New Study Claims Exercise Does Not Extend Your Lifespan, It Accelerates Ageing Instead

According to recent research, exercise may not be the key to life ¨C in fact, too much movement may be hastening the ageing process in our bodies, according to Scandinavian scientists.

Why was this study done?

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The complex study has yet to be peer-reviewed, but it recently earned a national sports medicine prize in Finland, where the research was done over 45 years.

What have studies shown before this?

Several studies have previously established that those who exercise regularly have longer and healthier lives.

This time, however, researchers at the University of Jyvaskyla discovered that physical exercise may only be a minor component of the overall picture, and in some situations may have harmful health consequences.

Who participated in the study?

Between 1975 and 2020, around 11,000 Finnish same-sex twins were studied for the study. The participants self-reported their daily physical activity time and intensity and were divided into four groups: sedentary, moderately active, active, and extremely active.

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Overall, people who exercised the least were around 20% more likely to die over 45 years than those who exercised regularly. When they screened for lifestyle characteristics including education, BMI, smoking, and alcohol intake, the figure dropped dramatically.

The inactive group was thus just 7% more likely to die than the active group, with "no additional benefits provided" by increasing levels of activity. The study found that people who exercised too little or too much hastened biological ageing.

How did the study end?

Those who were the most physically active were around 1.8 years "older" than those who were less physically active. The researchers determined that those who exercise live longer lives not because of it, but because they live healthier lives in general.

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