What You Are Reading About Exercise And Longevity Is Only Half True

I am going to say something out loud that the running and cycling media will not like. Most of what you read about exercise and longevity is half true. And I am saying that as a guy who is currently training for his second 125 kilometer Canadian Death Race.

Let me explain.

I do not run for the longevity claim

I run for the mental work, the moving meditation, and because my body still tolerates the abuse, and yes, it is abusive. I am doing this year’s race partly for charity. I am not under any illusion that running 80 miles in the Canadian Rockies adds years to my life. The race is not called the Death Race because it is good for you.

So when I push back on the endurance and longevity narrative, I am not coming at it from the outside.

The selection bias in the runners live longer studies

You see this headline often. Runners live longer. Runners get injured less than non runners. Runners are healthier.

I have not picked apart every study that produced these claims, but most of the strongest data come from long observational cohorts, often 20 years or more. The problem is that, by year 20, the only people still classified as runners are the ones whose joints, hearts, and metabolisms tolerated 20 years of running. Everyone else got selected out by injury, illness, or just plain quitting. What is left is a self selected population of genetically gifted endurance subjects, and that population may already have been wired for longevity.

This is not a knock on running. It is a knock on what the data are actually telling us. If you take 1,000 distance runners at year zero and follow them for 20 years, the survivors at year 20 are not a random sample of the original group. They are a filtered one.

What the other side of the literature shows

On the strength and power side, the longevity associations are direct and they survive into older age. Grip strength predicts all cause mortality reliably across many cohorts. One repetition maximum leg strength predicts independence and fall risk in the 60 to 80 year old population. Explosive power, the ability to produce force quickly, correlates with the ability to recover from a stumble, get out of a chair without using arms, and avoid the cascade that starts with a hip fracture.

You almost never see the same selection bias in strength studies because the strength assessment is a single point measurement. You do not have to lift heavy for 20 years to be measured. You can get tested on a Tuesday in October.

The intersection that actually matters

If you combine high intensity short distance training, including some sprint work where the joints allow, with resistance training for power generation, you get three benefits at once.

1. The cardiovascular work that endurance training is credited for.
2. The strength and power that predicts independence and survival into your eighties and nineties.
3. The fat loss benefit, since high intensity intervals plus resistance training is the most efficient combination for body composition change after age fifty.

You do not get this combination from running 40 miles a week. You also do not get it from lifting alone with no cardio at all. You get it from blending the two.

What to do

If you are in the 50 to 70 age range and you want exercise to actually buy you healthspan:

• Two to four resistance sessions a week, prioritizing compound movements. Squat, hinge, push, pull, carry.
• One to two short interval sessions a week. Six to ten rounds of 30 to 60 seconds of work, with full recovery between. Pick a low impact mode like cycling or the rower if your joints prefer it.
• Walk daily. Long slow cardio is fine background work, and a 30 to 60 minute walk most days is one of the highest return things you can do for the metabolic and mental load.
• Test grip strength every 6 to 12 months. It is a free biomarker and it tracks downstream things you care about.

So from a guy who runs ultras, I will keep telling you, do as I say, not as I do. Save your joints. Get strong. Get powerful. Let the long runs be a hobby, not a longevity plan.

— Doc