How to Exercise for Long-Term Health and Longevity

Let me begin by emphasizing that the information and recommendations that follow pertain to exercise for long-term health and longevity, not training for a particular event nor specific short-term goal. For short-term goals, different training strategies may be more effective.

When it comes to long-term health and longevity, the basic idea of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears gives a good basic concept to follow for exercise - not too little, not too much, but just right!

While the most common issue is a lack of physical activity and exercise, too much exercise at too great of an intensity is problematic as well and can be as bad or worse than no exercise at all in the long-run. Overtraining can lead to long-term injuries and may eventually force one to modify or discontinue one’s exercise regimen altogether, but even without those issues, too much intense exercise stimulates adaptations in the body that do not promote long-term health.

The vast majority of the adverse effects of aging can be traced to effects on structures in the cells called the mitochondria. Mitochondria are often referred to as the “energy factories” of the cells, as they engage in a series of chemical reactions that convert glucose into a usable fuel for cellular processes.

But mitochondria are more than energy factories. They also produce substances called mitokines, which signal the body as to the levels of stress to the energy-production machinery. A certain amount of stress is necessary for the system to function optimally, but too much stress starts to produce damage to many parts of the body, including the energy-production and tissue-healing systems.

For example, one mitokine called GDF15 increases with the stress of light to moderate exercise. Being sedentary results in low GDF15, which actually damages the mitochondria in the long-run and this in turn leads to impaired metabolic processes.

On the other hand, with too much intense exercise, or other lifestyle factors such as smoking that dramatically increase the release of GDF15, the excess amount signals high stress in the mitochondria. The body sees this as an urgent situation and begins to shut down any non-essential functions it can, such as tissue regeneration.

Another mitokine, humanin, makes mitochondria more energy-efficient, and its release is triggered by exercise as well. Research of centenarians (people of 100 years of age or more) has shown them to have high levels of humanin.

So what type of exercise works best to allow maximum function of mitochondria and optimal mitokine production for long-term health and longevity? Currently, many experts believe that the best approach for most people is to maintain a baseline of low-intensity daily exercise with periodic higher intensity workouts a few days per week.

For instance, a good regimen might be walking or bicycling at an easy pace for 20 minutes to an hour every day (or at least most days), with more intense workouts like running or fast walking or bicycling, weight lifting, rowing, various aerobic exercise classes, etc. three times per week. How much and how strenuous the exercise should be will of course vary depending on the individual and where they’re starting from. What is low-intensity for a young, healthy person might be intense for someone who has been sedentary for many years.

If you are in poor physical condition to start with, I suggest beginning with just short-duration, low-intensity activities a few days per week. As your fitness improves, you could increase the duration of your exercise and build up to daily as a first goal. From there, you could add in a few minutes of more intense exercies a few days per week and then gradually increase it over time. It will take some time, but try to be patient and look for gradual long-term improvement and eventually a good level of fitness you can maintain for life.

For those just stating out with exercise, it is often worthwhile to work with a personal trainer (preferably one who is experienced and patient with beginners) at least at first to help you determine a good starting point and reasonable goals.

As you start to gain fitness and confidence, you will likely reach a point where you can manage your own exercise regimen, but having a trainer, or perhaps an exercise partner or two can help keep you motivated to be consistent long-term.

Once you are comfortable with your fitness regimen, varying your more intense exercise sessions in terms of type and duration of activity may be useful, as it keeps the body in a state of preparedness somewhat more that a set routine. While habits are comfortable for the mind, the body likes (or at least responds best to) variety.

Something to keep in mind is that one of the effects of high intensity exercise is increased oxidative stress, and while “oxidative stress” is often cited as a bad thing, it comes back to that “Three Bears” thing – you don’t want too much, you don’t want too little, you want just the right amount.

With this in mind, if you are working within the moderate amount of higher intensity exercise framework there’s a tip that may keep you from sabotaging some of the beneficial effects of it – don’t take antioxidant supplements right after intense exercise. You want the moderate amount of oxidative stress from the exercise to provide the appropriate stimulus to the mitochondria to release healthy amounts of mitokines. Antioxidants will dull the stimulus, and while antioxidants are generally a good thing, taking them at the wrong time – right after intense exercise - may be counterproductive.

Until next time…

George Best, D.C.