Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched zealously for the mythical fountain of youth.
The Activity Pyramid won’t make us immortal, but it can certainly help us stick around a little longer- Matthew Muscat Inglott
The very foundations of our deepest religious beliefs still remain entwined with the concept of an immortal body or soul in some form or other.
In defiance of Father Time we continue to pop pills, potions and creams like there’s no tomorrow, literally. Despite our best efforts immortality continues to elude us, and history remains littered with evidence of our quest.
In their early attempts to cheat mortality, the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt erected great pyramids to act not only as tombs but as actual vessels into the afterlife, providing transport for their mummified bodies and prized possessions on their way to the heavens.
The pyramids themselves have certainly fared well in their fight against the millennia, and they remain standing as powerful symbols in more ways than one.
Today we will find out how a very different type of pyramid can serve as a mortality-defying vessel of our very own: the Activity Pyramid. It won’t make us immortal, but it can help us stick around longer.
You may have seen the Food Guide Pyramid before, which prescribes how many servings a day we require from the major food groups that should make up our diet complete with the tip of the pyramid symbolising sweets and unhealthy fats we should steer well clear of.
The activity pyramid works in much the same way, but tackles exercise. It was published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and prescribes weekly doses of various different types of activity we should shoot for throughout the week tooptimise our general health and keep inactivity-related medical conditions at bay.
At the bottom of the pyramid are the activities we should engage in the most; ideally as frequently as possible and on a daily basis.
These include suggestions such as parking further away from our destinations to increase distances we cover on foot, taking the stairs instead of the lift, and taking ad-hoc walks throughout the day. Every day spare some thought to how you can be more physically active through your normal routine.
On the next stage of the pyramid are activities we should aim to participate in a little less; between three to five times per week, and not necessarily on a daily basis.
These include more regimented types of activity like cycling, swimming, jogging, or sports practice whatever your sport of choice may be.
The upper level of the pyramid includes activities we should aimto include less still; at least two to three times per week. These include more specialised targeted formsof training like stretching and strengthening exercises, as well as active recreational pursuits like golf or bowling which also make avaluable addition to your overall activity tally.
At the very tip of the pyramid are the activities we should perform the very least. These include watching TV and playing video games; activities we should strive to cut down at all costs. So can this pyramid really help lengthen our lives? According to researchers in Taiwan, yes it most certainly can. Whichever activities you decide to indulge in, we now know that at least 15 minutes per day of moderate exercise can help add up to three years to your lifespan.
The study at Taiwan’s National Health Research Institute was conducted over a period of 13 years, and involved 416,000 participants. They regularly reported their levels of activity over the entire period, while the researchers closely monitored their health records.
Just 15 minutes of moderate physical activity per day was found to increase life expectancy by three years compared to those participants who remained inactive.
The study also showed daily exercise yielded a reduction of 10 per cent in cancer mortality rates.
When planning exercise based on the pyramid therefore, aim for an absolute minimum of 15 minutes of each unit of activity.
Meanwhile in Australia, researchers at the University of Queensland have proven that just like the top level of the food guide pyramid consisting of refined sugars and dangerous fats should be avoided, so too must the top level of the activity pyramid consisting of watching TV and playing video games be similarly avoided with grave urgency.
The study found that for every hour spent watching TV beyond the age of 25, we could be shortening our lives by up to 22 minutes. It is not the TV specifically that negatively affects longevity, but rather the inactivity associated with it. Any leisure pursuit that involves sitting still for extended periods of time should be avoided or cut down to a minimum. The same study also revealed that smoking two cigarettes spells just as gloomy a fate as an hour of TV.
So while scientists work on magical youth-preserving potions and gene-altering technologies in their bid to discover the fountain of youth, you can safely embark without delay on a simple anti-aging strategy of your own; live by the wisdom bestowed by the pyramid, and for a minimum of 15 minutes of exercise every day.
Cut your sedentary activities down as much as you can and basically steer clear of cigarettes.
If all else fails, consider that a calorie-reduced diet and a happy marriage are also both proven to offer you additional advantageous leverage on your longevity.
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