(English) Episode 58-Movement as Medicine - Hacking Healthy Aging and Longevity Through Personalized Exercise

Aging, a universal and inevitable process, is characterized by a progressive accumulation of physiological alterations and functional decline over time, leading to increased vulnerability to diseases and ultimately mortality as age advances. Lifestyle factors, notably physical activity (PA) and exercise, significantly modulate aging phenotypes.Physical activity and exercise can prevent or ameliorate lifestyle-related diseases, extend health span, enhance physical function, and reduce the burden of non-communicable chronic diseases including cardiometabolic disease, cancer, musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, and chronic respiratory diseases as well as premature mortality.Physical activity influences the cellular and molecular drivers of biological aging, slowing aging rates—a foundational aspect of geroscience. Thus, PA serves both as preventive medicine and therapeutic agent in pathological states. Sub-optimal PA levels correlate with increased disease prevalence in aging populations.Structured exercise prescriptions should therefore be customized and monitored like any other medical treatment, considering the dose-response relationships and specific adaptations necessary for intended outcomes. Current guidelines recommend a multifaceted exercise regimen that includes aerobic, resistance, balance, and flexibility training through structured and incidental (integrated lifestyle) activities.Tailored exercise programs have proven effective in helping older adults maintain their functional capacities, extending their health span, and enhancing their quality of life. Particularly important are anabolic exercises, such as Progressive resistance training (PRT), which are indispensable for maintaining or improving functional capacity in older adults, particularly those with frailty, sarcopenia or osteoporosis, or those hospitalized or in residential agedcare. Multicomponent exercise interventions that include cognitive tasks significantly enhance the hallmarks of frailty (low body mass, strength, mobility, PA level, and energy) and cognitive function, thus preventing falls and optimizing functional capacity during aging. Importantly, PA/exercise displays dose-response characteristics and varies between individuals, necessitating personalized modalities tailored to specific medical conditions. Precision in exercise prescriptions remains a significant area of further research, given the global impact of aging and broad effects of PA.(Izquierdo M, de Souto Barreto P, Arai H, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Cadore EL, Cesari M, et al. Global consensus on optimal exercise recommendations for enhancing healthy longevity in older adults (ICFSR). J Nutr Health Aging [Internet]. 2025;29(1):100401. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100401)