April longevity challenge
It’s hardly groundbreaking to say that regular aerobic exercise is crucial for good health and longevity, but exactly how much should you be aiming to do? Plenty of research has looked to answer the question, which has informed recommendations by governments and health agencies around the globe. Unfortunately if you want to beat aging, a lot of these recommendations don’t go far enough. They're fine for keeping your health in a normal range, but normal isn’t the same as optimal. So for this month’s longevity challenge, we’ve used the latest research to come up with our own weekly exercise recommendations that we’re encouraging you to reach.
The weekly recommendations
Regular aerobic exercise is the single most effective way you can improve your health. It has both physical and mental health benefits, including enhancing cognition, lowering risk of degenerative disease, improving executive function and the ability to perform daily tasks, boosting mood, and ultimately lengthening lifespan. [1, 2] We've known this for a while, which is why aerobic exercise has long been a key focus for public health. The WHO and American Heart Association recommend that adults do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking or gentle cycling) or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic exercise (such as running, swimming) or an equivalent combination of both. [3, 4] But does this go far enough?
These are reasonable targets for avoiding chronic disease, but looking deeply into more recent research suggests that these goals are not enough to achieve optimal and long-lasting health. For instance, a 30-year study of over 100,000 people found that those who did twice the recommended amount of aerobic exercise had a 2-3% lower risk of death, while doing four times the recommended amount of vigorous exercise (300 mins/week) conferred a 13% lower mortality risk (although no further benefits were found above this, so more is not necessarily better). [5] Another study concluded that the optimal amount was 180 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, still far higher than the recommendations. [6]
Science-backed benefits of aerobic exercise
- Across multiple studies, runners have been found to live on average 3-4 years longer than non-runners and have a 25-40% lower risk of premature mortality [7, 8].
- This is likely due to the unmatched benefits aerobic exercise has on cardiovascular fitness and metabolic health, which results in a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and numerous other chronic and age-related diseases [9, 10].
- Regular aerobic exercise improves your VO2max, which is one of the most effective measures of longevity and general health [11].
- Although HIIT is also very effective for improving VO2max, aerobic exercise brings unique benefits for the immune system and cellular aging processes [12].
- Aerobic exercise releases BDNF, a compound that stimulates the growth of neurons, enhances focus, energy, mood and concentration, and has long-term benefits for memory and overall brain health [13].
- Adolescents who ran 30 minutes each morning for 3 weeks experienced better sleep and improved focus, concentration and energy throughout the day, compared to controls [14].
- Regular exercise significantly reduces the risk of age-related cognitive decline and helps prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s [15].
The challenge
So for this month’s challenge, we want to see if you can achieve our recommendations for weekly aerobic exercise, backed by science!
- 180 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise
- 240 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise
- 300 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise
Get involved by joining our Longevity Challenges Facebook group!
Other types of exercise
While this challenge is specifically about aerobic exercise, we’re not saying that other forms aren’t important. In fact, the second study mentioned above found that doing two strength training exercises, covering all seven major muscle groups, was a vital component of an optimal exercise regime. [6] Regularly pushing yourself to your upper limit of your abilities with activities like HIIT has also been shown to be necessary for the best cardiovascular fitness and longest healthspan.
So although for this month the focus is on getting the right amount of aerobic exercise, try not to skip out on all the other forms!
