Exercise the key to eternal youth

19:12 Tue 29 January 2008

If you’ve ever dreamed the key to eternal youth might be slobbing in front of the telly with a ruby and a couple of cans of stella on the go - think again. New studies have shown that the key to a long and healthy life is, (as we always suspected), exercise. Fresh research from Kings College University London using 2401 sets of twins, has proved that an active lifestyle means...guess what? A significantly reduced risk of heart and coronary disease. Well we never.

But more interestingly. The research shows that people who exercise regularly are biologically, 9 whole years younger than the rest of the couch dwelling nation. (Which by the way includes us.)

By exercise we’re not talking a light stroll to the Tesco garage to stock up on Fruit n Nut. No ho ho! The men with beards and pointy glasses say the only type of exercise that will really make a difference is of the sweat inducing kind. Think long runs uphill in the snow. Jogging up steps doing air punches. 500 chin ups followed by a 3 mile icy cold swim. In other words, Rocky in a ‘get quick fit’ montage.

That’ll be no to the extra peshwari naan then. And yes to more than 3 hours of strenuous exercise a week. Anything less than that say the experts is simply a waste. So haul yourself off the couch, put on a naff old tracksuit and start limbering up for aerobics on the lawn. It could postpone death. And no, we don’t care if it’s raining.