A cancer doctor has revealed why playing racquet sports like tennis or pickleball could be the secret to living up to 10 years longer.
US doctor Amit Garg pointed out that multiple studies have found players live seven to 10 years longer than people who lead sedentary lifestyles.
According to the Copenhagen City Heart Study, people who played tennis had a predicted life expectancy gain of 9.7 years.
In findings published in September 2020, researchers found that playing racquet sports was associated with a longer life expectancy after tracking more than 8,500 participants for up to 25 years.
Longevity expert Dan Buettner, who spent decades travelling the world studying Blue Zones – regions where people routinely live well into their 90s and beyond – echoed those findings.
‘Everyone knows that physical activity is good for your life expectancy. If you walk, swim or jog every day, that adds over three years to your life. But the sports that offer the most years involve a racquet,’ he said.
‘Badminton adds about six years to your life expectancy and tennis adds over nine years – that’s more than golf and way more than boxing and football, which run the risk of head trauma that can actually lower your life expectancy.
‘Pickleball offers the most years – why? Well it’s a racquet sport but it’s also easy to learn and it’s constantly social.’
Racquet sports like tennis and pickleball have been linked to adding up to 10 years to your life
US doctor Amit Garg revealed why playing racquet sports like tennis or pickleball could be the secret to living up to 10 years longer
Dan explained how anyone can play pickleball regularly.
‘It’s something you can do every day and it’s available to just about anybody for very cheap. So you want to live longer? Pick up a racquet,’ he said.
Studies have found racquet sports are linked with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression.
The Cancer Institute NSW reported that being physically active can reduce the risk of 13 types of cancer. It recommends one hour of moderate activity or 30 minutes of vigorous activity each day to help reduce cancer risk and improve overall health.
You can do it all at once or in short 10-minute bursts throughout the day. If you can talk while exercising, it is moderate intensity. Exercise that makes you ‘huff and puff’ is vigorous intensity.
In May, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki claimed that doing something far simpler like carrying groceries from the car to your kitchen could reduce cancer risk by almost half.
The popular scientist highlighted research suggesting that just four minutes of vigorous incidental movement spread throughout the day may significantly reduce the risk of serious illness – including cancer.
Running up the stairs, speed walking to grab a coffee, or powering through the housework a little faster than usual can lead to tiny bursts of ‘huffing and puffing’ that may have greater health benefits than most people realise.
‘Instead of walking from here to there, you decide to walk from here to there quickly for one minute,’ Dr Karl explained in a video.
‘And if you do that four to five times a day – the health benefits are measurable.’
World-renowned longevity expert Dan Buettner (pictured) spent decades travelling the world studying Blue Zones – regions where people routinely live well into their 90s and beyond. He also credited pickleball for adding years to your life expectancy
According to Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, doing something far simpler like carrying groceries from the car to your kitchen could reduce cancer risk by almost half
The advice was backed by research from the University of Sydney, which found that short bursts of high-intensity movement during everyday life were associated with major reductions in premature death.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, examined what researchers call ‘vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity’, or VILPA – essentially tiny bursts of vigorous effort naturally built into daily life.
That could mean sprinting for a bus or train, carrying heavy groceries from your car to the kitchen, running upstairs, walking briskly between errands, or chasing children around the house.
Researchers found that just three to four one-minute bursts of this type of activity per day were associated with up to a 40 per cent reduction in cancer-related and overall mortality, along with a 49 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Importantly, the participants were not gym-goers or regular athletes.
The findings focused largely on adults who did not formally exercise, highlighting what experts say is a major shift in how people think about movement and fitness.
Lead researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis said the study showed people could achieve benefits similar to high-intensity interval training – or HIIT workouts – simply by increasing the intensity of ordinary daily tasks.
‘A few very short bouts totalling three to four minutes a day could go a long way,’ he said.
‘There are many daily activities that can be tweaked to raise your heart rate for a minute or so.’
