Derek Burnett
Derek Burnett is a Contributing Writer at Bottom Line Personal, where he writes frequently on health and wellness. He is also a contributing editor with Reader’s Digest magazine.
It’s no secret that exercise is great for you. Even in ancient civilizations, people knew that moving was better than idleness and that challenging our hearts, lungs, and muscles was a way to make them stronger and healthier. But in recent decades, studies have continued to pile up that reveal that the benefits of exercise are something very close to a miracle drug. The more we learn, the more it seems that there is no system in the human body that isn’t helped by exercise. If you’re not regularly moving your body, you’re not only increasing your risk of “sitting disease,” you’re missing out on what is arguably the most effective therapy we have. Plus, it’s free (or at least it can be), and it feels great (at least once you get going).
If you need some inspiration, consider some of the latest science about what exercise does for our bodies.
A 2022 paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology describes what happens to the heart and vascular system when we exercise. In short, exercise brings about structural changes to the heart and blood vessels, making them bigger, stronger, and more efficient, reducing several cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure, obesity, inflammation, and cholesterol. Increasing physical activity and cardiovascular fitness is, in turn, linked with a 15%-40% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
If you know someone who seems many years younger than their calendar age, chances are they live an active lifestyle. That’s no longer just an intuitive observation…it’s backed up by science. The DNA strands of our cells have tiny caps on their ends called telomeres, which shorten with age. When researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine examined the telomeres of about 1,500 older women, they found that those who were sedentary for 10 or more hours per day and got less than 40 minutes of daily exercise had, on average, the telomeres of women eight years older than them. Put bluntly, sitting around and not exercising had aged these women by nearly a decade. But the good news is that some women who were sedentary for 10 hours each day had not experienced this biological aging…because they had gotten at least 40 minutes of daily exercise.
And it’s not just about looking younger, but living longer. A PLOS Medicine study found a nearly 4.5-year longevity benefit among people who spent the greatest number of leisure hours doing physical activities. And a research paper published in Nature Medicine found that even a few short bursts of physical activity throughout the day can lower mortality risk by up to 40%.
An overview of 149 studies found that exercise consistently led to weight loss. On average across the studies, participants lost between 3.3 and 7.7 pounds…a modest but significant amount, especially considering that the average person lost around 1 pound of visceral fat, which is particularly dangerous. It’s often said that weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym, but there’s no need to choose between the two. Exercise works best for weight loss when it’s combined with new, healthy eating patterns. Together, they can create a cycle of feel-good practices that feed off each other.
Let’s face it…it can be difficult to work up the motivation to start exercising. Many people grudgingly decide to follow “doctor’s orders” and take up an exercise routine, only to find that they’re sore and grumpy afterward. They might scoff at people who romanticize about a “runner’s high,” or dismiss as empty boasting the claims of friends who say they’re addicted to working out because it feels so good.
But by starting small and sticking to it, increasing intensity only in gradual increments, you, too, will likely notice that you feel better when you’re exercising regularly. Also, exercise doesn’t have to be work. It can something you love to do, like gardening or dancing. And the benefits of movement also include daily chores such as vacuuming and climbing stairs in your home.
The good feelings you get from physical activity aren’t imaginary. In a pilot study of 22 volunteers with depression and anxiety complaints, those who undertook a yoga program for eight weeks did better on depression and anxiety scores than those who were put on a waiting list for the class.
If you’re concerned about developing diabetes or already have it, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to get moving. An analysis published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that for at-risk prediabetic adults, eating better while taking up a combination of cardio and resistance training improved glucose levels and glucose tolerance.
The brain is an oxygen-hungry organ. To function at its best, it needs a constant supply of blood. Exercise…especially aerobic exercise…makes our hearts work more efficiently and makes our blood vessels stronger and less obstructed. Over time, the status of our circulatory systems appears to affect inflammation in our brains, and plays a role in the fight against short-term memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia.
A pair of articles published in Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences provide solid support for the theory that physical activity makes for a healthy brain. The first study showed that, compared to sedentary participants, those most physically active had significantly more gray matter in key areas of the brain linked to thinking and memory. In the second paper, when researchers analyzed data on nearly 6,000 patients, they found that older people who did not exercise regularly faced an increased risk of dementia, while those who got plenty of physical activity enjoyed not only a reduced risk of dementia but also greater brain volume, particularly in the hippocampus, the area of the brain closely associated with short-term memory. Adults 75 and older were particularly likely to reap cognitive benefits from exercise, a strong counterargument to those who think it’s no longer worth it to lace up their sneakers.
Exercise even appears to improve memory. In a study of 100 adults with mild cognitive impairment, six months of resistance training (physical activity that involves weight-bearing exercises) two to three times per week was associated with higher scores on cognition tests.
Weight-bearing exercises are known to help preserve bone strength. Try to fit in at least two such sessions per week, whether working with free weights, machines, bands, or your own bodyweight. Among 227 patients, those who practiced yoga daily over a 10-year period saw improvements to their bone density, even if they started out with osteoporosis or its precursor, osteopenia.
