Many Types of Exercise Can Lengthen Older Adults’ Lives

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Getting enough physical activity is vital for your health at any age. Guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes (or two and a half hours) of moderate exercise each week. But does it matter what types of activities you do?

A team of researchers asked this question about older adults. They looked at data from more than 250,000 participants in a national survey. People answered questions about their participation in seven different recreational activities. These included running or jogging, swimming, racquet sports, golf, and walking. The survey also tracked cycling and other aerobic exercise. Participants were first surveyed in the 1990s. Their average age was 70 when t