Three Best Exercises for Longevity

If longevity is your goal, it is crucial to incorporate strength training into your lifestyle, according to Ollie Thompson, personal trainer and founder of Welltolead, a performance-focused health coaching company. Thompson, a longevity enthusiast, explains that strength training can help us “stay vibrant, physically independent, and disease-free in our final decades.”

“In my opinion, the benefits of maintaining healthy muscle are highly underrated,” Thompson told The Independent. “Resistance training is crucial for long-term health—not just from a movement perspective, staying physically strong and mobile, but also for maintaining overall physiological health.”

If your goal is training for longevity, Thompson offers three exercises that he believes provide the greatest value in building strength:

1. Assisted chin-up

“One key reason I picked the assisted chin-up is that performing a full repetition—from a dead hang to the top with your chin at the bar—takes your shoulder blades through a full range of motion,” Thompson told The Independent.

You can use a machine, resistance band, or a lower pull-up bar and support yourself with your feet, Thompson said. He added that this exercise can be scaled to suit most fitness levels.

To do an assisted chin-up:

• Sit on the ground beneath the barbell, then reach overhead and grasp it with an underhand grip, keeping your hands roughly shoulder-width apart.

• Keep your feet on the floor for support and pull your body upwards until your chin is above the bar. As you do this, try to squeeze your shoulder blades together.

According to Thompson, “this exercise can’t be beaten for training grip strength, which studies have strongly correlated with healthier muscle mass and better longevity.”

The National Institute on Aging reports that working out with barbells and other weights can help you maintain abilities like carrying groceries and climbing stairs. A 2022 study of nearly 100,000 people ages 55 to 74 showed that older adults who did any weightlifting, but no moderate to vigorous aerobic activity, were 9 percent to 22 percent less likely to die over a decade. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, further found that older adults who met aerobic guidelines and lifted weights once or twice a week had a 41 percent to 47 percent lower risk.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or a combination of both, per week.

2. Bulgarian split squat

The Bulgarian split squat is a step above the standard squat because it has several longevity benefits, Thompson said. For one, “it’s excellent for building strength and stability at the hip, knee and foot, helping to correct severe muscular imbalances while also incorporating a balance component,” Thompson told The Independent.

To do a Bulgarian split squat:

2. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in your left hand with your arm by your side and your palm facing your body.

3. Keeping your right leg long and your hips square, place the top of your left foot on the bench or sturdy surface behind you.

Lower your left knee until it is just above the ground while keeping your chest up. Then, push through your right foot to return to the starting position.

Jessica Gorzelitz, an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Iowa, is a strong proponent of squats. She believes that if you can’t squat, you may eventually have trouble using a toilet. “It’s an incredibly functional movement,” Gorzelitz told AARP.

To do a standard squat:

• Slowly lower yourself to a sitting position, bending through the hips, knees, and ankles. Stop when your knees reach a 90-degree angle. Then, return to the starting position.

3. Farmer’s Carry

The farmer’s carry exercise involves holding heavy objects in each hand while walking. The exercise is so simple that it often gets overlooked, but Thompson believes those who don’t do it are missing out.

To do a farmer’s carry:

• Walk with the weights, keeping your torso upright and your core tight.

This exercise boosts heart and lung health because you’re breathing heavily while strengthening your entire body.

“I often prescribe farmer’s carries to my online clients because they are incredibly accessible and can be scaled easily, with progress easily tracked,” Thompson told The Independent. “Simply pick a challenging kettlebell or dumbbell, then walk for time, distance, steps or breaths. This way, you can keep track of how your performance improves over time.”

Other Exercises That Contribute To Longevity

Walking is a popular—if not the most popular—exercise among seniors. An AARP survey found that 32 percent of older adults do some brisk walking for exercise every day. The American Heart Association reports that some people gain as much as two hours of life expectancy for every hour they walk.

According to James O’Keefe, director of preventive cardiology at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, walkers see “life-extending benefits with your first brisk steps.” And the more steps you take, you continue to build benefits, he said.

“Get off the screens, go for a five-minute walk,” and your health starts improving right away, O’Keefe told AARP.

Dr. Valter Longo, author of The Longevity Diet, recommends walking, riding, running, and swimming. Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California-Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, recommends bicycling with a stationary bike and a road bike. Longo, the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences, says to ride outside whenever possible. But when you can’t, use the exercise bike in high gear. Long recommends using a bike that offers high magnetic resistance, which makes it hard to pedal, as if you were riding uphill.

According to Longo, bicycling may be healthier than running because it minimizes stress on the joints. Swimming is an excellent form of exercise, although its benefits on longevity have received less scrutiny than running.

Other exercises that are beneficial include:

While some types of exercise are more directly associated with life extension than others, researchers say incorporating a variety is likely a good idea.
“Ideally, you’re not just doing one thing,” O’Keefe told AARP. At 67, O’Keefe said he manages to do several exercises, such as swimming, yoga, weight lifting, and walking with his wife and dog, all in one week.

Longo says the physical activity that is best for healthy longevity is the “one you enjoy most, but also the one you can easily incorporate into your daily schedule and the one you can keep doing up to your hundredth birthday and beyond.”

Source Links:

https://www.the-independent.com/health-and-fitness/best-exercises-longevity-expert-trainers-b2703492.html
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/exercises-to-live-longer/
https://www.bluezones.com/2018/01/what-exercise-best-happy-healthy-life/