What value do you place on the enjoyment, experiences, friends, family and challenges that you have in life?

If you could lengthen your life, or at the very least, increased the number of years that you are productive, involved and fulfilling your hopes and dreams, why wouldn’t you?

Unfortunately, less than HALF of New Zealand adults are currently meeting the bare minimum required to enjoy the significant health benefits of exercise. The weekly minimum is a measly 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week. And contrary to what some believe, the number of inactive people has increased since the COVID lockdowns despite showing the fittest were most resilient to the disease.

It defies logic, why anyone wouldn’t make every effort to become as physically fit and strong as possible, given that the rewards are so great. A weekly regime of regular fitness and strength training is immeasurably good for you. Let’s look at the facts.

• You will extend your life with daily exercise. Regular exercise is associated with an increase of life expectancy of between 0.4 to 6.9 years. As appreciated by many of our most frequent members, and Club Physical has many who attend almost daily, the top 25% could add ELEVEN YEARS of lifespan (compared to the least active 25%)!
• With regular cardio alone, Harvard Health state that you can lower your risk of death by 24% to 34%
• With strength training alone a 9% to 22% reduced mortality risk is expected
• But the fascinating thing is that when you combine strength and cardio into your weekly regime you can expect to reduce your risk of death by between 41% to 47%!
• Dose-Response relationship: Exercising between two to four times the minimum recommended (i.e., 300-599 minutes of moderate activity or 150-299 minutes of vigorous activity weekly) can reduce all-cause mortality by up to 31%.

And that’s not all!

Consider the difference in people you know in the seventy-plus age group who have not been regular exercisers. Are they experiencing the full enjoyment, satisfaction and mobility of life or are these people now limited, perhaps even waiting for a place in a rest-home?

Regular exercise isn’t just about extending your life, it’s about maximising your physical and mental ability to live life. Beyond longevity, regular exercise.

• Cognitive Health: Reduces your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.​
• Mental Well-being: Improves your mood and decreases symptoms of depression.​
• Physical Health: Enhances your immune function and decreases your risk of chronic diseases. ​

What value do you place on living YOUR life to the fullest?

Given the stats we’ve shared today, I ask again “Why wouldn’t YOU”

References:

• U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed Central (PMC). National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
• PubMed. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu
• Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu
• American Medical Association (AMA). https://www.ama-assn.org

This week’s newsletter can be found here