Exercise is often seen as a key to living a longer life, but new research from Finland suggests that the relationship between physical activity and longevity is more complex than previously believed.
Scientists from the University of Jyväskylä studied long-term exercise habits in Finnish twins to see how physical activity affects lifespan and whether it can reduce genetic risks for disease.
The results challenge common assumptions about exercise and its impact on aging and mortality.
The study included 22,750 twins born before 1958. Their leisure-time physical activity was recorded in 1975, 1981, and 1990, and their health outcomes were tracked until 2020. The researchers divided participants into four groups based on their exercise habits: sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active.
Moderate Exercise Brings the Biggest Benefit
One key finding was that the greatest reduction in mortality—7%—was observed between those who were sedentary and those who were moderately active. However, increasing activity beyond a moderate level did not provide any additional longevity benefits.
In other words, people who exercised at moderate levels lived longer than those who were completely inactive, but those who were very active did not have a significant advantage over moderately active individuals.
Interestingly, when looking at short-term results, researchers saw a clear pattern: the more active a person was, the lower their risk of death. However, over the long term, the highly active group had no greater survival advantage than the sedentary group.
This suggests that poor health may sometimes limit a person’s ability to exercise, making it appear that low activity leads to higher mortality when, in fact, an underlying illness may be the real cause.
Associate Professor Elina Sillanpää explained, “A hidden pre-disease condition may reduce a person’s ability to be active and eventually lead to death. This can distort the relationship between exercise and longevity in short-term studies.”
Meeting Exercise Guidelines Does Not Guarantee Longer Life
Another surprising finding was that meeting the World Health Organization’s exercise guidelines—150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week—did not significantly reduce mortality. Even when twins were compared, those who followed these recommendations did not live longer than their less active twin.
Dr. Laura Joensuu, one of the study’s researchers, pointed out that previous studies linking exercise to longer life are often based on observational data, which can be misleading. “Our research accounted for many possible biases, and with a long follow-up period, we did not find clear evidence that meeting exercise guidelines lowers genetic risks for heart disease or directly extends life,” she said.
Too Much Exercise May Speed Up Aging
Another part of the study looked at how exercise affects biological aging. The researchers used blood tests to measure “epigenetic clocks,” which estimate a person’s aging rate based on changes in their DNA.
They found that the relationship between physical activity and aging followed a U-shaped curve: both very low and very high levels of exercise were linked to faster biological aging. This suggests that extreme amounts of exercise may not always be beneficial.
Lifestyle factors like smoking and alcohol consumption also played a major role in how physical activity affected biological aging. This means that the overall health benefits of exercise may depend on other habits as well.
Genetics and Longevity
The researchers also analyzed genetic data from 4,897 twins to assess their inherited risks for heart disease and high blood pressure. They found that physical activity did not seem to significantly change these risks. Additionally, when they looked at 180 identical twin pairs—where one twin was more active than the other—there was no clear difference in mortality between them.
What This Means
This research challenges the common belief that more exercise always leads to a longer life. While moderate activity clearly reduces the risk of early death, being extremely active does not necessarily provide additional benefits. It also raises questions about whether exercise can truly counteract genetic risks for disease.
However, the study does not suggest that people should stop exercising. Regular movement still has many well-known benefits, such as improving heart health, maintaining muscle strength, and enhancing mental well-being.
The key takeaway is that moderate exercise appears to be enough for longevity, and excessive exercise may not offer extra protection—or could even have negative effects.
Future research will need to explore why high levels of physical activity may be linked to faster aging and whether different types of exercise play a role in longevity. For now, the best advice seems to be to stay active—but not to the extreme.
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The research findings can be found in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
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