Push(ing) it? This is how much longer you’ll live if you exercise regularly – but there is a catch

Push(ing) it? The amount of minutes you have to exercise each week that could add 10 YEARS to your life

  • Older adults who exercise regularly have likelihood of surviving an extra 10 years
  • Researchers at the Westmead Institute interviewed more than 1,500 adults
  • Of that group those who did 5,000 MET minutes a week avoided illnesses
  • But you’ll need to be exercising three times the recommended weekly limit 

There isn’t a magic pill for immortality yet but it’s no secret that a good diet and regular exercise can help stave off illness and disease in your old age.

In a bid to decipher exactly how many extra years all those runs around the block are earning you, the Westmead Institute for Medical Research interviewed 1,500 Australian adults over 50 and followed them for a decade.

The results found that eager fitness buffs who did more than 5000 metabolic equivalent minutes (MET minutes) each week – or roughly 600 minutes of moderately intense exercise – were twice as likely to avoid stroke, heart disease, angina, cancer and diabetes.

The Westmead Institute for Medical Research interviewed 1,500 Australian adults over 50 and followed them for a decade.

What is a MET minute?

MET is another name for metabolic equivalent; a measure of exercise intensity based on oxygen consumption. 

More specifically, a single MET is defined as the amount of oxygen a person consumes (or the energy expended) per unit of body weight during one minute of rest.

Source: Ideafit 

Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, from the University of Sydney, said high levels of physical activity increase the likelihood of surviving an extra 10 years.

It’s an incredible feat just for lacing up your trainers and going for a walk but is it really that simple? Unfortunately not.

The World Health organisation recommends every individual do a minimum of 600 MET minutes of physical activity a week.

This is equivalent to 150 minutes of brisk walking or 75 minutes of running, something that people over the age of 50 might initially struggle to do. 

In order to complete those 5000 MET minutes required to reap the full benefits of (almost) eternal youth, you’ll need to be walking for 21 hours or running for 10.5 hours.

‘Some older adults may not be able to engage in vigorous activity or high levels of physical activity,’ Dr Gopinath said.

Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, from the University of Sydney, said high levels of physical activity increase the likelihood of surviving an extra 10 years

Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, from the University of Sydney, said high levels of physical activity increase the likelihood of surviving an extra 10 years

‘But we encourage older adults who are inactive to do some physical activity, and those who currently only engage in moderate exercise to incorporate more vigorous activity where possible.’

For those not wanting to pound the pavement each week, you can burn just as many kilojoules swimming and doing yoga – you’ve just got to get the timings right.

Ballroom dancing burns 1142 kilojoules an hour, power yoga burns 1522 and water aerobics burns 2096 for the average 90kg person.

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