Smoking is bad for you. But guess what's just as bad?

We all know by now that there are only two things in life that are absolutely certain: death and taxes.  Wait, three things: Ryan Gosling is sexually attractive.

But, for the sake of mixing things up, we’d like to add a 4th thing to the “things we can be certain about list”: the fact that smoking is bad for you.

We’re beaten over the head by that simple message by everyone from parental units to school teachers to commercials on television showing people that can no longer make it up the stairs because of the amount of nicotine they have ingested over the years.

And we know that in Australia alone, about 15 000 deaths per year are caused by regular, long-term tobacco smoking. In fact, smoking kills more people in Australia than all those killed by alcohol, drugs, murder, suicide, poisoning, fires, car crashes… the list goes on.

But what we don’t know is that your lack of a gym habit might also be killing you. According to a new study from Harvard, no exercise can be just as bad for your health as lighting up a ciggie.

This from Body and Soul:

Researchers say sedentary, non-active lifestyles are responsible for a whopping 5.3 million deaths worldwide, and the issue should be treated as a pandemic.

The study, which was published in medical journal The Lancet, claims that people in higher income countries are the least active of all.

Adults should aim to do 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity every day, according to current guidelines from the Department of Health and Ageing.

Dr Lee says a good way for people to get more active is to commute to work by walking or cycling.

How often do you exercise? How do you make the time for it?