For years, the focus was on longevity, but a related concept has recently taken center stage: healthspan, which refers not to how long you live but how well you live. If your body is like a car, said Kerri Louati, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, a registered dietitian and director of women’s health clinical operations at LifeMD, healthspan isn’t how many miles it stays on the road, but “how smoothly it runs along the way.”
Much like a car, the better you care for your body when you’re young, the better it will function when you’re older. These six decisions can set you up for healthier years ahead.
Starting at about age 35, people begin to lose muscle, which can eventually affect mobility, metabolism, and recovery from injury. Strength training—a type of exercise that makes your muscles work against an external force—can help by both building muscle and preventing age-related muscle and bone loss, particularly in women.
“The research is strong that the earlier you start, the better your body is going to be,” said Liz Hilliard, a Pilates teacher and owner of Hilliard Studio Method in Charlotte, North Carolina. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see benefits if you pick up this kind of exercise later in life. “If you start strength training in your 60s, 70s, 80s, you can make legitimate progress,” Hilliard said.
A 2024 study found people who strength train have longer telomeres than those who don’t. Telomeres are the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes, and their length is a marker of healthy aging.
The best exercises to focus on are movements that engage multiple joints and muscle groups simultaneously, such as squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses, recommended Amy Killen, MD, ABEM, ABAARM, chief medical officer at Humanaut Health.
“Do resistance training at least three times per week with weights heavy enough that the last few reps are genuinely challenging,” she told Health. “Your body needs the stress of heavy loads to maintain muscle and bone.”
Regular cardio exercise is also crucial for maintaining health as you age. Experts recommend at least 150 minutes per week of cardio that’s of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.
Doing more than that may help you live even longer. A study of more than 116,000 adults found those who worked out at least twice those amounts dramatically reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease mortality (by between 22% and 25%) and all-cause mortality (between 20% and 21% ).
Killen recommended at least one to two sessions of high-intensity interval training per week, specifically incorporating sprinting on a bike, rower, or up a hill while running.
“Your body needs the stress of heavy loads to maintain muscle and bone and the shock of high-intensity effort to keep your cardiovascular system and mitochondria functioning optimally,” she said. “The person who strength-trains and sprints in their 40s and 50s is the person still traveling, lifting luggage, and recovering quickly from illness in their 80s.”
Experts pointed to two nutrients you should prioritize as you age: protein and fiber.
Protein supports strength training and builds muscle, helping to ward off conditions that become more common with age, including osteoporosis, frailty, and metabolic diseases.
Fiber, meanwhile, also has powerful preventive benefits. It feeds the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that “act like a built-in army protecting your health, influencing digestion, immunity, inflammation, metabolism, and even brain function,” Louati said. Getting adequate fiber also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and type 2 diabetes, Killen added.
Killen suggested the “30-30 rule”—or aiming for 30 grams of protein per meal and 30 grams of fiber per day. Try to get your fiber from whole foods rather than processed ones with added fiber. Good options are vegetables, berries, oats, bananas, beans, and lentils.
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on our health by driving inflammation, disrupting sleep, impairing immune function, and accelerating cellular aging, Killen said. Finding coping strategies when you’re young can help you manage stress before it accumulates and worsens.
One highly effective tactic? Spending at least one hour a week outside in nature with your phone turned off or left behind, Killen said.
Exposure to nature can lower levels of cortisol—aka the “stress hormone”—and give your brain a break from stress and digital stimulation. Spending time in nature is also associated with improvements in cognitive function, mental health, blood pressure, brain activity, physical activity, and sleep.
“Building a regular practice of genuine mental rest isn’t soft or indulgent,” Killen said. “It’s maintenance for a brain you’ll need for decades.”
Spending time with family, friends, neighbors, and other social connections can help us not only live longer but also live healthier. Social isolation and loneliness can increase a person’s risk for several conditions, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, and dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To get the most bang for your buck, Hilliard recommended combining strategies for healthy aging. For example, incorporate physical activity, like a walk or a fitness class, into time spent with friends.
A diet that prioritizes whole foods naturally leaves less room for snacks, sweets, and other ultra-processed foods. The more colorful your choices, the better.
“Eating the rainbow” can help you consciously add more fruits and veggies for your plate, and Louati said it’s a solid approach for health and longevity. If most of the foods you eat are brown or beige, it’s a sign to incorporate more whole plant foods in your diet.
“Whole foods are packed with phytonutrients that give plants their vibrant colors and fight inflammation and oxidative stress—two major drivers of aging and cellular damage over time,” Louati said.
