This story is making the rounds of fitness magazines and blogs: How likely are you to make it to 90?
In a large, longitudinal researchers looked at a variety of factors to see what affected whether or not you’ll make it to 90. Gender makes a difference, of course. Choosing your parents wisely matters of course. One important variable over which we do have control turns out to be…drum roll, please…exercise.
“Neither height or weight seemed to factor into whether the men reached their 90s, but activity level did. Men who spent 90 minutes a day or more being active were 39% more likely to live to 90 than men who were physically active for less than 30 minutes. In addition, for each 30 minutes a day the men were active, they were 5% more likely to reach that age.However, women who were physically active for more than 60 minutes a day were only 21% more likely to live to 90 than those who did 30 minutes or less. And unlike men, there was no bonus for increasing activity. In fact, the study found that the optimal level of activity for women was 60 minutes a day. “
So how much should you exercise?
(That’s if your only goal is to make it to 90. There are other reasons, such as sports performance, to work out more or less.)
For men, the recommendation is 90 minutes a day.
For women who want to make it to 90 it turns out that an hour a day is ideal. The extra minutes didn’t add any life extending benefits.
This is awesome news 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
At what intensity, though?