Exercise has not only been proven to reduce weight, risk of cancer, depression and heart disease, studies have also shown that regular exercise can increase your life expectancy by up to 13 years. If you have done a consistant and steady amount of exercise up to the age of 65, you can expect to have an extra 12 disibility-free, healthy years added to it. For someone over the age of 50 who is reasonably active for a year, they can expect to add 1.3 to 1.5 years to their life expectancy, compared to someone over the age of 50 who is highly active, who can expect to live a futher 3.5 to 3.7 years.
The secret to a long life is eating healthy foods and doing regular exercise. Eating plenty of fruit, vegetables and fish can reduce the risk of an early death by up to a fifth, as well as doing 30 minutes of exercise four days a week can reduce early death by up to a quarter. Exercise can also help with sleep definciency, increase endurance of an activity and can reduce risk of arthritis in old age. The facts don't lie. Can you afford not to exercise?