Unlock the 5 Surprising Habits That Could Add Decades to Your Life – Number 3 Will Blow Your Mind!

Ever wonder if those headline-grabbing doom and gloom tales about shrinking lifespans were just a bad dream? Well, hold onto your hats, because Americans are actually living longer again — yup, life expectancy is creeping back to where it stood before the pandemic threw us all for a loop. Rhonda L. Randall, DO, the sharp mind behind UnitedHealthcare, spills the beans: premature death rates have taken a nosedive between 2022 and 2023. It’s like the clocks are ticking a little slower, and that’s some seriously good news! Now, this upswing isn’t just a blip on the radar — it’s part of a bigger story unveiled in America’s Health Rankings 2025 Senior Report. This treasure trove digs deep into what’s fueling senior vitality and what hurdles still lie ahead. So, if you’re curious about how to stack up more years with muscle, mind, and meaning — and actually feel those extra years— you’re in the right place. Get ready, because I’m about to drop five solid moves to keep you thriving, sharp, and engaged as the years roll on.
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Americans are starting to live longer again. “Life expectancy is now coming back to pre-pandemic levels,” says Rhonda L. Randall, DO, chief medical officer and executive vice president for UnitedHealthcare. “The premature death rate—that is, the number of years lost before the age of 75—decreased between 2022 and 2023 alone.”

That momentum is part of a broader picture captured in the America’s Health Rankings 2025 Senior Report, produced by the United Health Foundation, which offers a detailed look at what’s helping older adults thrive and where challenges remain. Drawn from its findings, here are five things you can do to not only rack up extra years, but feel strong, sharp, and engaged throughout each one.

1. Join A Cause

Donate your time to a movement you believe in, and you’ll be in good company: Volunteerism among older adults is up 19 percent in recent years, according to the 2025 Senior Report. Researchers find that volunteering serves as a good indicator of having a sense of meaning in life, which winds up paying dividends for both you and the people you help. Still at your 9-to-5? A meaningful job can provide the same stimulation and fulfillment.

“Maintaining purpose as you age has been shown to have strong benefits for your health, both physically and mentally,” says Dr. Randall. Working in the community garden or hauling donated goods can help keep you active, but even if your nonprofit gig isn’t an especially strenuous one, you’re logging extra steps just going to and from your commitment. Not to mention the face time with fellow helpers and organizers that keeps your mind engaged and your social ties double-knotted. This may be why research has found that people over 65 who regularly volunteer report fewer cognitive complaints and have a lower risk of developing dementia.

Take Action: If you’re retired and need a new mission, try your region’s Area Agency on Aging for information on nearby opportunities, suggests Dr. Randall. “Every community has one,” she says, “and they’re a one-stop shop for senior services, with really good connections to where people can volunteer in their community.”

2. Train For Strength And Stability

If you’re already deep into your own favorite form of physical activity, keep at it. For those who’ve been on extended exercise hiatus, getting active is as important for preventing injury as it is for getting fit. “What we really care about is preventing a fall with an osteoporotic fracture, because of the consequences that can have on your lifestyle,” says Dr. Randall. Taking a bad spill remains a significant risk for adults over 65, according to the 2025 Senior Report, and that risk is higher for women in the age group, 29 percent of whom reported falling in the past year.

Two types of activity in particular can help ward off injury: weight-bearing exercise, like walking and strength training, which helps to build and maintain your bones so they don’t break as easily; and stability exercises, including yoga and martial arts, which help you avoid falling in the first place. “There’s strong evidence that tai chi improves balance, so if you start to stumble, you’re more likely to catch yourself before you have a fall that results in a broken bone,” says Dr. Randall.

With both exercise types, you’ll also get a host of mental and physical benefits, including: reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, and dementia; socialization (with a walking buddy or in a group class); reduced anxiety; improved brain health; and—the perfect segue to our next tip—better sleep.

Take Action: If you’re just getting back into exercise, aim for two days a week of strength training and one or two sessions focused on balance—like tai chi, yoga, or even a dance class. The key is consistency and variety. As your conditioning improves, add one weekly session for each activity.

3. Revamp Your Bedtime Routine

Sleep gets trickier with age, and the 2025 Senior Report bears that out: 28 percent of adults over 65 are getting fewer than seven hours of shut-eye a night—an amount considered insufficient by the researchers. The culprits vary from rising rates of medical conditions, including sleep apena, to poor nightly habits like too much screen time and inconsistent bedtimes that are finally catching up to people.

This shortfall is a major problem for older populations. “Sleep is essential for our brain maintenance as we age,” says Dr. Randall. “If you’re not getting good enough sleep, you can start to develop a kind of brain fog we refer to as pseudo-dementia.” And over the long term, six hours of sleep or less per night at age 50, 60, or 70 is associated with a 30 percent higher risk of developing actual dementia. Your body feels the burden as well: Poor sleep is correlated with increased pain, weight gain, high blood pressure, and falls.

Take Action: Now’s the time to get back to good sleep hygiene basics by following these four rules:

1. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
2. Avoid electronic devices and bright lighting at night.
3. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool.
4. Don’t spend time in bed doing anything other than sleep or sex.

4. Find A Primary Care Physician (PCP) You Trust

If you’ve amassed a small army of specialists to this point, it might be hard to see the value in adding one more doctor to your contacts list—and a generalist at that. But one-on-one time at an annual wellness visit is well worth it. “If you don’t already have a primary care doctor, this is a really good time to establish one,” says Dr. Randall. “That long-standing relationship is important for making sure you’re getting the right screenings, catching any problems early, and able to get an appointment if you come down with something.”

Research backs this up: People who get their yearly checkup have a lower risk of falls and fractures, get more timely diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment, and have a 45 percent lower risk of death from any cause.

Finding a PCP you click with (who’s accepting new patients) isn’t always easy. Fortunately, the number of family-medicine and internal-medicine doctors and nurses specializing in the care of older adults is on the rise nationally, according to the 2025 Senior Report, with nearly 1,720 more geriatricians practicing in 2024 than in 2023.

Take Action: Locate a PCP through your Medicare Advantage plan, either via phone or using the site’s online tools to filter for the characteristics that matter to you. “We love helping people find and get an appointment with a primary care physician who’s a good fit for them,” says Dr. Randall.

5. Strengthen Your Social Connections (Even If It’s Online)

Consider it part of your anti-aging regimen to reach out and touch someone. “There’s very well-established research that shows the health benefits of staying connected with others as we age,” says Dr. Randall. Strong social bonds with family and friends are crucial not only for mental health (staving off depression and dementia), but also for lowering the risk of chronic physical conditions including heart disease and stroke and even helping you eat healthily, stay active, and sleep better.

And yes, connecting online counts—enough, in fact, that having high-speed internet access is considered a health factor in the 2025 Senior Report. (Good news: It’s up to a record high of 86.5 percent of households with adults over 65.) Wasn’t the web supposed to be making us more disconnected? Not necessarily. Recent research found that internet use correlated with a drop in feelings of loneliness over time. Another study showed that older adults assigned to chat on a 30-minute video call several times a week had increased cognitive test scores and memory-related brain function.

Take Action: If you’re not getting enough stimulating conversation from in-real-life sources (golf league, church group, book club), find your people where they live. Learn that social media site where your niece shares all the kids’ photos. Ask your grandson to teach you the online video game he’s currently obsessed with. Or just schedule a video call with your old college friend across the country. Because quality relationships, whether in person or virtual, keep your mind and body healthy.