“Exercise may be the single most potent medical intervention ever known.”

—Derek Thompson, in an interview with Euan Ashley

Image from Unsplash by Carl Barcelo

As with all medical advice, you may want to consult your physician before reading further.

Today’s quote is based on an interview between Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine, genetics and data science at Stanford University, and Derek Thompson.

Beyond the many listed benefits of exercise, perhaps the boldest statement from their discussion was “One minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life.”

Under this assumption, doing one hour of exercise, four days a week for forty years would buy someone four years and nine months of extra life.

The data for this calculation is based on a population of more than half a million people who were followed over ten years.

People who exercised at higher intensity were shown to get seven or eight minutes of extra life.

EXERCISE:

How would adding more exercise to your daily routine improve how you look, feel, and live?

What would you have the time to do with the extra years you gain?