Movement As Medicine: How Exercise Fights Disease And Extends Life

Show Summary

Discover how exercise can be used as a potent medicine in the fight to extend life. In this episode I explore how physical activity can transform your health and help you live longer. I dive into the science-backed benefits of movement, revealing how regular exercise can be a powerful weapon against chronic disease and why it should be a foundational pillar of any biohacking protocol.

Show Transcript 

Movement As Medicine: How Exercise Fights Disease And Extends Life

00.00

In this episode of Quest Biohacking, we're exploring the last of what I consider the 3 core pillars of health, wellness and a long life - Exercise.

And I’ll kick-off with a statistic to back-up why I feel it is one of the fundamentals of any longevity protocol: Meeting the minimum recommended exercise guidelines laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO) can reduce your risk of dying by any cause by 20-30%. Yes, you heard me right. You could cut your chance of dying by nearly a third by simply being more active.

So what is the recommended amount of exercise? For adults the WHO recommends between 150 minutes - 300 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous exercise.

To get 20-30% reduction in mortality you only need to achieve the minimum. You can potentially reduce your risk of dying even more if you exercise more.

But focusing on just those minimum recommended amounts. It works out at around just over 20 minutes of moderate activity daily, or about 11 minutes of vigorous activity. This is all you need to do to massively reduce your risk of dying.

Now, I’m going to come onto the definitions of moderate and vigorous exercise and suggest some types of activities that meet these definitions but before I do, I want to give you a brief explanation of why exercise is so good for us. Because most of us know that it is good for us, we hear this frequently. But most of us don’t understand how it impacts our body at a biological level — how it helps prevent disease and helps us to live longer. And not only do I think this is really interesting stuff but knowing what’s going on inside my body when I exercise and how it fights disease and aging helps to keep me motivated and exercising regularly.

 

How Exactly Does Exercise Prevent Aging And Disease?

 

03:12

Cellular Repair and Maintenance

 

Our bodies are made up of over 30 trillion cells. And our cells are constantly broken down and damaged by various stresses that we place on them (UV radiation, alcohol, extreme temperatures, the food that we eat - just life in general). But our cells can repair, grow and reproduce by a process called cell division. This process allows for the replacement of worn-out or damaged cells and the development of new tissues and organs.

Within our cells are chromosomes, thread-like structures that carry the genetic instructions from our DNA. During cell division, these instructions are important because they tell our body how to rebuild the cell - essentially they are the building blueprint of our cells and they make sure that a skin cell is repaired or replaced as a skin cell and a liver cell is replaced by another liver cell. 

On the end of our chromosomes are protective caps called telomeres. They act like the plastic tips on shoelaces, protecting the chromosome and preventing the ends of it from fraying or sticking to each other because if this does happen it makes it harder for our body’s repair crews to read the genetic blueprint and can lead to all sorts of nasty things happening.

For example the cell could turn into what’s called a senescent cell - This is a cell that has permanently stopped dividing but remains active in our bodies and can release harmful substances. These cells accumulate with age and contribute to age-related diseases and inflammation. The cell could just die - a process known as apoptosis, or it could even become a cancerous cell. And if you think about it this makes a lot of sense. Imagine those repair crews in our bodies immune system trying to read the blueprint to repair a stomach cell for example. But we’ve damaged this blueprint through all the junk food we’ve been eating over the years and they can’t quite make out the instructions as they repair it and they rebuild it slightly differently - it’s no longer a stomach cell, it’s an abnormal cell and this is thought to be one of the ways at least that cancers start.

So these telomeres, these protective caps prevent our chromosomes from being damaged. But as we age, these telomeres naturally shorten, which ultimately leads to disease, aging and death. But our clever bodies have a way of helping to prevent this by releasing a substance called telomerase (tuh-lom-eraze). You can think of this as a special cellular repair crew who reinforces those protective end caps.

Which finally brings me to my point. Because regular exercise has been shown to increase the production of telomerase which helps maintain telomere length, essentially slowing down cellular aging.

Exercise also enhances your mitochondria - these are the tiny powerhouses inside every cell that produce energy. As we age, our mitochondria naturally become less efficient, like old batteries that don't hold a charge as well. Exercise essentially upgrades these cellular power plants, keeping your energy production systems running optimally.

06:30

Fighting Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

Exercise is also a great way to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in our bodies. Exercise is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory interventions we have. Chronic inflammation is like a slow-burning fire in your body that accelerates aging and disease. Exercise kinda pours water on this fire reducing inflammation. It also help to combat oxidative stress - which is essentially cellular rust that builds up over time and stops our bodies from working properly.

Disease Prevention

On a broader level, exercise directly tackles the major killers. It reduces your risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many forms of cancer.

07:17

Protein Balance and Stem Cell Function

Exercise also maintains proper protein balance in your cells - ensuring that damaged proteins are cleared away and new, healthy proteins are manufactured efficiently. It also  helps preserve your stem cell populations, which are responsible for repairing and regenerating tissues throughout your body.

The remarkable thing is that all these mechanisms work together synergistically. Exercise isn't just addressing one aspect of aging - it's simultaneously tackling multiple pathways that drive the aging process itself.

So hopefully, this snapshot into the inner-mechanics of exercise have given you a deeper insight into why it is so important to do regular exercise. It’s not just about losing weight or keeping fit — although it will absolutely help you do this too — there’s a whole lot more good stuff going on under the hood than meets the eye.

 

08:11

Understanding Exercise Intensity: What Moderate and Vigorous Exercise Actually Means

Alright, now I’ve finished my little nerdy session let's get practical about what the recommendations actually mean. Because there's often confusion about what "moderate" and "vigorous" exercise really look like.

Moderate Exercise

According to the NHS, moderate activity will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. Here's a simple way to gauge if you’re doing moderate intensity exercise: if you can still talk but not sing, you're in the moderate intensity zone.

So what type of exercise is moderate? Brisk walking - not a leisurely stroll, but walking with purpose like you're late for an appointment or you’ve left a few minutes late for the school run. Swimming at a comfortable but steady pace. Cycling on level ground or with slight hills. Gentle dancing, gardening that involves a bit of digging or lifting, or playing doubles tennis.

The key is that you should feel like you're working, but you're not gasping for breath. You could carry on a conversation, but you probably wouldn't want to give a lengthy speech.

Vigorous Exercise

Vigorous exercise takes things up a notch. This makes you breathe hard and fast - if you're working at this level, you won't be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

Think jogging or running, swimming laps at a fast pace, cycling uphill or at speed, playing singles tennis or basketball, or doing high-intensity interval training. Something that gets your heart really pumping.

And most moderate activities can be modified to become vigorous simply by increasing your effort. That brisk walk becomes vigorous when you add hills or pick up the pace. If you’re swimming, switch from breaststroke to a front crawl. And the beauty is that 75 minutes of vigorous activity seems to give you similar benefits to 150 minutes of moderate activity - so you can essentially halve your exercise time by increasing intensity.

The important thing is finding what works for you and what you'll actually stick to consistently.

10:29

Beyond Traditional Exercise: The Movement Revolution

Okay, in this next section I’d like to dive into some of the more recent research about exercise and how we can use it as a disease prevention and life extension tool. And some of this research is beginning to challenge conventional thinking.

So first of all, we're seeing emerging evidence that moving regularly throughout the day might be more beneficial than condensing all your activity into one daily exercise session.

10:57

Exercise Snacking: Small Bursts, Big Benefits

Scientists are studying something called "exercise snacking" - brief bursts of activity lasting just 2 minutes or less, scattered throughout your day. Research studies and anecdotal evidence from longed-lived people show these micro-workouts can provide significant health benefits and are surprisingly effective at improving cardiovascular fitness.

I suppose if you think about it from an evolutionary perspective: our ancestors didn't hit the gym for an hour and then sit motionless for the rest of the day. They moved frequently throughout the day in varied ways — hunting, foraging, running away from wild animals, fighting rivals — and these activities probably wouldn’t have been done for an extended period but when they were done they would likely be pretty intense and really get the blood pumping. And they would have been interspersed between the more sedentary life tasks. 

Exercise snacking mimics this natural pattern. You might do jumping jacks while waiting for your coffee to brew, take the stairs two at a time, or pop out a set of bodyweight squats or pressups in-between episodes of the box set you're currently binging. The key is getting your heart rate up briefly but regularly throughout the day.

12:11

The Power of Non-Exercise Activity (NEAT)

These exercise snacks contribute to something called NEAT - Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This includes all the energy you burn through movement that isn't formal exercise, and apparently it can contribute significantly to your daily energy expenditure and metabolic health.

The beauty of this approach is that it's incredibly accessible. You don't need gym memberships, special equipment, or large blocks of time. You just need to break up periods of sitting with brief bursts of movement that get your heart pumping. And this is something that I’ve started to work into my day and I find it real easy to do. I’ve just popped an alarm on my phone that goes off hourly and when it does I step away from the desk and do some lunges, pressups, high kicks, whatever! Just as long as it keeps me moving!

13:03

Strength Training: Your Insurance Policy Against Aging

The next thing I want to talk about is something that's often overlooked in exercise discussions because the focus tends to be on cardiovascular exercise that elevates your heart rate and breathing but is so, so important - Maintaining muscle mass as we age and how regular strength training can help us do this.

The Muscle Loss Crisis

Starting around age 30, we naturally lose muscle mass at a rate of about 3-8% per decade. And with this muscle loss comes a reduction in functional capacity, bone density, and metabolic health as we age.

Here's a sobering statistic that really drives this home: one in three adults over the age of 65 who break a hip will die within 12 months of the injury. Recent studies show that just 67.7 percent of men and 78.5 percent of women survive one year after a hip fracture. The mortality in the first year after hip fracture surgery ranges between 15% and 36%.

Why are these statistics so grim? Because falls and fractures in the elderly often trigger a whole bunch of other complications - from reduced mobility to infections to blood clots. But here's the thing: many of these fractures are preventable through maintaining muscle strength and bone density.

Strength Training to Prevent Muscle Loss

Resistance training doesn't just build muscle - it stimulates bone formation, improves balance and coordination, and maintains the functional strength you need for daily activities. Longevity researchers now emphasize that resistance training and grip strength have strong correlations with healthy aging.

Grip strength, in particular, has emerged as a strong predictor of overall health and longevity because it’s a good measure for overall muscle strength and function.

The great news is that you don't need to become a powerlifter. Using basic resistance training - bodyweight exercises like push-ups and squats, resistance bands, or simple weightlifting - you can get some big benefits. The key is consistency and gradually increasing the challenge over time.

Even two strength training sessions per week can make a real difference in maintaining muscle mass, bone density, and functional capacity as you age.

15:21

How To Build Your Exercise Longevity Blueprint

So how do you put all this together into a practical approach that works for your life?

Start with the Foundation

First, aim for those minimum guidelines we discussed - 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week. And by aerobic, I mean exercise that gets you breathing more quickly, gets your heart beating faster and gets you sweating. Remember, this could be as simple as a 20-minute brisk walk daily.

Add Movement Snacking

Next, incorporate exercise snacking throughout your day. Set reminders to move every couple of hours. Even 30 seconds of jumping jacks or a minute of bodyweight squats can make a difference when done consistently.

Include Strength Training

Add basic strength training twice a week. This doesn't need to be complicated and you absolutely don’t need to join a gym, just use what you have at home. Push-ups, squats, resistance bands and some light dumbbells can provide big wins and are an excellent starting point for most people.

16:36

Movement as Medicine

As we wrap up, I want you to try to think about exercise as medicine that happens to come in the form of movement. The research is clear: regular exercise and movement throughout the day can add years to your life and greatly improve the quality of that life.

Because you're not just burning calories when you exercise - you're activating cellular repair mechanisms, fighting inflammation, maintaining muscle mass, strengthening bones, and directly preventing the diseases most likely to cut your life short.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Choose movement over stillness. It will seem like an inconvenient effort to begin with but stick with it and it will start to become a habit and become easier. And I promise you, your future self will thank you for it.

Alright that wraps up this episode of Quest Biohacking,Thanks for joining me. I hope you’ll join me next time when I’ll be exploring another biohack. But until then, keep moving, keep optimizing and keep biohacking your way to better health and a longer life.

By the way, I want help as many people as possible extend their lives, so if you feel this podcast has benefited you and you could spare 2 minutes to leave me a positive review, I’d really appreciate it, as it will help other health-conscious people like you find it. 

Quick medical disclaimer: It’s important to understand that anything discussed on this podcast are my own opinions based on my research. I’m not a nutritionist or a medical professional and nothing here is medical advice. You’ll find my research links in the show-notes and I always recommend you do your own research before starting any biohacking routine.

 

Research Sources

 

WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128

 

Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/

 

Exercise Linked With Lower Risk of 13 Types of Cancer

https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/exercise-linked-with-lower-risk-of-13-types-of-cancer.html

 

Exercise for stroke prevention

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6122300/

 

No limit to the benefits of exercise in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease

https://www.bdi.ox.ac.uk/news/no-limit-to-the-benefits-of-exercise-in-reducing-the-risk-of-cardiovascular-disease

 

Exercise may lower type 2 diabetes risk even in those genetically predisposed

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/exercise-may-lower-type-2-diabetes-risk-even-in-those-genetically-predisposed

 

Exercise: A drug-free approach to lowering high blood pressure

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20045206

 

Mortality and cause of death in hip fracture patients aged 65 or older - a population-based study

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3118151/

 

Telomere extension turns back aging clock in cultured human cells, study finds

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/01/telomere-extension-turns-back-aging-clock-in-cultured-cells.html

 

Telomere

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Telomere

 

Apoptosis

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/apoptosis

 

Does cellular senescence hold secrets for healthier aging?

https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/does-cellular-senescence-hold-secrets-healthier-aging

 

Dissecting the mechanisms of cell division

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6663871/

 

Understanding the effects of nutrition and post-exercise nutrition on skeletal muscle protein turnover: Insights from stable isotope studies

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667268521000127#:~:text=Exercise%20increases%20muscle%20protein%20turnover,mitochondrial%20protein%20synthesis%20%5B7%5D.