Walking, Running Or Swimming: Which Exercise Is The Best For Longevity?

It has been long-established that exercising frequently can do wonders for your health, including boosting life expectancy. The National Health Service stated that regular exercise lowers your risk of dying early by up to 30%.

Many studies have proven that those who exercise regularly are at a lower risk of developing a host of chronic ailments. These researches have also shown how performing physical activities can improve your mood, energy, self-esteem, and sleep quality. With many types of exercises, however, which is considered the best one to improve life expectancy?

The Best Exercise For Longevity

In research where more than 40,000 men between 20 and 90 years old participated, researchers monitored their activities for 32 years. At the end of the study, researchers found that swimmers are at a 50% lower risk of dying young compared to walkers or runners.

Steven Blair, the lead researcher and a University of South Carolina professor of exercise science, expressed surprise at the result. He had expected to see both runners and swimmers enjoying lower risk of dying. It turned out that swimmers enjoy a considerably lower death rate compared to runners.

The Reason

Researchers established that while swimming is extremely aerobic, it does not cause much strain on the lower joints compared to walking or running. This is why swimming provides your health with more benefits than the other two types of exercises.

The lead researchers also found that regular swimmers enjoy higher cardiorespiratory fitness compared to walkers and people who lead sedentary lives. Blair concluded that swimming provides you with a healthful alternative, as compared to traditional exercise modes, for improving your cardiorespiratory fitness. It is also the best way to maintain overall health and provides the most benefits for patients who have chronic ailments.

He also said that swimming is a great alternative exercise for those who are unable to engage in physical activities like running or other forms of physical endeavors. The findings of the research were published in the International Journal of Aquatic Education and Research.

Dr. I-Min Lee of the Harvard Medical School agrees, saying swimming is the perfect workout. The professor of medicine explained that swimming is best for arthritic patients because it is essentially a weight-bearing exercise.