Why Exercise Slows Aging | Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair

David Sinclair (0:00)

Low fitness predicted mortality more strongly than smoking, diabetes, hypertension. Those in the lowest fitness percentiles have four to five fold higher risk of death compared to those in the highest percentiles. Humans evolved to move. Our biology expects it. When movement disappears, systems drift out of calibration. We age more rapidly. And the problem is exercise does not fully offset prolonged sitting. So moving from nothing to just something delivers a large return on investment.

Welcome to Lifespan, a show where we discuss the cutting edge science of aging and how to live healthier at any stage of life.

I'm David Sinclair, a scientist and professor working on understanding why we age and discovering new ways to slow and even reverse the aging process.

On this show, I share an insider's look at the latest from my lab, the field, and what's just around the corner.

Hey everyone, welcome back to Lifespan. I'm so excited for you to hear this episode. I actually recorded it with the team very late at night after being in the lab all day, and the team was amazing. This episode, part two of physical activity and exercise, explores exactly why physical activity is so good for us. What you might not see on camera is how Marissa, our chief of staff, really showed us men how the sitting rising test is actually done properly. We're gonna talk about it in the episode, but off camera, we were trying to see who was best at it, and it was awesome to see her do it so easily, but honestly, it was pretty embarrassing for us guys, including Andrew and Rajiv here. Sometimes it just takes me reading a new powerful paper on the science of exercise to nudge me to get off my butt even more. I really want to thank and credit the whole Lifespan team's combined effort in making what I believe is the most accurate source of evidence-based health information you can find anywhere.

And as always, the Lifespan team and I really appreciate you hitting the subscribe button.

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Today, we're going to talk about physical activity. We're going to look at exercise from a perspective you might not have before and dig deeply into the science, discussing what's real and what's not. Of course, we all know exercise in its various forms is one of the most reliable ways to live longer and delay most diseases, including disability and frailty in older ages. There are a lot of things that I didn't know until I really dug in deep. There are things you probably heard on the Internet, on social media, that are patently untrue. Cardio respiratory fitness, which is your body's ability to deliver oxygen to your muscles and keep going, is one of the strongest predictors that we have of long-term health and survival. And one of the most reliable ways to maintain cardio respiratory fitness is to be consistent with intentional movement. Exercise also preserves muscle mass and of course strength, endurance and even power. These are qualities that naturally decline with age, especially over the age of 40, unless we actively counteract them. And stronger muscles don't just help you lift groceries, they help you stay independent, maintain balance and avoid frailty decades later. Movement influences nearly every biological system. So with sensible regular activity, you think more clearly, feel better, regulate your metabolism more effectively and support your immune system.

That's why metrics like VO2 max track your biological age more accurately than even years on your birth certificate. First, I want to answer a simple question that we often don't ask because we take it for granted that exercise is good for us.