Physical activity reduces many major mortality risk factors including arterial 
hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, 
stroke, and cancer. All-cause mortality is decreased by about 30% to 35% in 
physically active as compared to inactive subjects. The purpose of this paper 
was to synthesize the literature on life expectancy in relation to physical 
activity. A systematic PubMed search on life expectancy in physically active and 
inactive individuals was performed. In addition, articles comparing life 
expectancy of athletes compared to that of nonathletes were reviewed. Results of 
13 studies describing eight different cohorts suggest that regular physical 
activity is associated with an increase of life expectancy by 0.4 to 6.9 years. 
Eleven studies included confounding risk factors for mortality and revealed an 
increase in life expectancy by 0.4 to 4.2 years with regular physical activity. 
Eleven case control studies on life expectancy in former athletes revealed 
consistently greater life expectancy in aerobic endurance athletes but 
inconsistent results for other athletes. None of these studies considered 
confounding risk factors for mortality. In conclusion, while regular physical 
activity increases life expectancy, it remains unclear if high-intensity sports 
activities further increase life expectancy.