What Research is Trying to Tell Us

Do you really believe, like all the reports show, that the number one reason why we don't exercise is due to a lack of time? If you're racking your brain for a few more reasons to add more of an 8-letter word (EXERCISE, MOVEMENT, ACTIVITY) to your day, here are a few more reasons for you:

• For every hour of TV you watch your life expectancy is reduced by 22 minutes.
• For every cigarette you smoke your life expectancy is reduced by 11 minutes.
• If you are watching 6 hours of TV a day your life expectancy will be 4 years less.
• Highly active 65-years-olds add an additional 5.7 yrs of healthy life expectancy.
• Men who were moderately active added 1.3 yrs to their lives and those who were highly active added 3.7 yrs. (About.com)
• Women who were moderately active added 1.1 yrs to their lives and those were highly active added 3.2 yrs.
• 15 minutes of physical activity a day reduces a person's risk of death by 14% and increases life expectancy by 3 yrs. compared with inactive people.
• Researchers found if you increase the amount of calories you burn via physical exercise by 1000 calories, you reduce your risk of premature death by 20%.
• Harvard alumni study, following close to 17,000 male alumni over a period of 22 years, estimated that subjects beginning and continuing to exercise throughout their life by the age of 35 to 39 years of age were able to add 1 to 2 years to their life, relative to those following a sedentary lifestyle (Paffenbarger, Hyde, Wing, and Hsieh, 1986).
• Even starting exercise in mid-life may lower the risk of death by 23% over the next two decades.
• In one study, those who exercised for an ave. of 92 min./wk. had a 14% overall reduced risk of mortality and a 10% reduced risk of cancer compared with people in the "inactive" group.

References:

Paffenbarger, R. S., Hyde, R. T., Wing, A., and Hsieh, C. (1986). Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. New England Journal of Medicine, 314, 605-613.