The Olympics are in full swing as athletes from around the world compete against one another on a global stage.

It may not surprise you to know, though, that research crews have found that on average Olympians live longer than typical aging adults.

We spoke with an aging expert from the University of Kentucky to break this down and what it could mean to the average person.

Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton.

The overall essence of this study was really comparing the life, the life longevity and mortality differences in a group of over 7000 Olympians to typical older adults or aging adults.

And what they found was that there was a substantial reduction in risk related to cardiovascular heart disease, related to cancer, related to other digestive and endocrine based conditions like diabetes.

So overall, the Olympians were healthier and that added five years to their life compared to typical older aging adults.

Dr. Rodas says there are elements of an Olympian lifestyle that can increase a person's health and happiness, nutrition and physical exercise.

Meaningful activity like learning to play a new instrument or speak a new language and enriched social environments.

Although an overwhelming majority of people won't be Olympians, we can learn from watching their performances.

As you're watching them.

Miraculous bodies do these wonderful things, remembering that they've put in countless hours to practice their skill, to help their body perform to its fullest efficiency, and to really maximize the resources of their environment that allow them to perform and engage.

So taking away make sure that we're we are also mimicking the healthy behaviors in that we're exercising and that we can take just a small piece of their daily life and integrate it into ours for an overall increase in our happiness and our overall health to help us live longer.

And Dr. Roberts says overall health is about more than a single lifestyle change.

So when we're thinking about overall aging and health, we have to make sure that we're thinking about heart health equals brain health.

If it's good for my heart, it's good for my brain.

And if it's good for my brain, it needs to be good for my heart or it will be good for my heart as well.

Their interconnected and it's how the body will continue to function and maximize the aging experience.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.

Thank you, Clayton.

Dr. wrote who says a good starting point for adults looking to live a healthier life.

Get 30 minutes of exercise a day.