Being fit doesn't mean you're going to live longer.
We must also focus on health, nutrition and longevity.
Within the ancestral wisdom of Ayurveda, there is talk of how to achieve comprehensive health. It has an entire area of medicine called Rasayana, which means rejuvenation. Now, with modern science, it has been possible to verify with different studies and blood biomarkers evaluations on exercise, performance, longevity and stress.
It is optimal to opt for the unification of ancestral wisdom with modern science.
A common mistake of modern life is to repeatedly injure oneself through sports, pushing the body to its limits and subjecting it to immense stress, forgetting that the body is holistic and must work as a whole.
Exercising for 45 to 60 minutes a day for intense amounts of time has been found to cause inflammation and cardiovascular problems, which may decrease life expectancy, appearance, or affect short- or long-term health (Mayo Clinic Proceedings Study, 2014, Excessive physical activity linked to increased risk of heart attack).
If we talk about principles of exercise, nutrition and longevity, both must be put into practice and experience. Ayurveda recommends that we learn from experiences, listen to our body, observing and feeling what works for our biotype and what doesn't, in terms of nutrition, lifestyle and social life.
From the point of view of modern science, knowing our metabolism, stressors, hormonal levels and tendencies will also give us a clue to work on our body in an integral way.
Small routines and small habits that add up are the key.
Over time we can see results, it is advisable to know ourselves thoroughly according to ancestral and modern wisdom.
Reducing inflammation and living a balanced and happy life involves changing the mental paradigms we have grown up with. Combining ancestral wisdom with modern science will lead us to a better understanding of our body, health and longevity so as not to subject our body to intense physical stress that causes more harm than health.