Martin Lewis has shared a "really important" aspect of life that people say 'everyone should be aware of' when they retire in a recent episode of his BBC Sounds podcast. The Money Saving Expert founder regularly releases new episodes of The Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live with "extra tricks and inside information you won't find anywhere else".

During a recent episode, the finance specialist discussed retirement in his 'Tell Us' segment and chatted about what people have learnt after retiring that they would now tell others in advance. An "important" tip Mr Lewis spoke about was all to do with maintaining good health and keeping in mind your 'lifespan' and 'healthspan'.

Explaining what his 'Tell Us' section of the podcast was for the week, Mr Lewis said: "What had no one warned you about when you retired that you would now like to warn other people about? So what I was trying to get up from this is if you're retired, what is your top tip that you would tell other people that you wish someone had told you and we have had some beautiful answers."

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Mr Lewis shared a reply sent in by a listener called Graham, who said lifespan and healthspan 'are different things'. The money expert said: "Quite right. This is what my wife specialises in, so I hear a lot about it in my house."

Reading out the rest of Graham's statement, Mr Lewis said: "Enjoy your health span while you can and maintain your muscle mass. You want to be able to lift cabin bags into the overhead rack at 80, and not be out of breath walking up a flight of steps."

Adding his own view on this, Mr Lewis said: "So, it's cardio that's important, but also weights are important, and squats, and being able to get out of a chair - all really important."

Going into more detail about "lifespan versus health span", which Mr Lewis describes as "interesting", he added: "It's the whole, 'do you really want to live to 150', is it actually what we want? That's lifespan.

"Health span is about living as long as you can, when you have your health to be able to be both mentally and physically functional, and out there and doing things that you enjoy. And again, this is all from my wife, Lara Lewington, a health-tech specialist. Maximising our health spans and being healthy as long as possible is arguably more important than maximising our lifespans."

Lifespan refers to how many years a person lives, whereas healthspan is the time spent in good health, free of long-term illnesses or declines in abilities. The main difference is between how many years and how good those years are. The goal of increasing healthspan is to ensure that the years lived are healthy, not just to live longer.

To stay healthy during retirement, it's important to have a balanced plan that keeps your muscles strong, bones healthy, heart in good shape, and helps with balance and flexibility so you can do things on your own. Experts say you should combineaerobic exercise, strength training, and especially mobility- and balance-focused exercises, aiming for about 150 minutes of moderate activity each week.

According to UCLA Health, improving your healthspan means sticking to healthy habits. This includes doing different types of exercise regularly, like strength training and cardio, eating a healthy diet (like the Mediterranean or DASH diet), getting seven to nine hours of good sleep, managing stress, and having good friendships. Important tips are to stay away from harmful things like smoking, drink less alcohol, and keep your metabolism healthy.