The Relationship Between Exercise and Human Longevity

The thesis for this research project is, Physical activity, exercise, and healthy lifestyle choices will increase life expectancy and improve ones quality of life also. I started the research project with three research questions that I wanted to answer.

1. What is the difference between physical activity, exercise, and healthy lifestyle?
   
2. Of the three groups those who are active, those people that implement a program of exercise or physical fitness and those who engage in a healthy lifestyle which group increases their longevity the most?
   
3. How does exercising increase longevity and quality of life?

The first question was fairly easy to answer, the second was not answered to my satisfaction, and the third question was also easy to find answers to. It seems that with all of the variables to human mortality such as diet, environment, geographic location, fitness levels, etc. that there is no concrete research being done to estimate a range of increased longevity based on lifestyle and exercise. I conducted my research by searching out and reading over 150 articles on topics such as physical fitness, longevity, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, exercise for the elderly, exercise, heart health, and other related topics. Of all of the articles that I retrieved I saved over 25 as verifiable, reliable sources for my research paper. I found that the fitness levels that I had divided my research groups into were all part of a healthy lifestyle and are referred to as healthy lifestyle options, meaning that these are not necessarily different groups but different levels of the one group. What I also found is that yes healthy lifestyle choices will extend your life expectancy. Physical fitness increases our bone density, reduces the amount of muscle that we lose as we age, including the muscle of the heart, and it improves the quality of our lives in later years and aids in maintaining our physical independence longer.

The Relationship Between Healthy Lifestyle Choices and Increased Life Expectancy.

INTRODUCTION

SM Early

Credit: Photo taken by my fiancee G. Chesterman

Copyright: Sharon Early