Exercise and Lifespan

by Susan Ingraham (April 23, 2025)

Researchers have been investigating strategies to increase the lifespan. Evidence suggests that following a healthy lifestyle, e.g., eating a nutritious diet, not smoking, and exercising regularly, may help extend the lifespan. Finnish researchers from the University of Jyväskylä were interested in examining whether higher levels of physical activity could further increase lifespan, as study author Elina Sillanpää, PhD, stated that “the association between physical activity and lifespan is not as straightforward as commonly thought, which piqued our interest in this topic.” The study aimed to examine the relationship between long-term physical activity and mortality, whether physical activity can counteract genetic risks for disease, and the link between physical activity and later biological aging.

The study involved 22,750 twins in the Finnish Twin Cohort study. Twin studies help researchers to directly test how differences in later life behaviour impact lifespan since twins share similar or identical genetics and early life experiences. Twin studies help to see if a certain trait, illness, or disorder is more impacted by genetics or the environment.

All participants were born before 1958. At three points in time (1975, 1981, and 1990), researchers assessed participants’ physical activity levels and kept track of mortality rates up to 2020. Outcomes evaluated by the researchers included polygenic scoring (to determine inherited disease risk), epigenetic clocks (to estimate biological age), and following twins over time to adjust for genetic confounding (genes that may affect both how active people are and how long they live). The researchers placed participants into one of four groups based on their physical activity data over the 15-year follow-up: sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active.

The findings, published in the journal European Journal of Epidemiology, included:

• At the 30-year point, the research team found the most significant difference between the sedentary and moderately active groups. Moderately active individuals had a 7 percent lower mortality risk, and the highly active group did not show additional benefits.
• Looking at the short and long term, the researchers found a link between more physical activity and lower mortality in the short term. Still, over the long term, highly active individuals had no advantage over those who were sedentary in terms of mortality.
• Dr. Elina Sillanpää commented that having an underlying pre-disease state can limit physical activity and ultimately lead to death, not the lack of exercise alone. The result is “this can bias the link between physical activity and mortality in the short term.”
• Additionally, the research team assessed the impact of meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity weekly (the recommendation by the World Health Organization and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology), and how this is related to mortality and genetic disease risk. The research team observed that more intense physical activity did not provide more benefits. Meeting the guidelines did not lower mortality risk or alter genetic disease risk. The study found no statistically significant difference in mortality rates for twins who met the recommendations over 15 years compared to their less active twin pair. Study co-author Laura Joensuu, a postdoctoral researcher, stated, “The widely observed favorable association between physical activity and mortality are based on observational studies that are prone to bias from different sources.” For example, if someone is living with chronic health conditions, they are less active, and it’s natural for individuals close to death to move less, which may cause reverse causality. More physically active people engage in healthier behaviours, such as smoking less and eating healthier. Genetics also partially accounts for how exercise is easy or not.
• The research team looked at biological aging for a subset of participants. They found a U-shaped relationship, i.e., the least and most active participants experienced accelerated aging. The study press release stated, “Other lifestyles, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, largely explained the favorable associations of physical activity with biological aging.”
• Study limitations include that the findings applied to Finnish participants, and genetics, the environment, and lifestyle patterns can vary across countries and cultures. The researchers used self-report data for physical activity levels at certain points in time, which is less accurate than continuous monitoring using more objective means of measurement.
• The bottom line is that physical activity benefits for longevity may not be as straightforward as previously thought.

Does Exercise Intensity Matter?

The study did not find any adverse effects of more vigorous exercise but suggests that moderate physical activity may be as beneficial for longevity.

Study Reviews

• Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, shared his thoughts regarding the study with the Medical News Today website. He says that exercise is only one factor that affects longevity. His points include: The findings suggest that exercise’s health benefits “may be confounded by other factors, and that exercise is just one of many behaviors (including eating a balanced diet, avoiding smoking, etc.) that people should try to follow in order to improve their overall health.” Recommendations for exercise are based on several benefits in addition to lifespan, such as improved heart health, reduced risk of depression and anxiety, and reduced stress. He concludes that further research is needed to determine whether these findings apply to other groups beyond the Finnish population followed in this study.
• Tracy Zaslow, MD, a primary care sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles and a team physician for Angel City Football Club and LA Galaxy, commented that this study is just one study, and several other studies show that physical activity increases lifespan. Exercise has several other benefits, including improving quality of life. Muscle mass naturally begins to decline as early as our 30s and 40s. For older adults, strength training addresses the loss of muscle mass and allows them to continue to perform daily activities such as carrying groceries, climbing stairs, or playing with grandchildren. Some people may see the other benefits of exercise as more meaningful than lifespan alone. Researchers are looking more at health span, years spent in good health, as opposed to lifespan or simply extending years lived.
• George Savva, Senior Research Scientist, Quadram Institute, comments that while some research has shown that people who exercise live longer, other factors explain the association, e.g., genetics, social factors, and health status. He concludes that exercise may play a smaller role in longevity than previously thought. The government should address social and environmental factors that support healthy behaviours such as exercise, since these behaviours are challenging to maintain.

Sources:

• In the Loop magazine, Issue 370 (April 23, 2025)
• Medscape website
• Medical News Today website
• Science Daily website
• earth.com website
• University of Jyväskylä website
• News Medical Life Sciences website
• Fight Aging website
• Rolling Out 25 website