How much exercise you need to add years to your life [infographic]

Exercise can help add years to your life, and life to your years, by partially counteracting the effects of ageing on your body.

Regular exercise helps you live a longer, healthier life because it can keep your bones, muscles, and joints healthy; lower your blood pressure and improve your mood. It can also help you maintain a healthy weight.

In addition, it can:

• Lower your chances of heart disease
• Relieve joint swelling and pain for chronic conditions like arthritis or diabetes
• Help with your balance, so you’re less likely to fall and break bones
• Reduce your likelihood of developing diabetes, colon cancer and osteoporosis.

One Harvard Nurses’ Health Study found that women who walked 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of diabetes by 30%. Another review published in the British Journal of Cancer found consistent evidence that regular physical activity reduced the risk for colon cancer by about 24% in men.

Importantly, although a minimum of 30 min of moderate-intensity activity on most days of the week is recommended, a recent very large observational study showed that even a smaller amount of leisure-time physical activity (just 15 min/day, six days/week) reduces your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get moving!