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Study: Exercise, Long Thought To Be The Key To Living Longer, May Actually Age You Faster

(New York Post) Survival of the fittest? Maybe.

Exercise might not be the key to longevity, according to new research — in fact, too much moving around could even be accelerating the aging process in our bodies, Scandinavian scientists have revealed.

 

The ambitious study on the oft-discussed subject has yet to be peer-reviewed, but recently won a national sports medicine prize in Finland, where the research was conducted over a 45-year period.

Multiple studies have previously confirmed that those who exercise more live longer and healthier lives.

This time however, researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla found that physical activity might just be a small part of the larger picture and in some cases may have negative health impacts.

To conduct the study, more than 11,000 Finnish same-sex twins were analyzed between 1975 to 2020.

Black female athlete doing stretching exercise
Overall the study found that those who exercised the least were about 20 percent more likely to die over the 45 years than those who were regularly active.Drazen – stock.adobe.com

The participants self-reported the time and intensity of their daily physical activity and were categorized into four groups: sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active.

Overall they found that those who exercised the least were about 20 percent more likely to die over the 45 years than those who were regularly active.

However, when they filtered for lifestyle factors including education, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol consumption that number dropped significantly.

Picture of people doing cardio training on treadmill in gym
The researchers concluded that those who exercise may not live longer because of their workouts but because they generally live healthier lives. NDABCREATIVITY – stock.adobe.com

Then those in the sedentary group were only seven percent more likely to die compared to those in the active group with “no additional benefits provided” by higher levels of exercise.

As the age-old saying goes, “Everything in moderation.”

The study showed that biological aging accelerated for those who exercised too little and too much.

Woman exercising in the gym, while on break and holding an apple.
However, when researchers filtered for lifestyle factors including education, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol consumption that number dropped significantly. Kiattisak – stock.adobe.com

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