Does Exercise Really Add Years to Your Life? Twin Study Reveals New Answers

Physical exercise is often viewed as a means to prolong life expectancy; however, Finnish twin research suggests that the impact of physical activity on increasing one’s lifespan might not be as clear-cut as previously believed.

Scientists from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland explored the connection between sustained physical activity during free time and death rates, along with whether exercise could lessen the higher likelihood of dying associated with having genes linked to certain illnesses. Additionally, they looked into how being physically active might affect the process of biological aging over time.

The research encompassed 22,750 Finnish twins born prior to 1958, with their recreational physical activities evaluated in 1975, 1981, and 1990. The mortality tracking extended through the conclusion of 2020.

The findings were released in Medicine and Science in Physical Activity and Sport and the European Journal of Epidemiology .

Gentle exercise provides the greatest advantages for extending life span.

From the dataset analyzed across a 15-year period focusing on leisure-time physical activity, four different subgroups emerged: sedentary, somewhat active, active, and very active participants. Upon reviewing the mortality rates after a 30-year follow-up, researchers discovered that transitioning from being sedentary to merely somewhat active conferred the most significant advantage—an approximately 7% decrease in mortality risk. Engaging in even more intense levels of exercise did not provide further health benefits.

Upon examining mortality over different time frames—short-term versus long-term—a distinct correlation emerged for the brief period studied: individuals with greater levels of physical activity exhibited reduced risks of death compared to less active counterparts. Conversely, when considering extended durations, people maintaining high activity levels showed similar mortality rates as their inactive peers.

Associate Professor Elina Sillanpää from the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences states, “A potential precursor condition may restrict physical activities and eventually result in death rather than the absence of exercise. This could skew the relationship between physical activity levels and mortality rates over shorter periods.”

Adhering to physical activity recommendations doesn't ensure a reduced chance of death.

The investigators explored whether adhering to the World Health Organization’s physical activity recommendations influences mortality rates and susceptibility to genetic diseases. These guidelines recommend engaging in 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 to 150 minutes of intense workout each week. However, the research revealed that fulfilling these guidelines does not reduce mortality risks or modify genetic disease vulnerability. Notably, among pairs of twins who maintained the suggested levels of physical activity over a span of fifteen years, there wasn’t a noticeable statistical discrepancy in death rates when contrasted with those who were less physically active within the same sibling group.

As noted by postdoctoral researcher Laura Joensuu from the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences, numerous observational studies have shown a positive correlation between physical exercise and reduced mortality rates; however, these findings can be skewed due to several potential biases," she explains. "Our research sought to address multiple types of bias and, considering the extensive duration of our study, we were unable to verify whether following recommended levels of physical activity lessens one’s inherited predisposition towards heart conditions or directly lowers death risks.

The relationship between physical activity and biological aging follows a U-shape pattern.

For the subset of twins, their biological aging was assessed through blood tests utilizing epigenetic clocks. These clocks enable an estimation of a person’s biological aging speed by examining methyl groups, which control gene activity and are associated with the aging process.

Sillanpää states that they discovered an inverse U-shaped relationship between leisure-time physical activity and biological aging; individuals with either minimal exercise or excessive exercise experienced acceleration in their biological aging.

Various lifestyle factors, including smoking and alcohol intake, primarily accounted for the beneficial effects of physical exercise on biological aging.

For 4,897 twin individuals, genetic information was accessible. Researchers evaluated the twins' hereditary predisposition to coronary artery disease along with their systolic and diastolic blood pressures through the application of novel polygenic risk scores designed to aggregate overall genomic vulnerability towards illness. Furthermore, survival rates due to all causes and specifically cardiovascular issues were tracked among 180 monozygotic twin pairs. Additionally, the pace at which these 1,153 twins biologically aged was gauged based on an analysis of a blood specimen they provided.

The research was conducted in collaboration with the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences along with the Methodology Center for Human Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, as well as the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine located at the University of Helsinki.

The first authors of the studies, doctoral researchers Laura Joensuu and Anna Kankaanpää, belong to the GenActive research group. The GenActive group investigates genetic and lifestyle factors that predict biological aging, health and functional capacity. The group leader is Elina Sillanpää, associate professor of health promotion.

More information: Laura Joensuu and colleagues explored how genetic predisposition to cardiovascular disease interacts with physical activity levels and impacts mortality rates using data from the Finnish Twin Cohort. Medicine and Science in Physical Activity and Sport (2024). DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003482

Anna Kankaanpää et al., In their prospective twin study, they explore how long-term physical activity during adulthood impacts subsequent biological aging and overall death rates from any cause. European Journal of Epidemiology (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s10654-024-01200-x

Supplied by the University of Jyväskylä

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