I’m now 33 and in fantastic health. I run between 7-9 miles 3 times a week, weather permitting, as it’s a mix of cross-country and road.

But I decided to step things up a gear about 2 months ago by joining a gym.

Initially, partly due to a long standing knee injury, I really didn’t want to do any leg exercises. But my knee improved and decided to take all of my exercise routine on.

I’ve since seen a massive improvement in my stamina and lung capacity, which really surprised me, especially since this is only the 2nd month.

I’ve not actually lost weight, so I think I’ve just rearranged a whole bunch of fat molecules into muscle!

But seriously, this is all down to cross training; ellipticals, some cycling and plenty of rowing. As well as a mixture of lower and upper body weight training, too.

All of this takes at least 1-2 hours out of each day (I work out 6 days a week), but if I gain another 10 years of life on Earth, with most of those years spent healthy and disease free, I’d say it’s time invested, not ill spent…