That is not a trite comment because most of us don’t live very natural lifestyles. We sit around most of the day and eat processed “food” and drink sugary “water”. Humans are built for mobility. We are bipedal and that physiological mutation allows us to travel far and fast allowing us to overcome other beasts or to gather food far and wide. That helped early humanoids feed well and so mental development followed and fortuitous physiological mutations leading to larger brains. The point is that we are built to run.
As we have grown fatter from over feeding in the past few decades, we have tempted the grim reaper so that people are beginning to care about how long they live. And the science tells us that we need to be fit to live.
Another study shows that the more active you are the longer you live. If you exercise like an Olympian you could live 3-4 years longer. (Maybe if you are a couch potato you live 3-4 years less?) The advice to “shake it up baby” is well meant. You’ll live happier and longer. And you can bet the pain of going for a 20 minute jog is far less than the pain of a heart attack or chemo.
BBC: Olympian lifespan ‘possible for all’
BBC: Male manual workers ‘live longer’
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