one of those sorts of folks, too. (I don’t know how tall you are, barbitu8, but maybe you should consider running for the Senate.)
This, I think, is one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to determine whether or not exercise actually helps. Those who live long and healthy lives seem to have a sort of vigor that requires them to exercise, but heck if I know whether or not that is the result of habit or natural inclination.
A cite for what? A cite showing many diseases and conditions which are life shortening are also inherited? Yo do not believe a predisposition for cancer, heart disease, obesity and other conditions is inherited? OK then, I am not going to be the one to try to convince you otherwise. But Doctor Gabe Mirkin in his radio show says it all the time, genetics are a huge factor. Of course, there is nothing you can do about genetics and it is lifestyle you can modify.