Promoting longevity through exercise is an interesting subject. However, once you start digging into the research it soon becomes clear that there just isn’t a great deal of information on this topic. There certainly is not a lot of information that suggests regular exercise directly increases human lifespan.
All is not lost, however. There is one fairly large study that recently reported people who exercise intensely will live three and a half years longer than their sedentary counterparts. All that pain and effort just for a measly extra three years hardly seems worth the effort does it? Hell, you spend at least that much time in the gym.
However, if we look into this a little more carefully, it’s clear that the benefits from a commitment to weight training go way beyond simply tacking on a few extra years to your life. An ever accumulating amount of evidence now suggests that a decline in muscle tissue underlines many of the undesirable conditions that we usually associate with aging, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, unwanted weight gain, an increased susceptibility to illness and a decrease in circulating anabolic hormones. It appears as though a commitment to bodybuilding enhances the quality of our lifespan tremendously by providing protection against these ailments.
Based indirectly on the research available, building muscle really does appear to preserve the physiological mechanisms that maintain youth and vitality.
A recent report documents the incredible economic impact that age-related muscle loss has in the United States. This report clearly showed that the direct healthcare costs attributable to muscle loss could be as high as $18.5 billion each year. Simply by preserving their muscles through weight training, adults in the United States could ensure that the country has an extra $18.5 billion in its back pocket each year. Not a bad deal.
