Aim for six hours of exercise weekly plus daily movement like walking and stairs. Resistance training is crucial: muscle loss accelerates with age, but regular strength work protects muscle cells, improves insulin sensitivity, and supports brain health.
Aging is inevitable, but how you age is largely within your control. I'll also emphasize consistency is key. Based on these data, you don't need to go crazy. Try to target 6 hours per week of dedicated exercise in addition to getting daily movements, like trying to get more steps and trying to take the stairs rather than the elevator. I'll admit some hypocrisy there, but in my defense, I do live on the 37th floor. And do not neglect resistance training and weightlifting. The study here showed a bias towards aerobic activity, but building and maintaining muscles gets harder with age, and the best way to ward off the myocyte Grim Reaper is to resistance train and weightlift consistently throughout the life course. Strong muscles aren't just for aesthetics. They improve insulin sensitivity, they support metabolic health, and even function as an endocrine hormone-secreting organ that benefits the entire body, especially the brain.
