3 benefits of exercise essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500 words essay on exercise essay.

Exercise is basically any physical activity that we perform on a repetitive basis for relaxing our body and taking away all the mental stress. It is important to do regular exercise. When you do this on a daily basis, you become fit both physically and mentally. Moreover, not exercising daily can make a person susceptible to different diseases. Thus, just like eating food daily, we must also exercise daily. The importance of exercise essay will throw more light on it.

Importance of Exercise

Exercising is most essential for proper health and fitness. Moreover, it is essential for every sphere of life. Especially today’s youth need to exercise more than ever. It is because the junk food they consume every day can hamper their quality of life.

If you are not healthy, you cannot lead a happy life and won’t be able to contribute to the expansion of society. Thus, one needs to exercise to beat all these problems. But, it is not just about the youth but also about every member of the society.

These days, physical activities take places in colleges more than often. The professionals are called to the campus for organizing physical exercises. Thus, it is a great opportunity for everyone who wishes to do it.

Just like exercise is important for college kids, it is also essential for office workers. The desk job requires the person to sit at the desk for long hours without breaks. This gives rise to a very unhealthy lifestyle.

They get a limited amount of exercise as they just sit all day then come back home and sleep. Therefore, it is essential to exercise to adopt a healthy lifestyle that can also prevent any damaging diseases .

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise has a lot of benefits in today’s world. First of all, it helps in maintaining your weight. Moreover, it also helps you reduce weight if you are overweight. It is because you burn calories when you exercise.

Further, it helps in developing your muscles. Thus, the rate of your body will increases which helps to burn calories. Moreover, it also helps in improving the oxygen level and blood flow of the body.

When you exercise daily, your brain cells will release frequently. This helps in producing cells in the hippocampus. Moreover, it is the part of the brain which helps to learn and control memory.

The concentration level in your body will improve which will ultimately lower the danger of disease like Alzheimer’s. In addition, you can also reduce the strain on your heart through exercise. Finally, it controls the blood sugar levels of your body so it helps to prevent or delay diabetes.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Importance of Exercise Essay

In order to live life healthily, it is essential to exercise for mental and physical development. Thus, exercise is important for the overall growth of a person. It is essential to maintain a balance between work, rest and activities. So, make sure to exercise daily.

FAQ of Importance of Exercise Essay

Question 1: What is the importance of exercise?

Answer 1: Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. When you exercise daily, you lower the risk of developing some diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and more. It also helps to keep your body at a healthy weight.

Question 2: Why is exercising important for students?

Answer 2: Exercising is important for students because it helps students to enhance their cardiorespiratory fitness and build strong bones and muscles. In addition, it also controls weight and reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, it can also reduce the risk of health conditions like heart diseases and more.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Appointments at Mayo Clinic

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity.

You know exercise is good for you, but do you know how good? From boosting your mood to improving your sex life, find out how exercise can improve your life.

Want to feel better, have more energy and even add years to your life? Just exercise.

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, no matter their age, sex or physical ability.

Need more convincing to get moving? Check out these seven ways that exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you.

1. Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help you keep off lost weight. When you take part in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.

Regular trips to the gym are great, but don't worry if you can't find a large chunk of time to exercise every day. Any amount of activity is better than none. To gain the benefits of exercise, just get more active throughout your day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator or rev up your household chores. Consistency is key.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight is, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, and it decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which lowers your risk of heart and blood vessel, called cardiovascular, diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including:

• Metabolic syndrome.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Depression.
• Many types of cancer.

It also can help improve cognitive function and helps lower the risk of death from all causes.

3. Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to lower stress after a stressful day? A gym session or brisk walk can help. Physical activity stimulates many brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier, more relaxed and less anxious.

You also may feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

4. Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise sends oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to snooze? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster, get better sleep and deepen your sleep. Just don't exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to go to sleep.

6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can improve energy levels and give you more confidence about your physical appearance, which may boost your sex life.

But there's even more to it than that. Regular physical activity may enhance arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don't exercise.

7. Exercise can be fun — and social!

Exercise and physical activity can be fun. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply do activities that make you happy. Physical activity also can help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.

So take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. Bored? Try something new, or do something with friends or family.

Exercise to feel better and have fun

Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and have fun. For most healthy adults, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Or get at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. You also can get an equal combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aim to spread out this exercise over a few days or more in a week.

For even more health benefits, the guidelines suggest getting 300 minutes a week or more of moderate aerobic activity. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight. But even small amounts of physical activity can be helpful. Being active for short periods of time during the day can add up and have health benefits.

• Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn.

Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, swimming laps, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing.

You can do strength training by using weight machines or free weights, your own body weight, heavy bags, or resistance bands. You also can use resistance paddles in the water or do activities such as rock climbing.

If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

Remember to check with a health care professional before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any concerns about your fitness or haven't exercised for a long time. Also check with a health care professional if you have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis.

There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

Error Email field is required

Error Include a valid email address

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Thank you for subscribing!

You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox.

Sorry something went wrong with your subscription

Please, try again in a couple of minutes

• AskMayoExpert. Physical activity (adult). Mayo Clinic; 2021.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/our-work/physical-activity/current-guidelines. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Peterson DM. The benefits and risk of aerobic exercise. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed June 24, 2021.
• Maseroli E, et al. Physical activity and female sexual dysfunction: A lot helps, but not too much. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.04.004.
• Allen MS. Physical activity as an adjunct treatment for erectile dysfunction. Nature Reviews: Urology. 2019; doi:10.1038/s41585-019-0210-6.
• Tips for starting physical activity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/tips-get-active/tips-starting-physical-activity. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. June 16, 2021.

Products and Services

• Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine
• Available Solutions under FSA/HSA Coverage from Mayo Clinic Store
• Available Health Products from Mayo Clinic Store
• A Book: The Mayo Clinic Diet Bundle
• A Book: Live Younger Longer
• A Book: Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies
• A Book: Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, 5th Edition
• Newsletter: Mayo Clinic Health Letter — Digital Edition
• A Book: Mayo Clinic on High Blood Pressure
• The Mayo Clinic Diet Online
• Balance exercises
• Blood Doping
• Can I exercise if I have atopic dermatitis?
• Core exercises
• Exercise and chronic disease
• Exercise and illness
• Stress relief
• Exercising with arthritis
• Fitness ball exercises videos
• Fitness program
• Fitness training routine
• Hate to exercise? Try these tips
• Hockey Flywheel
• How fit are you?
• Marathon and the Heat
• BMI and waist circumference calculator
• Mayo Clinic Minute: How to hit your target heart rate
• Staying active with Crohn's disease
• Strength training: How-to video collection

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

• Opportunities

Mayo Clinic Press

Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic Press .

• Mayo Clinic on Incontinence - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic on Incontinence
• The Essential Diabetes Book - Mayo Clinic Press The Essential Diabetes Book
• Mayo Clinic on Hearing and Balance - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic on Hearing and Balance
• FREE Mayo Clinic Diet Assessment - Mayo Clinic Press FREE Mayo Clinic Diet Assessment
• Mayo Clinic Health Letter - FREE book - Mayo Clinic Press Mayo Clinic Health Letter - FREE book
• Healthy Lifestyle
• Exercise 7 benefits of regular physical activity

Your gift holds great power – donate today!

Make your tax-deductible gift and be a part of the cutting-edge research and care that's changing medicine.

• CBSE Class 10th
• CBSE Class 12th
• UP Board 10th
• UP Board 12th
• Bihar Board 10th
• Bihar Board 12th
• Top Schools in India
• Top Schools in Delhi
• Top Schools in Mumbai
• Top Schools in Chennai
• Top Schools in Hyderabad
• Top Schools in Kolkata
• Top Schools in Pune
• Top Schools in Bangalore

Products & Resources

• JEE Main Knockout April
• Free Sample Papers
• Free Ebooks
• NCERT Notes
• NCERT Syllabus
• NCERT Books
• RD Sharma Solutions
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Admission 2024-25
• NCERT Solutions
• NCERT Solutions for Class 12
• NCERT Solutions for Class 11
• NCERT solutions for Class 10
• NCERT solutions for Class 9
• NCERT solutions for Class 8
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7
• JEE Main 2024
• JEE Advanced 2024
• BITSAT 2024
• View All Engineering Exams
• Colleges Accepting B.Tech Applications
• Top Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Engineering Colleges Accepting JEE Main
• Top IITs in India
• Top NITs in India
• Top IIITs in India
• JEE Main College Predictor
• JEE Main Rank Predictor
• MHT CET College Predictor
• AP EAMCET College Predictor
• GATE College Predictor
• KCET College Predictor
• JEE Advanced College Predictor
• View All College Predictors
• JEE Main Question Paper
• JEE Main Mock Test
• JEE Main Registration
• JEE Main Syllabus
• Download E-Books and Sample Papers
• Compare Colleges
• B.Tech College Applications
• GATE 2024 Result
• MAH MBA CET Exam
• View All Management Exams

Colleges & Courses

• MBA College Admissions
• MBA Colleges in India
• Top IIMs Colleges in India
• Top Online MBA Colleges in India
• MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Score
• BBA Colleges in India
• XAT College Predictor 2024
• SNAP College Predictor
• NMAT College Predictor
• MAT College Predictor 2024
• CMAT College Predictor 2024
• CAT Percentile Predictor 2023
• CAT 2023 College Predictor
• CMAT 2024 Registration
• TS ICET 2024 Registration
• CMAT Exam Date 2024
• MAH MBA CET Cutoff 2024
• Download Helpful Ebooks
• List of Popular Branches
• QnA - Get answers to your doubts
• IIM Fees Structure
• AIIMS Nursing
• Top Medical Colleges in India
• Top Medical Colleges in India accepting NEET Score
• Medical Colleges accepting NEET
• List of Medical Colleges in India
• List of AIIMS Colleges In India
• Medical Colleges in Maharashtra
• Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET PG
• NEET College Predictor
• NEET PG College Predictor
• NEET MDS College Predictor
• DNB CET College Predictor
• DNB PDCET College Predictor
• NEET Application Form 2024
• NEET PG Application Form 2024
• NEET Cut off
• NEET Online Preparation
• Download Helpful E-books
• LSAT India 2024
• Colleges Accepting Admissions
• Top Law Colleges in India
• Law College Accepting CLAT Score
• List of Law Colleges in India
• Top Law Colleges in Delhi
• Top Law Collages in Indore
• Top Law Colleges in Chandigarh
• Top Law Collages in Lucknow

Predictors & E-Books

• CLAT College Predictor
• MHCET Law ( 5 Year L.L.B) College Predictor
• AILET College Predictor
• Sample Papers
• Compare Law Collages
• Careers360 Youtube Channel
• CLAT Syllabus 2025
• CLAT Previous Year Question Paper
• AIBE 18 Result 2023
• NID DAT Exam
• Pearl Academy Exam

Animation Courses

• Animation Courses in India
• Animation Courses in Bangalore
• Animation Courses in Mumbai
• Animation Courses in Pune
• Animation Courses in Chennai
• Animation Courses in Hyderabad
• Design Colleges in India
• Fashion Design Colleges in Bangalore
• Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai
• Fashion Design Colleges in Pune
• Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi
• Fashion Design Colleges in Hyderabad
• Fashion Design Colleges in India
• Top Design Colleges in India
• Free Design E-books
• List of Branches
• Careers360 Youtube channel
• NIFT College Predictor
• UCEED College Predictor
• NID DAT College Predictor
• IPU CET BJMC
• JMI Mass Communication Entrance Exam
• IIMC Entrance Exam
• Media & Journalism colleges in Delhi
• Media & Journalism colleges in Bangalore
• Media & Journalism colleges in Mumbai
• List of Media & Journalism Colleges in India
• CA Intermediate
• CA Foundation
• CS Executive
• CS Professional
• Difference between CA and CS
• Difference between CA and CMA
• CA Full form
• CMA Full form
• CS Full form
• CA Salary In India

Top Courses & Careers

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
• Master of Commerce (M.Com)
• Company Secretary
• Cost Accountant
• Charted Accountant
• Credit Manager
• Financial Advisor
• Top Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Government Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Private Commerce Colleges in India
• Top M.Com Colleges in Mumbai
• Top B.Com Colleges in India
• IT Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• IT Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
• MCA Colleges in India
• BCA Colleges in India

Quick Links

• Information Technology Courses
• Programming Courses
• Web Development Courses
• Data Analytics Courses
• Big Data Analytics Courses
• RUHS Pharmacy Admission Test
• Top Pharmacy Colleges in India
• Pharmacy Colleges in Pune
• Pharmacy Colleges in Mumbai
• Colleges Accepting GPAT Score
• Pharmacy Colleges in Lucknow
• List of Pharmacy Colleges in Nagpur
• GPAT Result
• GPAT 2024 Admit Card
• GPAT Question Papers
• NCHMCT JEE 2024
• Mah BHMCT CET
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Delhi
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Hyderabad
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Mumbai
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Maharashtra
• B.Sc Hotel Management
• Hotel Management
• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology

Diploma Colleges

• Top Diploma Colleges in Maharashtra
• UPSC IAS 2024
• SSC CGL 2024
• IBPS RRB 2024
• Previous Year Sample Papers
• Free Competition E-books
• Sarkari Result
• QnA- Get your doubts answered
• UPSC Previous Year Sample Papers
• CTET Previous Year Sample Papers
• SBI Clerk Previous Year Sample Papers
• NDA Previous Year Sample Papers

Upcoming Events

• NDA Application Form 2024
• UPSC IAS Application Form 2024
• CDS Application Form 2024
• CTET Admit card 2024
• HP TET Result 2023
• SSC GD Constable Admit Card 2024
• UPTET Notification 2024
• SBI Clerk Result 2024

Other Exams

• SSC CHSL 2024
• UP PCS 2024
• UGC NET 2024
• RRB NTPC 2024
• IBPS PO 2024
• IBPS Clerk 2024
• IBPS SO 2024
• Top University in USA
• Top University in Canada
• Top University in Ireland
• Top Universities in UK
• Top Universities in Australia
• Best MBA Colleges in Abroad
• Business Management Studies Colleges

Top Countries

• Study in USA
• Study in UK
• Study in Canada
• Study in Australia
• Study in Ireland
• Study in Germany
• Study in China
• Study in Europe

Student Visas

• Student Visa Canada
• Student Visa UK
• Student Visa USA
• Student Visa Australia
• Student Visa Germany
• Student Visa New Zealand
• Student Visa Ireland
• CUET PG 2024
• IGNOU B.Ed Admission 2024
• DU Admission
• UP B.Ed JEE 2024
• DDU Entrance Exam
• IIT JAM 2024
• IGNOU Online Admission 2024
• Universities in India
• Top Universities in India 2024
• Top Colleges in India
• Top Universities in Uttar Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Bihar
• Top Universities in Madhya Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Tamil Nadu 2024
• Central Universities in India
• CUET PG Admit Card 2024
• IGNOU Date Sheet
• CUET Mock Test 2024
• CUET Application Form 2024
• CUET PG Syllabus 2024
• CUET Participating Universities 2024
• CUET Previous Year Question Paper
• CUET Syllabus 2024 for Science Students
• E-Books and Sample Papers
• CUET Exam Pattern 2024
• CUET Exam Date 2024
• CUET Syllabus 2024
• IGNOU Exam Form 2024
• IGNOU Result
• CUET PG Courses 2024

Engineering Preparation

• Knockout JEE Main 2024
• Test Series JEE Main 2024
• JEE Main 2024 Rank Booster

Medical Preparation

• Knockout NEET 2024
• Test Series NEET 2024
• Rank Booster NEET 2024

Online Courses

• JEE Main One Month Course
• NEET One Month Course
• IBSAT Free Mock Tests
• IIT JEE Foundation Course
• Knockout BITSAT 2024
• Career Guidance Tool

Top Streams

• IT & Software Certification Courses
• Engineering and Architecture Certification Courses
• Programming And Development Certification Courses
• Business and Management Certification Courses
• Marketing Certification Courses
• Health and Fitness Certification Courses
• Design Certification Courses

Specializations

• Digital Marketing Certification Courses
• Cyber Security Certification Courses
• Artificial Intelligence Certification Courses
• Business Analytics Certification Courses
• Data Science Certification Courses
• Cloud Computing Certification Courses
• Machine Learning Certification Courses
• View All Certification Courses
• UG Degree Courses
• PG Degree Courses
• Short Term Courses
• Free Courses
• Online Degrees and Diplomas
• Compare Courses

Top Providers

• Coursera Courses
• Udemy Courses
• Edx Courses
• Swayam Courses
• upGrad Courses
• Simplilearn Courses
• Great Learning Courses

Access premium articles, webinars, resources to make the best decisions for career, course, exams, scholarships, study abroad and much more with

Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

Importance Of Exercise Essay - 100, 200, 500 Words

• Essay on Importance of Exercise -

It is our responsibility to take care of our bodies and stay fit in order to live a long life. People believe that eating healthy foods is sufficient for the body, ignoring the benefits of exercise. Doctors always advise their patients to make time in their lives to exercise and improve their health. Here are a few sample essays on Importance Of Exercise.

100 Words Essay on Importance of Exercise

200 words essay on importance of exercise, 500 words essay on importance of exercise.

Keeping our bodies fit enough to live a healthy and wealthy life is one of the most crucial components of existence. Getting up early, eating a nutritious meal, and keeping track of nutrients are all important. Our bodies require exercise as well as nutrients to develop our bones and muscles, boost our mental health, and lose weight. People can avoid orthopedic disorders in their old age by strengthening their bones. Obesity can be avoided by losing weight. People who resist being indolent and prefer to engage in physical activity are more likely to live a pleasant existence. At the end of the day, it is up to the people to change their way of life.

Exercising is one of the most vital processes that everyone should incorporate into their lives. Some people disregard the benefits of physical exercises and how they might help them live a peaceful life. Your body is your responsibility, and the least you can do is stay fit for as long as possible. Exercising not only maintains your body fit, but it also prevents ailments caused by a lack of physical activity. Half of all illnesses can be avoided by engaging in modest exercise on a daily basis . Consider the issue of obesity—obesity is caused mostly by excessive calorie intake and insufficient physical activity. Squats, planks, running, and other exercises can help in the reduction of body weight.

In terms of mental health, exercise has been shown to be a mood booster and aid in the treatment of depression and other mental health issues. This also aids in better sleep at night. Excessive calorie consumption can result in heart disease . Exercise is vital for persons who have long-term cardiac and diabetes problems since it helps them avoid future sickness. Some individuals believe that exercise is only done in a gym and is physically exhausting. However, there are a variety of workouts that can be done from the convenience of your own home.

Physical activity is regarded as one of the most vital components of life , yet many individuals tend to disregard it. Hearing the term "physical activity" drains some people, and they avoid doing it. But many don't realise how beneficial exercise is on its own. It not only helps to keep fit, but it also helps to prevent numerous long-term disorders. It is always preferable for a person to alter their lifestyle in order to do something beneficial to themselves. People must realise how good exercise is, and once they do, they will embark on a healthy lifestyle journey. The following are some of the advantages of exercising that individuals should be aware of—

Reduces Weight

Exercise aids in weight loss and keeping a particular amount of BMI for a healthy lifestyle . A change in diet can only help with calorie reduction; to burn fat, people must step up and conduct regular exercises every day. This activity can also help to lower bad cholesterol in the body and prevent future cardiovascular disease. Excessive physical activity depletes obese persons. They can, however, burn calories without going to the gym every day. Normal daily actions such as walking the stairs frequently, keeping oneself busy, and avoiding binge eating are also ways to lose weight.

Prevents Illness

To avoid pain, the bones and muscles in the body require exercise. Orthopedic experts advise patients to exercise on a daily basis to keep their bones healthy. People who follow a regular fitness plan will never tire quickly.

Some diseases or illnesses, such as stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and high blood pressure, can also be avoided with physical activity . While exercising, the brain releases hormones that make individuals joyful, which leads to a reduction in depression. Exercise has always been shown to be good in many aspects, and experts have supported this notion.

Elevates Mood

Exercise is the most effective mood booster. If you are going through a difficult time or need a solution to relieve stress, exercise is the only option. Most people have low self-esteem when it comes to their appearance. This can result in social anxiety and an eating disorder. Regular physical activity alleviates this anxiety . One can gain confidence in themselves and boost their self-esteem. People might also improve their mood by taking a short evening walk to relieve their minds of tension.

Exercise can help improve energy by supplying oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and assisting the circulatory system to function properly. People will have more energy to complete all of their chores this way. People sometimes find it difficult to socialise with others . They see no reason to leave their comfort zone and participate in any enjoyable activity. In this situation, exercise can serve as an excuse for people to socialise. Going to the gym and meeting new people can make your time and day more memorable. Dancing, climbing, backpacking, and athletics are all examples of physical activities that are simple to perform .

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

• Construction
• Entertainment
• Manufacturing
• Information Technology

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Investment director.

An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

Applications for admissions are open..

JEE Main Important Chemistry formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Chemistry formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

Aakash iACST Scholarship Test 2024

Get up to 90% scholarship on NEET, JEE & Foundation courses

Resonance Coaching

Enroll in Resonance Coaching for success in JEE/NEET exams

TOEFL ® Registrations 2024

Thinking of Studying Abroad? Think the TOEFL® test. Register now & Save 10% on English Proficiency Tests with Gift Cards

ALLEN JEE Exam Prep

Start your JEE preparation with ALLEN

NEET 2024 Most scoring concepts

Just Study 32% of the NEET syllabus and Score upto 100% marks

Everything about Education

Latest updates, Exclusive Content, Webinars and more.

Download Careers360 App's

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

Cetifications

We Appeared in

• Importance Of Exercises Essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500+ words essay on the importance of exercise.

We all know that exercise is extremely important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do. It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active. Over time, people may come across problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimise the amount of exercise they do. Exercise is a bodily movement performed in order to develop or maintain physical fitness and good health overall. Exercise leads to the physical exertion of sufficient intensity, duration and frequency to achieve or maintain vigour and health. This essay on the importance of exercise will help students become familiar with the several benefits of doing exercise regularly. They must go through this essay so as to get an idea of how to write essays on similar topics.

Need of Exercise

The human body is like a complex and delicate machine which comprises several small parts. A slight malfunction of one part leads to the breakdown of the machine. In a similar way, if such a situation arises in the human body, it also leads to malfunctioning of the body. Exercise is one of the healthy lifestyles which contributes to optimum health and quality of life. People who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of death. By doing exercise, active people increase their life expectancy by two years compared to inactive people. Regular exercise and good physical fitness enhance the quality of life in many ways. Physical fitness and exercise can help us to look good, feel good, and enjoy life. Moreover, exercise provides an enjoyable way to spend leisure time.

Exercise helps a person develop emotional balance and maintain a strong self-image. As people get older, exercise becomes more important. This is because, after the age of 30, the heart’s blood pumping capacity declines at a rate of about 8 per cent each decade. Exercise is also vital for a child’s overall development. Exercising helps to maintain a healthy weight by stoking our metabolism, utilizing and burning the extra calories.

Types of Exercise

There are three broad intensities of exercise:

1) Light exercise – Going for a walk is an example of light exercise. In this, the exerciser is able to talk while exercising.

2) Moderate exercise – Here, the exerciser feels slightly out of breath during the session. Examples could be walking briskly, cycling moderately or walking up a hill.

3) Vigorous exercise – While performing this exercise, the exerciser is panting during the activity. The exerciser feels his/her body being pushed much nearer its limit compared to the other two intensities. This could include running, cycling fast, and heavy-weight training.

Importance of Exercise

Regular exercise increases our fitness level and physical stamina. It plays a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It can help with blood lipid abnormalities, diabetes and obesity. Moreover, it can help to reduce blood pressure. Regular exercise substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease and eases the risk of stroke and colon cancer. People of all age groups benefit from exercising.

Exercise can be effective in improving the mental well-being of human beings. It relieves human stress and anxiety. When we come back from work or school, we feel exhausted after a whole day of work. If we can go out to have a walk or jog for at least 30 minutes, it makes us feel happy and relaxed. A number of studies have found that a lifestyle that includes exercise helps alleviate depression. Those who can maintain regular exercise will also reduce their chances of seeing a doctor. Without physical activity, the body’s muscles lose their strength, endurance and ability to function properly. Regular exercise keeps all parts of the body in continuous activity. It improves overall health and fitness, as well as decreases the risk of many chronic diseases. Therefore, physical exercise is very important in our life.

Exercise can play a significant role in keeping the individual, society, community and nation wealthy. If the citizens of a country are healthy, the country is sure to touch heights in every facet of life. The country’s healthy generation can achieve the highest marks in various fields and thereby enable their country to win laurels and glory at the international level. The first step is always the hardest. However, if we can overcome it, and exercise for 21 days continuously, it will be a new beginning for a healthy life.

Did you find the “Importance of Exercise essay” useful for improving your writing skills? Do let us know your view in the comment section. Keep Learning, and don’t forget to download the BYJU’S App for more interesting study videos.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Exercises Essay

What are the benefits of exercising regularly.

Regular exercise helps in the relaxation of the mind and body and keeps the body fit. It improves flexibility and blood circulation.

Which are some of the easy exercises that can be done at home?

Sit-ups, bicycle crunches, squats, lunges and planks are examples of easy exercises which can be done at home without the help of costly equipment.

Is cycling an effective form of exercise?

Cycling is a low-impact exercise and acts as a good muscle workout.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Counselling

Essay on Importance of Exercise: Benefits for Students

This article includes an essay on the importance of exercise in 1000 words for school and college class students. Also, explained points like the meaning of exercise, its benefits for students and improvement in life.

Table of Contents

Essay on Importance of Exercise (1000 Words)

School and college students can take help from this article to write paragraphs on the importance of exercise.

What is Exercise?

Exercise refers to physical activity or performing some physical work on a repetitive basis to relax your body and take away out all the mental stress. Doing regular exercise is essential in one’s life.

The advantages of regular exercise are often seen very quickly during a person if he does training regularly. An individual needs to be mentally and physically fit as we all have heard, “Healthy Mind lives in a healthy body .” So to remain fit and healthy one must do exercises regularly.

One must be both physically and mentally fit. Exercising plays an essential role in our lives. It helps us in staying physically meet. Out physical body is meant to maneuver. If we don’t exercise or walk daily, then we’d quickly get susceptible to different diseases overtime.

A bit like eating food , getting to work every day is a number of the essential aspects of lifestyle exercise is additionally crucial in daily lives, and one should make it a habit to a minimum of exercise 4 out of seven days during a week.

How will Exercise Improve You?

Exercise will assist you in maintaining your weight. If you’re overweight, you’ll quickly reduce by exercising as your calories will burn during your workout period.

Your muscles will develop, and therefore the rate of your body is going to be increased, which can help you in burning more calories than usual, albeit you’re not exercising. Exercise also will help in the improvement of both oxygen level and blood flow in your body.

With exercise, the brain cells are going to be released frequently, which helps in the production of the cells in the hippocampus. Hippocampus is that a part of the brain which helps in learning and controls the memory.

The concentration levels in your body are going to be improved, which can also lower the danger of diseases like Alzheimer’s. LDL cholesterol is the primary substance that results in the obstacle of arteries. Exercising daily will decrease the LDL cholesterol level within the body and increases cholesterol HDL.

Other health benefits of exercise on your heart are reducing vital signs, which can help in lowering the strain on your heart. The guts muscles also will strengthen if you’re exercising daily. If you’re exercising daily and are taking a healthy diet, your body has minimal risk of developing heart diseases.

The blood sugar levels of your body also will get controlled by exercising. They’re going to help in preventing or delaying the sort two diabetes. Fatness is one of the prime factors of diabetes, which may be controlled if one exercises daily.

Benefits of Exercise

The recondition and reviving of our full-body is helped by doing exercise. It helps us to form our muscles strong. Exercise also prevents obesity or helps in losing the load. It maintains youthfulness and delays the method of aging.

Exercise improves the functioning of the circulatory system and prevents cardiac diseases. It strengthens our network and prevents infections. Exercise improves our mental fitness and prevents insomnia and depression.

Training is sweet for the guts and also reduces the danger of developing type 2 diabetes and even the threat of certain cancers. Types of Exercises and their benefits:

1. Morning Walk

Morning walk is that the first and most ordinary exercise and is suited in most constitutions. Diabetic patients should do morning walk regularly as a morning walk is extremely good for his or her health.

2. Gymnastic Exercises

Under the guidance of an experienced trainer, only one must do gymnastic exercises. Gymnastics could also be positively dangerous to weak constitutions.

Yoga helps us to regulate our minds even as the body. Yoga may be a mixture of physical, mental, and spiritual exercises. Yoga is perfect for everybody. One must do yoga regularly.

To offer more importance to yoga now in our country Yoga Day is additionally celebrated on 21 June.

4. Free-Hand Exercises

Blank check exercises are straightforward exercises that will be quickly followed by everyone.

5. Aerobics

Aerobics means using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are done to form the body to consume more oxygen. Aerobics help to enhance the condition of the cardiovascular system and, therefore, the heart Example: Cycling, Swimming, etc.

6. Anaerobic

It means not using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are highly intensive and thus finished a brief duration of your time. Example: Weight Lifting.

7. Flexibility

It means to stretch your body the maximum amount as you’ll with none difficulty. Joint flexibility and muscular mobility have done by doing these exercises. Example: Stretching.

In doing exercise, you get nutrients and oxygen. It offsets the blood flow, which increases your brainpower, and you’re employed properly with a fresh mind. So these are the first benefits of physical activity.

We should always give proper time to try to exercise because maybe a famous proverb, ”those who don’t have time for exercise will need to find for illness”.

There are tons of advantages of doing exercise, and other people of all age groups can cash in of activity. Yoga helps in improving the strength and efficiency of the circulatory system, which can improve the flow of oxygen and nutrition in your body.

If your circulatory system is functioning okay, then you’ll find everything easy and supreme happiness in your lives. Exercising daily will assist you in improving your muscle strength.

Your muscles will get stronger, tendons, and ligaments will become flexible, which can allow you to maneuver quickly and can protect you from sudden injuries.

If you have strong muscles and ligaments, you’re having very little chance of joint and lower back pain, as all of your bones are getting to be in proper alignment. The coordination and balance of your body also will get improved.

Importance of Exercises

Doing exercise is vital for our proper health and fitness — physical exercises required in each and each sphere of life. The youths of our society today eat tons of food and appearance old before time. Their poor health is additionally one of the social problems.

People without healthiness cannot live happily and also cannot contribute to the expansion of our nation. Therefore to beat these problems, not only the youth of the society but everyone should do exercises to remain fit and healthy and contribute to the expansion of our nation.

Physical Activities are essential for college kids, and thus nowadays, in every school and college, individual classes are organized for physical exercises. Sometimes highly trained professionals also visit the faculties and colleges to show the scholars the physical exercises.

Activities for college kids are as important as their studies. Even in the offices nowadays, the physical exercise training opportunities offered to supply rest to the mind of the workers of their organization and to form them work without feeling any stress. Exercises are of great use to us.

To achieve life, both mental and physical development is vital. Therefore exercises are essential for the overall growth in one’s life. A balance should be maintained between his work, rest, and activities.

2 thoughts on “Essay on Importance of Exercise: Benefits for Students”

Thankyou.It really helped me alot.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Study Guides
• Homework Questions

The Importance of Exercise for a Healthy Lifestyle

• Health Science

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med
• v.8(7); 2018 Jul

Health Benefits of Exercise

Gregory n. ruegsegger.

1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211

Frank W. Booth

2 Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211

3 Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211

4 Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211

Overwhelming evidence exists that lifelong exercise is associated with a longer health span, delaying the onset of 40 chronic conditions/diseases. What is beginning to be learned is the molecular mechanisms by which exercise sustains and improves quality of life. The current review begins with two short considerations. The first short presentation concerns the effects of endurance exercise training on cardiovascular fitness, and how it relates to improved health outcomes. The second short section contemplates emerging molecular connections from endurance training to mental health. Finally, approximately half of the remaining review concentrates on the relationships between type 2 diabetes, mitochondria, and endurance training. It is now clear that physical training is complex biology, invoking polygenic interactions within cells, tissues/organs, systems, with remarkable cross talk occurring among the former list.

The aim of this introduction is briefly to document facts that health benefits of physical activity predate its readers. In the 5th century BC, the ancient physician Hippocrates stated: “All parts of the body, if used in moderation and exercised in labors to which each is accustomed, become thereby healthy and well developed and age slowly; but if they are unused and left idle, they become liable to disease, defective in growth and age quickly.” However, by the 21st century, the belief in the value of exercise for health has faded so considerably, the lack of exercise now presents a major public health problem ( Fig. 1 ) ( Booth et al. 2012 ). Similarly, the lack of exercise was classified as an actual cause of chronic diseases and death ( Mokdad et al. 2004 ).

Simplistic overview of how physical activity can prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and one of its complications, cardiovascular disease. Physical inactivity is an actual cause of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and tens of other chronic conditions ( Table 1 ) via interaction with other factors (e.g., age, diet, gender, and genetics) to increase disease risk factors. This leads to chronic disease, reduced quality of life, and premature death. However, physical activity can prevent and, in some cases, treat disease progression associated with physical inactivity and other genetic and environmental factors.

Published in 1953, Jeremy N. Morris and colleagues conducted the first rigorous epidemiological study investigating physical activity and chronic disease risk, in which coronary heart disease (CHD) rates were increased in physically inactive bus drivers versus active conductors ( Morris et al. 1953 ). Since this pioneering report, a plethora of evidence shows that physical inactivity is associated with the development of 40 chronic diseases ( Table 1 ), including major noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and CHD, and as premature mortality ( Booth et al. 2012 ).

Worsening of 40 conditions caused by the lack of physical activity with growth, maturation, and aging throughout life span

The breadth of the list implies that a single molecular target will not substitute for appropriate daily physical activity to prevent the loss of all listed items.

In this review, we highlight the far-reaching health benefits of physical activity. However, note that the studies cited here represent only a fraction of the >100,000 studies showing positive associations between the terms “exercise” and “health.” In addition, we discuss how exercise promotes complex integrative responses that lead to multisystem responses to exercise, an underappreciated area of medical research. Finally, we consider how strategies that “mimic” parts of exercise training compare with physical exercise for their potential to combat metabolic disease.

EXERCISE IMPROVES CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS

There is arguably no measure more important for health than cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) (commonly measured by maximal oxygen uptake, VO 2max ) ( Blair et al. 1989 ). For example, Myers et al. (2002 ) showed that each 1 metabolic equivalent (1 MET) increase in exercise-test performance conferred a 12% improvement in survival, stating that “VO 2max is a more powerful predictor of mortality among men than other established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).” Low CRF is also well established as an independent risk factor of T2D ( Booth et al. 2002 ) and CVD morbidity and mortality ( Kodama et al. 2009 ; Gupta et al. 2011 ). Similarly, Kokkinos et al. (2010) reported that men who transitioned from having low to high CRF decreased their mortality risk by ∼50% over an 8-yr period, whereas men who transitioned from having high to low CRF increased their mortality risk by ∼50%.

Importantly then, from the above paragraph, physical activity and inactivity are major environmental modulators of CRF, increasing and decreasing it, respectively, often through independent pathways. Findings from rats selectively bred for high or low intrinsic aerobic capacity show that rats bred for high capacity, which are also more physically active, have 28%–42% increases in life span compared to low-capacity rats ( Koch et al. 2011 ). Endurance exercise is well recognized to improve CRF and cardiometabolic risk factors. Exercise improves numerous factors speculated to limit VO 2max including, but not restricted to, the capacity to transport oxygen (e.g., cardiac output), oxygen diffusion to working muscles (e.g., capillary density, membrane permeability, muscle myoglobin content), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) generation (e.g., mitochondrial density, protein concentrations).

Data from the HERITAGE Family Study has provided some of the first knowledge of genes associated with VO 2max plasticity because of endurance-exercise training. Following 6 wk of cycling training at 70% of pretraining VO 2max , Timmons et al. (2010) performed messenger RNA (mRNA) expression microarray profiling to identify molecules potentially predicting VO 2max training responses, and then assessed these molecular predictors to determine whether DNA variants in these genes correlated with VO 2max training responses. This approach identified 29 mRNAs in skeletal muscle and 11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that predicted ∼50% and ∼23%, respectively, of the variability in VO 2max plasticity following aerobic training ( Timmons et al. 2010 ). Intriguingly, pretraining levels of these mRNAs were greater in subjects that achieved greater increases in VO 2max following aerobic training, and of the 29 mRNAs, >90% were unchanged with aerobic training, suggesting that alternative exercise intervention paradigms or pharmacological strategies may be needed to improve VO 2max in individuals with a low responder profile for the identified predictor genes ( Timmons et al. 2010 ). Keller et al. (2011) found that, in response to endurance training, improvements in VO 2max were associated with effectively up-regulating proangiogenic gene networks and miRNAs influencing the transcription factor–directed networks for runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1), paired box gene 3 (PAC3), and sex-determining region Y box 9 (SOX9). Collectively, these results led the investigators to speculate that improvements in skeletal muscle oxygen sensing and angiogenesis are primary determinates in training responses in VO 2max ( Keller et al. 2011 ).

Clinically important concepts have emerged from the pioneering HERITAGE Family Study. One new clinical concept is that a threshold dose–response relationship influences the percentage of subjects responding with an increase in VO 2max to endurance training volumes (with volume being defined here as the product of intensity × duration), as previously published ( Slentz et al. 2005 , 2007 ). Ross et al. (2015) later extended the aforementioned Slentz et al. studies. After a 24-wk-long endurance training study ( Ross et al. 2015 ), percentages of women and men identified as nonresponders to the training (i.e., defined as not increasing their VO 2peak ) progressively fell inversely to a two stepwise progressive increase in endurance-exercise training volume, as described next. Thirty-nine percent (15 of 39) of training subjects did not increase their VO 2peak in response to the low-amount, low-intensity training; 18% (9 of 51) had no increase in VO 2peak in the group having high-amount, low-intensity training; and 0% (0 of 31) who underwent high-amount, high-intensity training did not increase their VO 2peak . A biological basis for the dose–response relationship in the previous sentence could be made from an analysis of interval training (IT) and IT/continuous-training studies published from 1965 to 2012 ( Bacon et al. 2013 ). A second older concept is being reinvigorated; Bacon et al. (2013) indicate that different endurance-exercise intensities and durations are needed for different systems in the body. They suggest that very short periods of high-intensity endurance-type exercise may be needed to reach a threshold for peripheral metabolic adaptations, but that longer training durations at lower intensities are required to see large changes in maximal cardiac output and VO 2max .

A comparable example exists for resistance training. Maximal resistance loads require a minimum of 2 min/per wk for each muscle group recruited by a specific maneuver to obtain a strength training adaptation [(8 contractions/set × 2 sec/contraction × 3 sets/day) × 2 days/wk) = 96 sec]. As of 2016, one opinion from Sarzynski et al. (2016) for the molecular mechanisms by which endurance exercise drives VO 2max include, but are not limited to, calcium signaling, energy sensing and partitioning, mitochondrial biogenesis, angiogenesis, immune functions, and regulation of autophagy and apoptosis.

Perhaps more importantly, lifelong aerobic exercise training preserves VO 2max into old age. CRF generally increases until early adulthood, then declines the remainder of life in sedentary humans ( Astrand 1956 ). The age-related decline in VO 2max is not trivial, as Schneider (2013) reported a ∼40% decline in healthy males and females spanning from 20 to 70 yr of age. However, cross-sectional data show that with lifelong aerobic exercise training, trained individuals often have the same VO 2max as a sedentary individual four decades younger ( Booth et al. 2012 ). Myers et al. (2002) found that low estimated VO 2max increases mortality 4.5-fold compared to high estimated VO 2max . They concluded, “Exercise capacity is a more powerful predictor of mortality among men than other established risk factors for cardiovascular disease.” Given the strong association between CRF, chronic disease, and mortality, we feel identifying the molecular transducers that cause age-related reductions in CRF may have profound implications for improving health span and delaying the onset of chronic disease. In two of our recent papers, transcriptomics was performed on the triceps muscle ( Toedebusch et al. 2016 ) and on the cardiac left ventricle ( Ruegsegger et al. 2017 ). We were addressing the question of what molecule initiates the beginning of the lifelong decline in aerobic capacity with aging. Aerobic capacity (VO 2max ) involves, at a minimum, the next systems/tissues, as oxygen travels through the mouth, airways, pulmonary membrane, pulmonary circulation, left heart, aorta/arteries/capillaries, and sarcoplasm/myoglobin to mitochondria. We allowed female rats access, or no access, to running wheels from 5 to 27 wk of age. Surprisingly, voluntary running had no effect on the delay in the beginning of the lifetime decrease in VO 2max . Our skeletal muscle transcriptomics elicited no molecular targets, whereas gene networks suggestive of influencing maximal stroke volume were identified in the left ventricle transcriptomics ( Ruegsegger et al. 2017 ).

Publications concerning the effects of exercise on the brain (from 54 to 216 papers listed on PubMed from 2007 to 2016) have increased 400%. In addition, a 2016 study ( Schuch et al. 2016 ) of three previous papers reported that humans with low- and moderate-CRF had 76% and 23%, respectively, increased risk of developing depression compared to high CRF in three publications. With this forming trend, the next section will consider exercise and brain health.

EXERCISE IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH

Many studies support physical activity as a noninvasive therapy for mental health improvements in cognition ( Beier et al. 2014 ; Bielak et al. 2014 ; Tian et al. 2014 ), depression ( Kratz et al. 2014 ; McKercher et al. 2014 ; Mura et al. 2014 ), anxiety ( Greenwood et al. 2012 ; Nishijima et al. 2013 ; Schoenfeld et al. 2013 ), neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) ( Bjerring and Arendt-Nielsen 1990 ; Mattson 2014 ), and drug addiction ( Zlebnik et al. 2012 ; Lynch et al. 2013 ; Peterson et al. 2014 ). In 1999, van Praag et al. (1999) showed the survival of newborn cells in the adult mouse dentate gyrus, a hippocampal region important for spatial recognition, is enhanced by voluntary wheel running. Similarly, spatial pattern separation and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus are strongly correlated in 3-mo-old mice following 10 wk of voluntary wheel running ( Creer et al. 2010 ), and the development of new neurons in the dentate gyrus is coupled with the formation of new blood vessels ( Pereira et al. 2007 ). Many exercise-related improvements in cognitive function have been associated with local and systemic expression of growth factors in the hippocampus, notably, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) ( Neeper et al. 1995 ; Cotman and Berchtold 2002 ). BDNF promotes many developmental functions in the brain, including neuronal cell survival, differentiation, migration, dendritic arborization, and synaptic plasticity ( Park and Poo 2013 ). In rat hippocampus, regular exercise promotes a progressive increase in BDNF protein for up to at least 3 mo ( Berchtold et al. 2005 ). In an opposite manner, BDNF mRNA in the hippocampus is rapidly decreased by the cessation of wheel running, suggesting BDNF expression is tightly related to exercise volume ( Widenfalk et al. 1999 ).

Findings by Wrann et al. (2013) highlight one mechanism by which endurance exercise may up-regulate BDNF expression. To summarize, Wrann et al. (2013) noted that exercise increases the activity of the estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα)/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) complex, in turn increasing levels of the exercise-secreted factor FNDC5 in skeletal muscle and the hippocampus, whose cleavage products provide beneficial effects in the hippocampus by increasing BDNF gene expression. While future research should determine whether the FNDC5 cleavage-product was produced locally in hippocampal neurons or was secreted into the circulation, this finding eloquently displays one mechanism responsible for brain health benefits following exercise. Similarly, work by van Praag and colleagues suggests that exercise or pharmacological activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in skeletal muscle enhances indices of learning and memory, neurogenesis, and gene expression related to mitochondrial function in the hippocampus ( Kobilo et al. 2011 , 2014 ; Guerrieri and van Praag 2015 ).

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), is central to many exercise-induced adaptations in the brain. Like BDNF, physical activity increases circulatory IGF-1 levels and both exercise and infusion of IGF-1 increase BrdU + cell number and survivability in the hippocampus ( Trejo et al. 2001 ). Similarly, the protective effects of exercise on various brain lesions are nullified by anti-IGF-1 antibody ( Carro et al. 2001 ).

In 1979, Greist et al. (1979) provided evidence that running reduced depression symptoms similarly to psychotherapy. However, the precise mechanisms by which exercise prevents and/or treats depression remain largely unknown. Of the proposed mechanisms, increases in the availability of brain neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors (e.g., BDNF, dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine, serotonin) are perhaps the best studied. For example, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity, the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine formation, in the striatum, an area of the brain's reward system, is increased following 7 days of treadmill running in an intensity-dependent manner ( Hattori et al. 1994 ). Voluntary wheel running is also highly rewarding in rats, and voluntary wheel running in rats lowers the motivation to self-administer cocaine, suggesting exercise may be a viable strategy in the fight against drug addiction ( Larson and Carroll 2005 ).

Similar to the above examples, secreted factors from skeletal muscle have been linked to the regulation of depression. Agudelo et al. (2014) showed that exercise training in mice and humans, and overexpression of skeletal muscle PGC-1α1, leads to robust increases in kynurenine amino transferase (KAT) expression in skeletal muscle, an enzyme whose activity protects from stress-induced increases in depression in the brain by converting kynurenine into kynurenic acid. Additionally, overexpression of PGC-1α1 in skeletal muscle left mice resistant to stress, as evaluated by various behavioral assays indicative of depression ( Agudelo et al. 2014 ). Simultaneously, they report gene expression related to synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, such as BDNF and CamkII, were unaffected by chronic mild stress compared to wild-type mice. Collectively, these findings suggest exercise-induced increases in skeletal muscle PGC-1α1 may be an important regulator of KAT expression in skeletal muscle, which, via modulation in plasma kynurenine levels, may alleviate stress-induced depression and promote hippocampal neuronal plasticity.

TYPE 2 DIABETES, MITOCHONDRIA, AND EXERCISE

T2d predictions show a pandemic.

In a 2001 Diabetes Care article ( Boyle et al. 2001 ), investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicted 29 million U.S. cases of T2D would be present in 2050. Unfortunately, the 2001 prediction of 29 million was reached in 2012! For 2012, the American Diabetes Association reported that 29 million Americans had diagnosed and undiagnosed T2D, which was 9% of the American population ( Dwyer-Lindgren et al. 2016 ). More rapid increases in T2D are now predicted by the CDC than in the previous estimate. The CDC now predicts a doubling or tripling in T2D in 2050. The tripling would mean that one out of three U.S. adults would have T2D in their lifetime by 2050 ( Boyle et al. 2010 ), which would be >100 million U.S. cases. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reports T2D cases worldwide. In 2015, the IDF reported that 344 and 416 million North American (including Caribbean) and worldwide adults, respectively, had T2D. Furthermore, the IDF predicts for 2040 that 413 and 642 million, respectively, will have T2D. In sum, T2D is now pandemic, and the pandemic will increase in numbers without current apparent action within the general public.

Type 2 Diabetes Prevalence Is Based on a Strong Genetic Predisposition

The Framingham study found that T2D risk in offspring was 3.5-fold and sixfold higher for a single and two diabetic parent(s), respectively, as compared to nondiabetic offspring ( Meigs et al. 2000 ). Thus, T2D is gene-based.

Noncoding regions of the human genome contain >90% of the >100 variants associated with both T2D and related traits that were observed in genome-wide association studies ( Scott et al. 2016 ). Another 2016 paper ( Kwak and Park 2016 ) lists at least 75 independent genetic loci that are associated with T2D. Taken together, T2D is a complex genetic disease ( Scott et al. 2016 ).

Type 2 Diabetes Is Modulated by Lifestyle, with Exercise as the More Powerful Lifestyle Factor

Three large-scale epidemiological studies have been performed on prediabetics, each in a different geographical location. The first study, and only study to have separate study arms for diet and exercise, was in China. The pure exercise intervention group had a 46% reduction in the onset of T2D, relative to the nontreated group, after 6 yr of the study ( Pan et al. 1997 ). Diet alone reduced T2D by 31% in the Chinese study. The second study on T2D was the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. It found a 58% reduction in T2D in the lifestyle intervention (combined diet and exercise) in its 522 prediabetic subjects after a mean study duration of 3.2 yr ( Tuomilehto et al. 2001 ). The latest of the three studies was in the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program. The large randomized trial ( n = 3150 prediabetics) was stopped after 2.8 yr, because of harm to the control group. T2D prevalence in the high-risk adults was reduced by 58% with intensive lifestyle (diet and exercise) intervention, whereas the drug arm (metformin) of the study only reduced T2D by 31%, both compared to the noninnervation group ( Knowler et al. 2002 ). Thus, if differences in genetics in the above three differing ethnicities are not a factor, combined exercise and diet remain more effective in T2D prevention than the drug metformin two decades ago.

Exercise Increases Glucose by Signaling Independent of the Insulin Receptor

A single exercise bout increases glucose uptake by skeletal muscle, sidestepping the insulin receptor and thus insulin resistance in T2D patients ( Holloszy and Narahara 1965 ; Goodyear and Kahn 1998 ; Holloszy 2005 ). After insulin binding to its receptor, insulin initiates a downstream signaling cascade of tyrosine autophosphorylation of insulin receptor, insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) binding and phosphorylation, activation of a PI3K-dependent pathway, including key downstream regulators protein kinase B (Akt) and the Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160), ultimately promoting glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) translocation to the plasma membrane ( Rockl et al. 2008 ; Stanford and Goodyear 2014 ). Despite normal GLUT4 levels, insulin fails to induce GLUT4 translocation in T2D ( Zierath et al. 2000 ). However, exercise activates a downstream insulin-signaling pathway at AS160 and TBC1 domain family member 1 (TBC1D1) ( Deshmukh et al. 2006 ; Maarbjerg et al. 2011 ), facilitating GLUT4 expression translocation to the plasma membrane independent of the insulin receptor. We contend that exercise could be considered as a very powerful tool to primarily attenuate the T2D pandemic.

Complex Biology of T2D Interactions with the Complex Biology of Exercise

An important consideration from the above is that T2D is such a genetically complex disease that a single gene has not been proven to be sufficiently causal to be effective, at this stage in time, to be a successful target for pharmacological treatment. The expectation for a single molecule target has been met for infectious diseases, which are often monogenic diseases. For example, a vaccine against smallpox was highly successful. Edward Jenner in 1796 produced the first successful vaccine. An important fact is that exercise is genetically complex. The literature allows us to speculate that exercise is at least as genetically complex as the approximately 75 genes associated with T2D ( Kwak and Park 2016 ). An example indicating that exercise is complex biology follows. RNA sequencing analysis of all 119 vastus lateralis muscle biopsies found that endurance training for 4 days/wk for 12 wk produced the differential expression of 3404 putative isoforms, belonging to 2624 different genes, many associated with oxidative ATP production in 23 women and men aged 29 yr old ( Lindholm et al. 2016 ). Our notion is that over 2600 genes suggests complex biology.

A “Case-Type” Study of the Molecular Underpinnings of Exercise, Mitochondria, and T2D Interactions

A PubMed search for the terms “diabetes mitochondria exercise molecular” elicited 74 papers. We arbitrarily selected some of the most recent 50 (spanning from mid-2014 into January 2017), with the assumption they would be representative of any other papers that we did not find in our search. Papers fell into our two arbitrary categories of single gene studies versus “omic”-type studies. First, subcategories of studies that develop themes will be arbitrarily presented.

Recent Studies Show Single Gene Manipulation Alters Mitochondrial Level and Running Performance

Numerous reports in the past couple of years observed that single gene manipulations increase mitochondrial gene expression and activity, which was also associated with increased exercise performance/capacity. A few of these are presented below:

• Irisin was shown to increase oxidative metabolism in myocytes and increase PGC-1α mRNA and protein ( Vaughan et al. 2014 ), which extends the first observation made earlier in adipose tissue by Spiegelman ( Bostrom et al. 2012 ).
• Patients with impaired glucose tolerance underwent low-intensity exercise training. Patients whose mitochondrial markers increased to levels that were measured in a separate cohort of nonexercised healthy individuals recovered normal glucose tolerance ( Osler et al. 2015 ). In opposition, those patients whose mitochondria markers did not improve, remained with impaired glucose tolerance.
• In 2003, muscle PGC-1α mRNA was shown to be induced by endurance-exercise training in human skeletal muscle ( Short et al. 2003 ). PGC-1α was shown to have multiple isoforms ( Lin et al. 2002 ). After a 60-min cycling bout, human vastus lateralis biopsies were taken from both sexes in their mid-20s. Additional biopsies were taken 30 min, and at 2, 6, and 24 hr postexercise. At 30 min postexercise, PGC-1α-ex1b mRNA and PGC-1α mRNA increased 468- and 2.4-fold, respectively, whereas PGC-1α-ex1b protein and PGC-1α protein increased 3.1-fold and no change, respectively. Gidlund et al. (2015 ) interprets the above data as implying PGC-1α-ex1b could be responsible for other changes that have previously been recorded before the increase in total PGC-1α postexercise.
• Mice with knockout of the kinin B1 receptor gene had higher mitochondrial DNA quantification and of mRNA levels of genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis in soleus and gastrocnemius muscles and had higher exercise times to exhaustion, but did not have higher VO 2max ( Reis et al. 2015 ).
• Mice do not normally express cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), which is a lipid transfer protein that shuttles lipids between serum lipoproteins and tissues. Overexpression of CETP in mice after 6 wk on a high-fat diet increased treadmill running duration and distance, mitochondrial oxidation of glutamate/malate, but not palmitoylcarnitine oxidation, and doubled PGC-1α mRNA concentration ( Cappel et al. 2015 ).
• The myokine musclin is a peptide secreted from exercising muscle during treadmill running. Removal of musclin release during running results in lowered VO 2max , lower skeletal muscle mitochondrial content and respiratory complex protein expression, and reduced exercise tolerance ( Subbotina et al. 2015 ).
• Lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), which produces pyruvate from lactate, was overexpressed in mouse skeletal muscle. Increases in markers of skeletal muscle mitochondria were associated with increased running distance in a progressive speed test, and increased peak VO 2 ( Liang et al. 2016 ).
• Another example of endurance-type exercise adaptations is the 2016 paper that transcription factor EB (TFEB) regulates metabolic flexibility in skeletal muscle independent of PGC-1α during endurance-type exercise ( Mansueto et al. 2017 ). Lack of metabolic flexibility, termed “metabolic inflexibility,” is important because it is common in T2D. One definition of metabolic inflexibility is its inability to rapidly switch between glucose and fatty acid substrates for ATP production when nutrient availability changes from high blood glucose levels immediately after a meal to decreasing below 100 mg/dl when not eating for hours after a meal. A clinical consequence of T2D-induced metabolic inflexibility is prolonged periods of hyperglycemia, because skeletal muscle is more insulin insensitive in T2D. In contrast, after sufficient endurance exercise, skeletal muscle increases its insulin sensitivity by a second pathway that is independent of proximal postreceptor insulin signaling (see Stephenson et al. 2014 for further discussion).

Studies Showing that Manipulation of One Signaling Molecule Does Not Alter Expression of All Genes with Mitochondrial Functions Found in Skeletal Muscles of Wild-Type Animals to Exercise Training

A 2010 review article ( Lira et al. 2010 ) concludes from gene-deletion studies that p38γ MAPK/PGC-1α signaling controls mitochondrial biogenesis’ adaptation to endurance exercise in skeletal muscle. Two studies do not completely agree with the conclusion in the review article. The Pilegaard laboratory published a 2008 study ( Leick et al. 2008 ) that did not confirm their hypothesis that PGC-1α was required for every metabolic protein adaptive increase after endurance-exercise training by skeletal muscle. They reported that PGC-1α was not required for endurance-training-induced increases in ALAS1, COXI, and cytochrome c expression ( Leick et al. 2008 ). Their interpretation, at that time, was that molecules other than PGC-1α can exert exercise-induced mitochondrial adaptations. A second study published in 2012 rendered a similar verdict. A 12-day program of endurance training led to the middle portion of the gastrocnemius muscle demonstrating a similar 60% increase in mitochondrial density in both wild-type and PGC-1α muscle-specific knockout mice (Myo-PGC-1αKO) ( Rowe et al. 2012 ). The paper concludes that PGC-1α is dispensable for endurance-exercise’s induction of skeletal muscle mitochondrial adaptations.

Exercise signaling targets have actions that are independent of PGC-1α, which is specific to endurance exercise. In 2002, two groups identified PGC-1β, a transcriptional coactivator closely related to PGC-1α ( Kressler et al. 2002 ; Lin et al. 2002 ). Later in 2012, the PGC-1α4 variant of PGC-1α was found to induce skeletal muscle hypertrophy and strength ( Ruas et al. 2012 ). The importance of the finding of a PGC-1α variant is that it partially explains the phenotypic variation for differing types of exercise. Since the 1970s ( Holloszy and Booth 1976 ), it has been appreciated that the biochemical and anatomical observations between endurance and resistance differed. For example, Holloszy and Booth (1976) noted in 1976 that, whereas endurance-type exercise markedly increased skeletal muscle mitochondrial density with very minor increases in muscle fiber diameter, strength-type exercise, in contrast, increased muscle fiber diameter without increases in skeletal muscle mitochondrial density. Taken together, a drug specific for PGC-1α will not likely mimic separate physical training for endurance, strength/resistance, and coordination types of exercise in the same subject. Thus, the common usage of the term exercise capacity is a misnomer because endurance training and resistance training were shown to have different exercise capacity phenotypes very long ago.

In a 2015 Diabetes paper ( Wong et al. 2015 ), Muoio’s laboratory concluded that changes in glucose tolerance and total body fat depended upon how much energy is expended in contracting muscle rather than muscle mitochondrial content or substrate selection. A finding to support the previous sentence was the glucose tolerance tests (GTTs). MCK-PGC-1α mice and their nontransgenic (NT) littermates were not different in GTT, with both being the most glucose intolerant after 10 wk of high-fat feeding. Adding 10 wk of voluntary wheel running to the two high-fat-feed groups during the next 10-wk period (weeks 11–20 of the experiment) lowered the glucose intolerance, and then during weeks 21–30 of the experiment, glucose intolerance was further lowered by adding 25% caloric restriction with the high-fat food and running during the final 10 wk. The percentage weight lost after 30 wk of high-fat feeding was positively related to greater running distances. No single front-runner gene candidate could be identified by principle component analysis. Taken together, the paper suggests “doubts” that pharmacological exercise mimetics that increase muscle oxidative capacity will be effective antiobesity and/or antidiabetic agents. Rather, Muoio and investigators suggest energy expenditure by muscle contraction induces localized shifts in energy balance inside the muscle fiber, which then initiates a broad network of metabolic intermediates regulating nutrient sensing and insulin action. A further discussion of complex biology produced by polygenicity continues next.

POLYGENICITY OF EXERCISE LEADS TO COMPLEX MULTISYSTEM RESPONSES TO IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES

Multiples tissues, organs, and systems are influenced by physical activity, or the lack thereof ( Table 2 ).

Worsening of maximal functioning in selected major organ/tissue/systems that are caused by the lack of physical activity with growth, maturation, and aging

The higher their maximal function is before the end of each item’s maturation, the longer chances are that the quality of life will remain optimal. The breadth of the list implies that a single molecular target will not substitute for appropriate daily physical activity to prevent the loss of all listed items.

To present one extreme, that most will agree, one molecule will not describe the 1000s of molecules adapting to aerobic, resistance, and coordination exercise training. On the opposite extreme, many could likely agree that usage of the various “omics” underlying all adaptations to physical activity will differ (i.e., not be identical in most aspects) among the next list: various cell types within a tissue/organ, tissues/organs, and various intensities of physical activity (i.e., the thresholds among gene responses for health benefits will differ because of the presence of responders and nonresponders, or protein isoform type); during various types cycling (circadian or menstrual); postprandial versus fasting between meals; male and female; child, adult, and the elderly; trained and untrained; aerobic- and resistance-exercise types; and so forth. Others have repetitively written that only ∼59% of the risk reduction for all forms of CVD have been shown to be caused by effects through traditional factors ( Mora et al. 2007 ; Joyner and Green 2009 ). Thus, we pose the next question: what is the identity of all molecules in the yet-to-be-discovered gap between our knowledge of single gene functions and the totality of personalized prescription of physical activity to maximize the period of life free of any chronic disease, termed health span?

While approaches using single-gene manipulations are valuable tools, research must also focus on integrating exercise-responsive molecules into networks that maintain or improve health. This process will reveal complex, multisystem, polygenic networking essential for the advancement of many goals pertaining to exercise physiology, such as tailoring exercise prescriptions and implementing personalized medicine. One example is the developing myokine network with auto-, para-, and endocrine molecules. The first myokine interleukin (IL)-6 began to be described as early as 1994 by the Pedersen laboratory ( Ullum et al. 1994 ), with a history of its development as the first exercise myokine recounted in 2007 ( Pedersen et al. 2007 ). Since their discovery, myokine action within and at a distance from their origins in skeletal muscle have been increasingly studied, as schematically illustrated by Schnyder and Handschin (2015) ( Fig. 2 ).

Figure provides an illustration of myokine production by skeletal muscle for actions within or at a distance. Myokine release promotes a high degree of intertissue cross talk. CNTF, Ciliary neurotrophic factor; OSM, oncostatin M; IL, interleukin; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor. (From Schnyder and Handschin 2015 ; reprinted, with permission, courtesy of PMC Open Access.)

Similarly, maximal aerobic exercise is accompanied by tremendous stress on many systems, yet whole-body homeostasis is remarkably maintained. For example, world-class endurance athletes can increase whole-body energy production well over 20-fold ( Joyner and Coyle 2008 ), whereas maintaining blood glucose concentrations at resting levels ( Wasserman 2009 ). Intuitively, such effort would require sophisticated interorgan cross talk and polygenic integration of numerous functions.

Exercise Provides Too Many Benefits to “Fit into a Single Pill”

Despite the well-known benefits of exercise, most adults and many children lead relatively sedentary lifestyles and are not active enough to achieve the health benefits of exercise ( Warburton et al. 2006 ; Fried 2016 ). Accelerometry measurements suggest that >90% of U.S. individuals >12 yr of age and ∼50% of children aged 6–11 yr old fail to meet U.S. Federal physical activity guidelines ( Troiano et al. 2008 ). Given this incredibly low compliance, the identification of genetic and/or orally active agents that mimic the effects of endurance exercise might have high appeal for a majority of sedentary individuals. This high appeal has led to recent identification/development of exercise “mimetics.” In 2009, we set criteria for proper usage of the term “exercise mimetic,” based upon its common usage ( Booth and Laye 2009 ). We gave the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of mimetic, “A synthetic compound that produces the same (or a very similar) effect as another (especially a naturally occurring) compound.” While many exercise “mimetics” activate signaling pathways commonly associated with muscle endurance, these agents have not completely mimicked all effects for all types of exercise. For example, the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR), when given daily to rats over a 5-wk-period, did not increase maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2peak ) in the sedentary group of rats that were forced to run to VO 2peak on treadmills, as compared to sedentary rats receiving the vehicle ( Toedebusch et al. 2016 ). Thus, in our opinion, the published claim ( Narkar et al. 2008 ) that AICAR is an exercise mimetic is invalidated because it did not increase VO 2peak . While these agents may undoubtedly have specific health benefits, it is currently impractical to assume that all of the benefits of exercise can be replaced by “exercise mimetics.”

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Exercise is a powerful tool in the fight to prevent and treat numerous chronic diseases ( Table 1 ). Given its whole-body, health-promoting nature, the integrative responses to exercise should surely attract a great detail of interest as the notion of “exercise is medicine” continues to its integration into clinical settings.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors disclose no conflicts of interest. Partial funding for this project was obtained from grants awarded to G.N.R. (AHA 16PRE2715005).

Editors: Juleen R. Zierath, Michael J. Joyner, and John A. Hawley

Additional Perspectives on The Biology of Exercise available at www.perspectivesinmedicine.org

• Agudelo LZ, Femenia T, Orhan F, Porsmyr-Palmertz M, Goiny M, Martinez-Redondo V, Correia JC, Izadi M, Bhat M, Schuppe-Koistinen I, et al. 2014. Skeletal muscle PGC-1α1 modulates kynurenine metabolism and mediates resilience to stress-induced depression . Cell 159 : 33–45. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Astrand PO. 1956. Human physical fitness with special reference to sex and age . Physiol Rev 36 : 307–335. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bacon AP, Carter RE, Ogle EA, Joyner MJ. 2013. VO 2max trainability and high intensity interval training in humans: A meta-analysis . PLoS ONE 8 : e73182. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Beier M, Bombardier CH, Hartoonian N, Motl RW, Kraft GH. 2014. Improved physical fitness correlates with improved cognition in multiple sclerosis . Arch Phys Med Rehabil 95 : 1328–1334. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Berchtold NC, Chinn G, Chou M, Kesslak JP, Cotman CW. 2005. Exercise primes a molecular memory for brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein induction in the rat hippocampus . Neuroscience 133 : 853–861. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bielak AA, Cherbuin N, Bunce D, Anstey KJ. 2014. Preserved differentiation between physical activity and cognitive performance across young, middle, and older adulthood over 8 years . J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 69 : 523–532. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bjerring P, Arendt-Nielsen L. 1990. Inhibition of histamine skin flare reaction following repeated topical applications of capsaicin . Allergy 45 : 121–125. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blair SN, Kohl HW III, Paffenbarger RS Jr, Clark DG, Cooper KH, Gibbons LW. 1989. Physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy men and women . JAMA 262 : 2395–2401. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Booth FW, Laye MJ. 2009. Lack of adequate appreciation of physical exercise’s complexities can preempt appropriate design and interpretation in scientific discovery . J Physiol 587 : 5527–5539. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Booth FW, Chakravarthy MV, Gordon SE, Spangenburg EE. 2002. Waging war on physical inactivity: Using modern molecular ammunition against an ancient enemy . J Appl Physiol (1985) 93 : 3–30. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Booth FW, Roberts CK, Laye MJ. 2012. Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases . Compr Physiol 2 : 1143–1211. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bostrom P, Wu J, Jedrychowski MP, Korde A, Ye L, Lo JC, Rasbach KA, Bostrom EA, Choi JH, Long JZ, et al. 2012. A PGC1-α-dependent myokine that drives brown-fat-like development of white fat and thermogenesis . Nature 481 : 463–468. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Boyle JP, Honeycutt AA, Narayan KM, Hoerger TJ, Geiss LS, Chen H, Thompson TJ. 2001. Projection of diabetes burden through 2050: Impact of changing demography and disease prevalence in the U.S . Diabetes Care 24 : 1936–1940. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Boyle JP, Thompson TJ, Gregg EW, Barker LE, Williamson DF. 2010. Projection of the year 2050 burden of diabetes in the US adult population: Dynamic modeling of incidence, mortality, and prediabetes prevalence . Popul Health Metr 8 : 29. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cappel DA, Lantier L, Palmisano BT, Wasserman DH, Stafford JM. 2015. CETP expression protects female mice from obesity-induced decline in exercise capacity . PLoS ONE 10 : e0136915. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carro E, Trejo JL, Busiguina S, Torres-Aleman I. 2001. Circulating insulin-like growth factor I mediates the protective effects of physical exercise against brain insults of different etiology and anatomy . J Neurosci 21 : 5678–5684. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Cotman CW, Berchtold NC. 2002. Exercise: A behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity . Trends Neurosci 25 : 295–301. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Creer DJ, Romberg C, Saksida LM, van Praag H, Bussey TJ. 2010. Running enhances spatial pattern separation in mice . Proc Natl Acad Sci 107 : 2367–2372. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Deshmukh A, Coffey VG, Zhong Z, Chibalin AV, Hawley JA, Zierath JR. 2006. Exercise-induced phosphorylation of the novel Akt substrates AS160 and filamin A in human skeletal muscle . Diabetes 55 : 1776–1782. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dwyer-Lindgren L, Mackenbach JP, van Lenthe FJ, Flaxman AD, Mokdad AH. 2016. Diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes prevalence by county in the U.S., 1999–2012 . Diabetes Care 39 : 1556–1562. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Fried LP. 2016. Interventions for human frailty: Physical activity as a model . Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a025916. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gidlund EK, Ydfors M, Appel S, Rundqvist H, Sundberg CJ, Norrbom J. 2015. Rapidly elevated levels of PGC-1α-b protein in human skeletal muscle after exercise: Exploring regulatory factors in a randomized controlled trial . J Appl Physiol (1985) 119 : 374–384. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Goodyear LJ, Kahn BB. 1998. Exercise, glucose transport, and insulin sensitivity . Annu Rev Med 49 : 235–261. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Greenwood BN, Loughridge AB, Sadaoui N, Christianson JP, Fleshner M. 2012. The protective effects of voluntary exercise against the behavioral consequences of uncontrollable stress persist despite an increase in anxiety following forced cessation of exercise . Behav Brain Res 233 : 314–321. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Greist JH, Klein MH, Eischens RR, Faris J, Gurman AS, Morgan WP. 1979. Running as treatment for depression . Compr Psychiatry 20 : 41–54. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Guerrieri D, van Praag H. 2015. Exercise-mimetic AICAR transiently benefits brain function . Oncotarget 6 : 18293–18313. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gupta S, Rohatgi A, Ayers CR, Willis BL, Haskell WL, Khera A, Drazner MH, de Lemos JA, Berry JD. 2011. Cardiorespiratory fitness and classification of risk of cardiovascular disease mortality . Circulation 123 : 1377–1383. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hattori S, Naoi M, Nishino H. 1994. Striatal dopamine turnover during treadmill running in the rat: Relation to the speed of running . Brain Res Bull 35 : 41–49. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holloszy JO. 2005. Exercise-induced increase in muscle insulin sensitivity . J Appl Physiol (1985) 99 : 338–343. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holloszy JO, Booth FW. 1976. Biochemical adaptations to endurance exercise in muscle . Annu Rev Physiol 38 : 273–291. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holloszy JO, Narahara HT. 1965. Studies of tissue permeability. X: Changes in permeability to 3-methylglucose associated with contraction of isolated frog muscle . J Biol Chem 240 : 3493–3500. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Joyner MJ, Coyle EF. 2008. Endurance exercise performance: The physiology of champions . J Physiol 586 : 35–44. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Joyner MJ, Green DJ. 2009. Exercise protects the cardiovascular system: Effects beyond traditional risk factors . J Physiol 587 : 5551–5558. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Keller P, Vollaard NB, Gustafsson T, Gallagher IJ, Sundberg CJ, Rankinen T, Britton SL, Bouchard C, Koch LG, Timmons JA. 2011. A transcriptional map of the impact of endurance exercise training on skeletal muscle phenotype . J Appl Physiol (1985) 110 : 46–59. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Knowler WC, Barrett-Connor E, Fowler SE, Hamman RF, Lachin JM, Walker EA, Nathan DM. 2002. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin . N Engl J Med 346 : 393–403. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kobilo T, Yuan C, van Praag H. 2011. Endurance factors improve hippocampal neurogenesis and spatial memory in mice . Learn Mem 18 : 103–107. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kobilo T, Guerrieri D, Zhang Y, Collica SC, Becker KG, van Praag H. 2014. AMPK agonist AICAR improves cognition and motor coordination in young and aged mice . Learn Mem 21 : 119–126. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koch LG, Kemi OJ, Qi N, Leng SX, Bijma P, Gilligan LJ, Wilkinson JE, Wisloff H, Hoydal MA, Rolim N, et al. 2011. Intrinsic aerobic capacity sets a divide for aging and longevity . Circ Res 109 : 1162–1172. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kodama S, Saito K, Tanaka S, Maki M, Yachi Y, Asumi M, Sugawara A, Totsuka K, Shimano H, Ohashi Y, et al. 2009. Cardiorespiratory fitness as a quantitative predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in healthy men and women: A meta-analysis . JAMA 301 : 2024–2035. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kokkinos P, Myers J, Faselis C, Panagiotakos DB, Doumas M, Pittaras A, Manolis A, Kokkinos JP, Karasik P, Greenberg M, et al. 2010. Exercise capacity and mortality in older men: A 20-year follow-up study . Circulation 122 : 790–797. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kratz AL, Ehde DM, Bombardier CH. 2014. Affective mediators of a physical activity intervention for depression in multiple sclerosis . Rehabil Psychol 59 : 57–67. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kressler D, Schreiber SN, Knutti D, Kralli A. 2002. The PGC-1-related protein PERC is a selective coactivator of estrogen receptor α . J Biol Chem 277 : 13918–13925. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Kwak SH, Park KS. 2016. Recent progress in genetic and epigenetic research on type 2 diabetes . Exp Mol Med 48 : e220. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Larson EB, Carroll ME. 2005. Wheel running as a predictor of cocaine self-administration and reinstatement in female rats . Pharmacol Biochem Behav 82 : 590–600. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Leick L, Wojtaszewski JF, Johansen ST, Kiilerich K, Comes G, Hellsten Y, Hidalgo J, Pilegaard H. 2008. PGC-1α is not mandatory for exercise- and training-induced adaptive gene responses in mouse skeletal muscle . Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 294 : E463–E474. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Liang X, Liu L, Fu T, Zhou Q, Zhou D, Xiao L, Liu J, Kong Y, Xie H, Yi F, et al. 2016. Exercise inducible lactate dehydrogenase B regulates mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle . J Biol Chem 291 : 25306–25318. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lin J, Puigserver P, Donovan J, Tarr P, Spiegelman BM. 2002. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1 β (PGC-1β ), a novel PGC-1-related transcription coactivator associated with host cell factor . J Biol Chem 277 : 1645–1648. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lindholm ME, Giacomello S, Werne Solnestam B, Fischer H, Huss M, Kjellqvist S, Sundberg CJ. 2016. The impact of endurance training on human skeletal muscle memory, global isoform expression and novel transcripts . PLoS Genet 12 : e1006294. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lira VA, Benton CR, Yan Z, Bonen A. 2010. PGC-1α regulation by exercise training and its influences on muscle function and insulin sensitivity . Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 299 : E145–E161. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lynch WJ, Peterson AB, Sanchez V, Abel J, Smith MA. 2013. Exercise as a novel treatment for drug addiction: A neurobiological and stage-dependent hypothesis . Neurosci Biobehav Rev 37 : 1622–1644. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Maarbjerg SJ, Sylow L, Richter EA. 2011. Current understanding of increased insulin sensitivity after exercise—Emerging candidates . Acta Physiol (Oxf) 202 : 323–335. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mansueto G, Armani A, Viscomi C, D’Orsi L, De Cegli R, Polishchuk EV, Lamperti C, Di Meo I, Romanello V, Marchet S, et al. 2017. Transcription factor EB controls metabolic flexibility during exercise . Cell Metab 25 : 182–196. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mattson MP. 2014. Interventions that improve body and brain bioenergetics for Parkinson’s disease risk reduction and therapy . J Parkinsons Dis 4 : 1–13. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McKercher C, Sanderson K, Schmidt MD, Otahal P, Patton GC, Dwyer T, Venn AJ. 2014. Physical activity patterns and risk of depression in young adulthood: A 20-year cohort study since childhood . Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49 : 1823–1834. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Meigs JB, Cupples LA, Wilson PW. 2000. Parental transmission of type 2 diabetes: The Framingham Offspring Study . Diabetes 49 : 2201–2207. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. 2004. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000 . JAMA 291 : 1238–1245. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mora S, Cook N, Buring JE, Ridker PM, Lee IM. 2007. Physical activity and reduced risk of cardiovascular events: Potential mediating mechanisms . Circulation 116 : 2110–2118. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Morris JN, Heady JA, Raffle PA, Roberts CG, Parks JW. 1953. Coronary heart-disease and physical activity of work . Lancet 265 : 1053–1057. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mura G, Moro MF, Patten SB, Carta MG. 2014. Exercise as an add-on strategy for the treatment of major depressive disorder: A systematic review . CNS Spectr 19 : 496–508. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Myers J, Prakash M, Froelicher V, Do D, Partington S, Atwood JE. 2002. Exercise capacity and mortality among men referred for exercise testing . N Engl J Med 346 : 793–801. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Narkar VA, Downes M, Yu RT, Embler E, Wang YX, Banayo E, Mihaylova MM, Nelson MC, Zou Y, Juguilon H, et al. 2008. AMPK and PPARδ agonists are exercise mimetics . Cell 134 : 405–415. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Neeper SA, Gomez-Pinilla F, Choi J, Cotman C. 1995. Exercise and brain neurotrophins . Nature 373 : 109. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Nishijima T, Llorens-Martin M, Tejeda GS, Inoue K, Yamamura Y, Soya H, Trejo JL, Torres-Aleman I. 2013. Cessation of voluntary wheel running increases anxiety-like behavior and impairs adult hippocampal neurogenesis in mice . Behav Brain Res 245 : 34–41. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Osler ME, Fritz T, Caidahl K, Krook A, Zierath JR, Wallberg-Henriksson H. 2015. Changes in gene expression in responders and nonresponders to a low-intensity walking intervention . Diabetes Care 38 : 1154–1160. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pan XR, Li GW, Hu YH, Wang JX, Yang WY, An ZX, Hu ZX, Lin J, Xiao JZ, Cao HB, et al. 1997. Effects of diet and exercise in preventing NIDDM in people with impaired glucose tolerance. The Da Qing IGT and Diabetes Study . Diabetes Care 20 : 537–544. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Park H, Poo MM. 2013. Neurotrophin regulation of neural circuit development and function . Nat Rev Neurosci 14 : 7–23. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pedersen BK, Akerstrom TC, Nielsen AR, Fischer CP. 2007. Role of myokines in exercise and metabolism . J Appl Physiol (1985) 103 : 1093–1098. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pereira AC, Huddleston DE, Brickman AM, Sosunov AA, Hen R, McKhann GM, Sloan R, Gage FH, Brown TR, Small SA. 2007. An in vivo correlate of exercise-induced neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus . Proc Natl Acad Sci 104 : 5638–5643. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Peterson AB, Hivick DP, Lynch WJ. 2014. Dose-dependent effectiveness of wheel running to attenuate cocaine-seeking: Impact of sex and estrous cycle in rats . Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231 : 2661–2670. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Reis FC, Haro AS, Bacurau AV, Hirabara SM, Wasinski F, Ormanji MS, Moreira JB, Kiyomoto BH, Bertoncini CR, Brum PC, et al. 2015. Deletion of kinin B2 receptor alters muscle metabolism and exercise performance . PLoS ONE 10 : e0134844. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rockl KS, Witczak CA, Goodyear LJ. 2008. Signaling mechanisms in skeletal muscle: Acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise . IUBMB Life 60 : 145–153. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ross R, de Lannoy L, Stotz PJ. 2015. Separate effects of intensity and amount of exercise on interindividual cardiorespiratory fitness response . Mayo Clin Proc 90 : 1506–1514. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rowe GC, El-Khoury R, Patten IS, Rustin P, Arany Z. 2012. PGC-1α is dispensable for exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle . PLoS ONE 7 : e41817. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ruas JL, White JP, Rao RR, Kleiner S, Brannan KT, Harrison BC, Greene NP, Wu J, Estall JL, Irving BA, et al. 2012. A PGC-1α isoform induced by resistance training regulates skeletal muscle hypertrophy . Cell 151 : 1319–1331. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ruegsegger GN, Toedebusch RG, Braselton JF, Childs TE, Booth FW. 2017. Left ventricle transcriptomic analysis reveals connective tissue accumulation associates with initial age-dependent decline in VO 2peak from its lifetime apex . Physiol Genomics 49 : 53–66. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sarzynski MA, Ghosh S, Bouchard C. 2016. Genomic and transcriptomic predictors of response levels to endurance exercise training . J Physiol 10.1113/JP272559. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schneider J. 2013. Age dependency of oxygen uptake and related parameters in exercise testing: An expert opinion on reference values suitable for adults . Lung 191 : 449–458. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schnyder S, Handschin C. 2015. Skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ: PGC-1α, myokines and exercise . Bone 80 : 115–125. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schoenfeld TJ, Rada P, Pieruzzini PR, Hsueh B, Gould E. 2013. Physical exercise prevents stress-induced activation of granule neurons and enhances local inhibitory mechanisms in the dentate gyrus . J Neurosci 33 : 7770–7777. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schuch FB, Vancampfort D, Sui X, Rosenbaum S, Firth J, Richards J, Ward PB, Stubbs B. 2016. Are lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness associated with incident depression? A systematic review of prospective cohort studies . Prev Med 93 : 159–165. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Scott LJ, Erdos MR, Huyghe JR, Welch RP, Beck AT, Wolford BN, Chines PS, Didion JP, Narisu N, Stringham HM, et al. 2016. The genetic regulatory signature of type 2 diabetes in human skeletal muscle . Nat Commun 7 : 11764. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Short KR, Vittone JL, Bigelow ML, Proctor DN, Rizza RA, Coenen-Schimke JM, Nair KS. 2003. Impact of aerobic exercise training on age-related changes in insulin sensitivity and muscle oxidative capacity . Diabetes 52 : 1888–1896. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Slentz CA, Aiken LB, Houmard JA, Bales CW, Johnson JL, Tanner CJ, Duscha BD, Kraus WE. 2005. Inactivity, exercise, and visceral fat. STRRIDE: A randomized, controlled study of exercise intensity and amount . J Appl Physiol (1985) 99 : 1613–1618. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Slentz CA, Houmard JA, Kraus WE. 2007. Modest exercise prevents the progressive disease associated with physical inactivity . Exerc Sport Sci Rev 35 : 18–23. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stanford KI, Goodyear LJ. 2014. Exercise and type 2 diabetes: Molecular mechanisms regulating glucose uptake in skeletal muscle . Adv Physiol Educ 38 : 308–314. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stephenson EJ, Smiles W, Hawley JA. 2014. The relationship between exercise, nutrition and type 2 diabetes . Med Sport Sci 60 : 1–10. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Subbotina E, Sierra A, Zhu Z, Gao Z, Koganti SR, Reyes S, Stepniak E, Walsh SA, Acevedo MR, Perez-Terzic CM, et al. 2015. Musclin is an activity-stimulated myokine that enhances physical endurance . Proc Natl Acad Sci 112 : 16042–16047. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tian Q, Erickson KI, Simonsick EM, Aizenstein HJ, Glynn NW, Boudreau RM, Newman AB, Kritchevsky SB, Yaffe K, Harris TB, et al. 2014. Physical activity predicts microstructural integrity in memory-related networks in very old adults . J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 69 : 1284–1290. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Timmons JA, Knudsen S, Rankinen T, Koch LG, Sarzynski M, Jensen T, Keller P, Scheele C, Vollaard NB, Nielsen S, et al. 2010. Using molecular classification to predict gains in maximal aerobic capacity following endurance exercise training in humans . J Appl Physiol (1985) 108 : 1487–1496. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Toedebusch RG, Ruegsegger GN, Braselton JF, Heese AJ, Hofheins JC, Childs TE, Thyfault JP, Booth FW. 2016. AMPK agonist AICAR delays the initial decline in lifetime-apex VO 2peak , while voluntary wheel running fails to delay its initial decline in female rats . Physiol Genomics 48 : 101–115. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Trejo JL, Carro E, Torres-Aleman I. 2001. Circulating insulin-like growth factor I mediates exercise-induced increases in the number of new neurons in the adult hippocampus . J Neurosci 21 : 1628–1634. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Masse LC, Tilert T, McDowell M. 2008. Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer . Med Sci Sports Exerc 40 : 181–188. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tuomilehto J, Lindstrom J, Eriksson JG, Valle TT, Hamalainen H, Ilanne-Parikka P, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S, Laakso M, Louheranta A, Rastas M, et al. 2001. Prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects with impaired glucose tolerance . N Engl J Med 344 : 1343–1350. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ullum H, Haahr PM, Diamant M, Palmo J, Halkjaer-Kristensen J, Pedersen BK. 1994. Bicycle exercise enhances plasma IL-6 but does not change IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, or TNF-α pre-mRNA in BMNC . J Appl Physiol (1985) 77 : 93–97. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• van Praag H, Kempermann G, Gage FH. 1999. Running increases cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult mouse dentate gyrus . Nat Neurosci 2 : 266–270. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vaughan RA, Gannon NP, Barberena MA, Garcia-Smith R, Bisoffi M, Mermier CM, Conn CA, Trujillo KA. 2014. Characterization of the metabolic effects of irisin on skeletal muscle in vitro . Diabetes Obes Metab 16 : 711–718. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Warburton DE, Nicol CW, Bredin SS. 2006. Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence . CMAJ 174 : 801–809. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wasserman DH. 2009. Four grams of glucose . Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 296 : E11–E21. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Widenfalk J, Olson L, Thoren P. 1999. Deprived of habitual running, rats downregulate BDNF and TrkB messages in the brain . Neurosci Res 34 : 125–132. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wong KE, Mikus CR, Slentz DH, Seiler SE, DeBalsi KL, Ilkayeva OR, Crain KI, Kinter MT, Kien CL, Stevens RD, et al. 2015. Muscle-specific overexpression of PGC-1α does not augment metabolic improvements in response to exercise and caloric restriction . Diabetes 64 : 1532–1543. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wrann CD, White JP, Salogiannnis J, Laznik-Bogoslavski D, Wu J, Ma D, Lin JD, Greenberg ME, Spiegelman BM. 2013. Exercise induces hippocampal BDNF through a PGC-1α/FNDC5 pathway . Cell Metab 18 : 649–659. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zierath JR, Krook A, Wallberg-Henriksson H. 2000. Insulin action and insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle . Diabetologia 43 : 821–835. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zlebnik NE, Anker JJ, Carroll ME. 2012. Exercise to reduce the escalation of cocaine self-administration in adolescent and adult rats . Psychopharmacology 224 : 387–400. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Advertisement

The Health Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity

• Gastroenterology, Critical Care, and Lifestyle Medicine (SA McClave, Section Editor)
• Published: 14 July 2016
• Volume 5 , pages 204–212, ( 2016 )

Cite this article

• Keith R. Miller 1 ,
• Stephen A. McClave 2 ,
• Melina B. Jampolis 3 ,
• Ryan T. Hurt 4 ,
• Kristine Krueger 2 ,
• Sarah Landes 2 &
• Bryan Collier 5  

24k Accesses

24 Citations

51 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor (similar to dyslipidemia and hypertension) for a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Exercise provides a clear health benefit, which serves in the primary and secondary prevention of these disease processes (the most important being a reduction in cardiovascular disease and premature death). The physiologic mechanisms for such a benefit occur at both a cellular and multisystem level. Prolonged periods of occupational or leisure-time sitting have adverse health effects independent of exercise performed before or after. Almost any form of physical activity (PA) is beneficial, whether part of a regular exercise program or as a series of intermittent, incidental, non-purposeful, lifestyle-embedded activity (causing non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT). The health benefits of exercise appear to be dose-dependent. Physicians should recommend near daily exercise which includes at various times strength training, stretching, and aerobic activity in addition to emphasizing adjustments that allow for reduced sitting and increased activity during daily routines. Patients should understand that for optimal health, exercise is no longer optional.

Similar content being viewed by others

Physical Activity Strategies

Physical Activity, Fitness, and Coronary Heart Disease

Physical Inactivity and the Economic and Health Burdens Due to Cardiovascular Disease: Exercise as Medicine

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and osteoporosis. Physical exercise reduces the risk of premature death and prolongs longevity, and is an important treatment modality in the primary and secondary prevention of the above disorders [ 1 ]. For most states in this country, less than half of the population meets CDC exercise recommendations [ 2 •]. The decline in physical activity (PA) occurs both at work and in leisure time, and may have at least partially contributed to the increase in obesity over the past 30 years. Low recreational physical activities have been associated with a threefold increase for major weight gain in men and a fourfold increase in women [ 3 ]. Surveys of PA across the lifecycle show that physical exercise peaks in the middle high-school age range and begins declining through high school and into adult life. A vicious cycle of decline occurs between inactivity and loss of skeletal muscle mass which accelerates with age. With avoidance of activity requiring effort, there is increased loss of exercise capacity. This loss causes the perception of effort associated with even sub-maximal work to worsen, as the anaerobic threshold decreases. The vicious cycle contributes to further inactivity and deterioration of physical function. The only treatment that can break the cycle is exercise.

Impact of Exercise on Aging

Exercise provides powerful health benefits for quality of life, physical function, and independent living throughout the life cycle. Exercise impedes the aging process and promotes longevity. Observational studies have shown that even in the presence of disease processes such as hypertension (HTN), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, smoking, high body mass index (BMI), and hypercholesterolemia, increasing PA has a dose-dependent effect in decreasing relative risk of death [ 4 ]. In a study of subjects over a 13-year time period, both baseline fitness, and improvement in physical fitness through exercise and PA was associated with significant increases in longevity [ 4 ]. Functional independence with advanced age relates to the overall level of physical fitness. Physical fitness is most affected by the status of the cardiorespiratory and vascular systems, as well as muscle function [ 5 •].

Garatachea et al. provide an excellent review of the effect of exercise on the physiologic changes associated with aging [ 5 •]. Exercise exerts its positive influence on both a cellular level and at the level of organ systems. At the cellular level, exercise helps reduce genomic instability, epigenetic alteration, loss of proteostasis, dysregulated nutrient sensing, cellular senescence, and altered intracellular communication that leads to inflammation. These effects alter the way the body performs transcellular signaling in the skeletal muscle, the turning on and off of genes through epigenetics, and the manner in which the system manages reactive oxygen species [ 5 •]. On a multisystem level, the benefits of exercise include improvement in brain, cardiovascular, lung, and muscle function, favorable alterations in body composition, and advantageous changes in metabolic responses. The report concludes by suggesting that in the future, pharmaceuticals should be designed which mimic the effects of exercise on the aging process [ 5 •].

Effect of Exercise on Treatment of Disease

Robert Butler from the National Institute on Aging has said that “If exercise could be put in a bottle, it would be the strongest medicine money could buy” [ 6 ]. Exercise helps prevent common chronic diseases (primary prevention), and often plays an important role in the treatment of these disease processes (secondary prevention). Specific benefits from exercise have been seen with cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, depression, cancer, obesity, and osteoporosis [ 7 , 8 ]

Cardiovascular Disease

Increased levels of PA and physical fitness have a graded effect in reducing the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. The relative risk from all cause and cardiovascular disease mortality is reduced 20–35 % by exercise and PA [ 9 ]. In an observational study, subjects in the lowest quintile of exercise had a relative risk of 3.4 in men and 4.7 in women for death compared to those in the highest quintile [ 10 ]. An increase in activity-related energy expenditure by as little as 1000 kcal or 1 metabolic equivalent (MET)-hour of exercise per week has a mortality benefit of 20 % [ 11 ]. Physically inactive women have a 52 % increase in death, a cardiovascular disease-related death that is doubled, and a cancer-related death rate that is increased by 29 % [ 11 ]. These risks on mortality from inactivity are similar to other modifiable risk factors such as HTN, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity. In randomized controlled trials (RCT)s, exercise and PA are valuable for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Whereas in the past, traditional recommendations for patients with a heart attack included rest and physical inactivity. Newer information demonstrates that exercise actually attenuates or reverses risk of cardiovascular disease [ 12 ]. The benefit of exercise is seen in cardiac rehabilitation, where increasing PA reduces the risk of premature death following a myocardial infarction [ 12 ]. Added energy expenditure of 1600 kcal/week from exercise may halt the progression of heart disease and energy expenditure of >2200 kcal/week can lead to plaque reduction [ 13 ]. The minimum training recommendation for patients following myocardial infarction is to reach 45 % of their heart rate reserve through cardiac rehabilitation [ 12 , 13 ].

Multiple mechanisms have been identified whereby exercise reduces the risk of premature death [ 4 ]. Exercise affects body composition by decreasing abdominal adiposity and improving weight control. Exercise enhances lipid profiles by reducing serum triglyceride levels, raising HDL, and reducing the LDL/HDL ratio. In addition, a recent meta-analysis showed beneficial changes in lipoprotein subclasses associated with regular exercise including a reduction in small LDL-p and an increase in large LDL-p [ 14 ]. Exercise enhances hemodynamics by decreasing blood pressure, increasing cardiac function, and improving coronary blood flow. Autonomic tone is enhanced and shear stress-mediated endothelial function is improved. Exercise reduces systemic inflammation, as evidenced by reduced C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Improved psychological well-being in response to exercise is associated with reduced stress, anxiety, and depression [ 4 ].

PA is inversely correlated with risk of incident stroke as shown in a large nurses’ health study [ 15 ]. Habitual exercise reduces risk of stroke by 40–50 % at the highest level of PA. Change in PA is protective against stroke as evidenced by the fact that an increase of 3.5 h of exercise or PA per week is associated with a 29 % reduction in ischemic stroke [ 15 ].

Diabetes Mellitus

Exercise is valuable in both the primary and secondary prevention of diabetes mellitus. Aerobic and resistant-type exercise reduces the likelihood of developing type-2 diabetes mellitus. For each 500 kcal of energy expended per week, there is an associated 6 % reduction in the likelihood of type-2 diabetes (which may be even greater with increasing BMI) [ 16 ]. In patients already diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus, walking 2 h per week is associated with a 39–54 % reduction in all-cause mortality from diabetes mellitus, and a 34–53 % reduction in mortality related to cardiovascular disease [ 17 ]. The benefit of exercise on glycemic control appears to be greater with resistance training than aerobic exercise. A meta-analysis of exercise and PA in diabetes showed that exercise reduces hemoglobin A1C by 0.66 %, an effect similar to intensive glucose-lowering pharmacologic therapy [ 18 ]. The mechanisms by which exercise benefits diabetes relate to the fact that exercise increases glycogen synthetase and hexokinase activity [ 4 ]. Exercise reduces GLUT-4 protein and messenger RNA expression and increases muscle capillary density, which helps improve glucose delivery to the muscle [ 4 ].

Increasing PA, either occupational or at leisure, has been shown to exert a primary preventative effect on two cancers—breast and colon cancer [ 19 ]. Moderate exercise of as little as 4–5 METs (equivalent to mowing the lawn or brisk walking), is required to achieve this effect [ 20 ]. Exercise is associated with a 20–30 % reduction in the incidence of breast cancer in women, and a 30–40 % reduction in the incidence of colon cancer in both men and women [ 20 ]. In those patients already diagnosed to have one of these cancers, exercise reduces the likelihood for cancer recurrence and reduces risk from cancer death by as much as 26–40 % [ 21 ]. PA improves quality of life and overall health status in cancer patients. The mechanisms by which exercise improves risk from cancer may relate to reduced fat stores, an increase in energy expenditure offsetting a high-fat diet, activity-related changes in sex hormone levels, improvement in immune function, and reduced generation of free oxygen radicals [ 4 ].

Osteoporosis

Exercise has a valuable effect in the primary prevention of osteoporosis. Routine PA minimizes age-related bone loss. Weight-bearing exercise (especially resistance exercise) increases bone density compared to low impact non-weight-bearing exercise. Exercise prevents 1 % of bone loss per year, an effect which is greater in post-menopausal than pre-menopausal women [ 22 ]. In RCTs, exercise reduces the risk and number of falls, as well as the risk of fracture [ 22 ]. Even in men, PA reduces the risk of fracture by 62 % over the age of 21 years [ 23 ]. Exercise is also valuable in the secondary prevention of osteoporosis. RCTs in the past have shown that exercise with resistance training increases bone density in older osteoporotic women by as much as 1.4 %, while agility training alone increases bone density by 0.5 % [ 24 ]. Stretching, which was used as sham control, was shown to have no effect on the expected decrease in bone density with age [ 24 ]. In a 12-year follow up of over 60,000 post-menopausal women, risk of hip fracture was lowered 6 % for each increase of three MET-hours per week of activity (the equivalent of walking three miles in 1 h) [ 25 ]. Active women with at least 24 met-hours of exercise per week had a 55 % lower risk of hip fracture than sedentary women with no other exercise. Walking at least 4 h per week was associated with a 41 % lower risk of hip fracture than walking less than one hour per week [ 25 ].

Exercise has a valuable therapeutic effect on the treatment on multiple types of depression, including dysthymic, seasonal, bipolar, post-natal, pre-menstrual, atypical, and major depression [ 26 ]. The value in treating depression comes from an innate anti-depressive effect from exercise. Combining exercise with psychotropic medications achieves better treatment results than the same medications alone [ 26 ]. Exercise is relatively inexpensive, safe, and has minimal side effects when done correctly. Exercise may help reduce the dose of anti-depressive medications required. Subjects are less likely to relapse with an active exercise program [ 26 ].

The patients with depression who are most likely to benefit from exercise include those with age <20 or >40 years, higher education, higher baseline physical status, females, untrained subjects, and those with mild to moderate depression [ 26 ]. There are a number of aspects of exercise that get the optimal results in treating depression including programs that are structured, individually tailored to the patient, low to moderate intensity, when it is used as an adjunct to medication therapy, and exercise that is a combination of aerobic or resistive training performed 3–4 times per week [ 26 ]. The mechanism of effect from exercise on depression occurs on a systemic level as well as a direct effect on central nervous system (CNS) function. Exercise appears to increase serotonin, ACTH, endorphins, and endocannabinoids within the CNS. On a systemic level, exercise increases norepinephrine and reduces cortisol, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin-6 [ 26 ].

In a controversial article that appeared in Time magazine in 2009, the journalist John Cloud wrote about “The Myth of Exercise” and its effect on treating obesity [ 27 ]. The article suggested that exercise was not good for weight management in obesity. The author pointed out that exercise leads to increased appetite and intake of food and causes a decrease in non-exercise energy expenditure, and therefore that exercise was a poor strategy for weight loss [ 27 ]. A number of letters to the editor of Time magazine followed the publication of this article, including letters from the American Society for Sports Medicine, arguing that facts were misrepresented and that the article gave the wrong message about the health benefits of exercise.

A recent review by Swift clarified the role of exercise in managing or preventing obesity, and suggested that Cloud’s article was in fact an accurate portrayal of the facts [ 28 ]. The key issue of Swift’s review is that exercise without caloric restriction is unlikely to succeed in weight loss [ 28 ]. Increasing PA can prevent weight gain, but it requires 150–250 min per week of moderate to vigorous exercise or 1200–2000 kcal/week expended through exercise to accomplish this feat [ 29 ]. Aerobic exercise by itself is minimally helpful in promoting weight loss, successful in loss of only 0–2 kg total [ 29 ]. Extreme high-volume aerobic exercise can achieve significant weight loss, but this is usually unsustainable by most obese patients. Moderate intensity, surprisingly, is no different than vigorous intensity in achieving weight loss, unless subjects are matched for exercise duration. Resistance training by itself has no impact on weight loss, and aerobic training combined with resistant training has no greater effect than aerobic training alone. However, adding caloric restriction to aerobic training does result in successful weight loss of 9–13 kg, and higher intensity of exercise has the potential for even greater weight loss [ 29 ]. Some obese subjects do experience weight compensation in response to exercise, defined by the circumstances where less weight is lost than expected with the amount of exercise sustained, often a factor related to an increase in caloric intake [ 28 , 30 ]. This is more likely to occur in women performing 150 % of weekly recommendations (compared to women performing only 100 % or 50 % of weekly recommendations) [ 28 , 30 ]. Even if minimal or no weight loss occurs in response to exercise, obese subjects still benefit from the increase in PA due to increased cardiorespiratory fitness, glucose control, endothelial function, improvements in hyperlipidemia, quality of life, and a reduction in future weight gain [ 28 ].

Caloric restriction is better than exercise for significant weight loss initially, and the weight loss is not necessarily enhanced significantly by adding exercise [ 28 ], although exercise training plus caloric restriction does improve body composition by increasing fat loss and decreasing loss of lean body mass [ 31 ]. The greatest value of exercise in the management of obesity occurs not in the initial weight loss, but in the situation where obese patients have lost weight successfully and now require substantial PA to maintain that weight loss [ 28 ]. Interestingly, an “energy gap” has been identified as the difference in energy expenditure before and after weight loss [ 32 ]. The energy gap is estimated to be approximately 8 kcal per day per pound of weight lost. An energy gap, for example, of 40 lbs lost would be associated with 320 kcal of energy. Sustaining this weight loss successfully would require either a continued reduction in energy consumption by 320 kcal per day, or increasing activity-associated energy expenditure by the same amount [ 32 ]. Based on the Set Point theory, both biological and environmental pressures oppose the strategy of food restriction in keeping weight off, but the same effect does not occur with increased PA [ 32 ]. Therefore, while food restriction is the key to weight loss, PA is the key to successful maintenance of the weight lost [ 32 ]. The ACSM has identified that people who successfully maintain weight loss average at least 250 min of PA per week [ 29 ].

Low Back Pain

A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis reviewed 23 randomized controlled trials evaluating the prevention of low back pain [ 33 ]. Over 30,000 patients were involved in these studies. Ultimately, the combination of exercise (varying regimens of abdominal strengthening, core stability, cardiovascular, and isometrics) plus education regarding prevention of low back pain was found to reduce the risk of low back pain as well as sick leave related to low back pain. Exercise alone was also found to have an impact but had a more short term effect (<12 months), thought to be due to cessation of exercise following the intervention. Other interventions, including back belts, insoles, and education alone were not found to have any impact [ 33 ].

Not All Exercise is Created Equal

Physical activity versus physical fitness.

The lay public tends to use the terms PA and physical fitness interchangeably, but subtle differences between the two exist. Physical fitness is a physiologic state of being with regard to daily living and/or sports performance [ 4 ]. Physical fitness is comprised of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, body composition, and metabolic components [ 4 ]. Physical fitness is similar to PA, but is more predictive of health outcomes. For example, a high-fit versus a low-fit person is estimated to have a 50 % lower mortality [ 34 ]. Physical fitness, therefore, becomes a better measure of PA than self-reporting. From a public health standpoint, however, it is better and more productive to encourage the public to be physically active and not push the need to be physically fit. Eventually, increased activity should lead to physical fitness.

In the past, guidelines for optimal health seemed to have had a singular focus on aerobic fitness. But a new paradigm shift has occurred with the addition of the concept of musculoskeletal fitness [ 4 ]. In other words, health status can improve due to increased PA in the absence of changes in aerobic fitness. Regular PA can decrease risk factors from chronic disease and disability without changing cardiac output or oxidative potential, especially in the elderly [ 4 ]. The shift has been to focus on the health benefits of musculoskeletal fitness, which may be a critical factor in the functional threshold for dependence with the aging population. Loss of muscular fitness can result in loss of capacity for daily living, and a cycle of decline can ensue [ 4 ]. Improvement in musculoskeletal function can delay the onset of disability, dependence, and chronic disease [ 35 ]. Musculoskeletal fitness is associated with fewer functional limitations and a reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, degenerative joint disease, and coronary artery disease [ 35 ]. Therefore, resistance training that works all the major muscle groups (including legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) and flexibility exercise, which are necessary to achieve musculoskeletal fitness, are recommended to be done at least twice weekly, to complement aerobic fitness and optimize overall health status.

Adverse Health Risk from Sitting

In an effort to delineate those factors which contribute to the obesity epidemic, researchers are increasingly focused on the adverse health risk from prolonged sitting [ 36 •]. A newly recognized occupational hazard has evolved because of workers needing to sit at a computer screen throughout the workday. Each mean hour of sitting after a total mean of 7 h per day is associated with a 5 % increase in premature death [ 36 •]. More time sitting at work has been shown to correlate with more sitting in leisure time. Prolonged sitting while watching TV at home, for example, has adverse effects on mental health, well-being, and muscle strength. Long sedentary hours have been linked to a twofold increase in diabetes, a twofold increase in cardiovascular disease, a 13 % increase in the incidence of cancer, and a 17 % increase in mortality related to cancer [ 36 •]. It is estimated that the average worker in the USA and England spends 60–70 % of waking hours in a sedentary sitting position. The effect of sitting has been likened to the transmission of a car. Sitting for such a prolonged period is like putting a car in reverse, causing one’s overall health status to go in the wrong direction [ 36 •]. Approximately 20–30 % of the time is spent in light intensity activity, described as postural changes, standing and movement, or ambulation. For less than 5–10 % of waking hours, individuals spend in moderate to vigorous PA. The adverse effect of sitting on health status is independent of the exercise or PA done before or after [ 36 •]. In other words, no amount of PA later can overcome the negative health effects of prolonged sitting.

Changes in the workplace environment may be the key issue to minimizing the negative effects of prolonged sitting. Particularly, in the UK, recommendations and guidelines have been developed to avoid this health hazard [ 36 •]. Workers are encouraged to accumulate up to 2 h per day at work standing or performing light walking, with the goal to progress ultimately to 4 h per day. Workers should interrupt seat-based work with standing-based work. However, workers should avoid both prolonged periods of standing as well as prolonged periods of sitting. Adaptation of these guidelines may lead to musculoskeletal complaints and fatigue, which should be monitored by managers in the workplace. Such health promotion strategies should eventually extend from the workplace to the leisure time [ 36 •].

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) has been described as unstructured PA, energy expended unrelated to sleeping, eating, or sports exercise. NEAT is energy expended outside of purposeful exercise [ 37 ]. Surprisingly, this incidental, non-purposeful lifestyle-embedded PA can have tremendous health benefits. Three components of NEAT include body posture, ambulation, and all other movements (the most important of which may be fidgeting) [ 38 ]. Researchers involved in the study of obesity are finding that in some cases what delineates the lean subject from an obese one is a difference in NEAT, not exercise-associated activity thermogenesis [ 38 ]. Early experiments which helped identify NEAT came from studies where energy requirements were measured and all subjects were placed on a diet of 1000 cal over requirements [ 39 ]. Subjects were then videotaped, and in a blinded fashion designated as fidgeters or non-fidgeters. At the end of the trial, those patients who were designated as fidgeters failed to gain weight, while those identified to be non-fidgeters sustained significant weight gain. The increase in kilocalories of energy expenditure attributed to NEAT was inversely proportional to fat gain in pounds [ 39 ]. NEAT ranges from 15 % of total energy expenditure (TEE) in sedentary subjects to as much as 50 % of TEE in fidgeting physically active people [ 39 ]. Fidgeting has been shown in twin studies to be genetic, with an estimated >62 % heritability [ 40 ]. Simply standing or lightly ambulating can increase energy expenditure by an average of 350 kcal/day (range 269–477 kcal/day) [ 37 ]. NEAT tends to be greater in men than women, in obese subjects rather than lean, and in those with more education than those with less [ 38 , 39 ]. NEAT tends to be seasonal and overall, declines with age [ 39 ]. The concept of an energy gap is pertinent to NEAT. An average citizen in the USA has been shown to gain 1–2 lbs each year through their adult life. An energy gap of 100 kcal additional energy consumed each day would account for this weight gain [ 41 ]. NEAT can be an important contributor to TEE, such that increases in NEAT of as little as 100–150 kcal of activity per day could prevent such weight gain (by offsetting the energy gap) in the vast majority of people [ 41 ]. Recommendations now suggest that if you were not lucky enough to inherit fidgeting, you should “act like a fidgeter,” standing often, getting up from sitting, pacing, parking at the back of a parking lot, and taking stairs instead of elevators [ 40 ].

Continuous Versus Interval Exercise

Long bouts of continuous exercise as a strategy for weight loss or weight maintenance can be a contentious and challenging recommendation for the general public. Longer duration, continuous exercise may be difficult and not particularly enjoyable for patients and may not fit as well with work or home schedules. Research now has shown that interval exercise, which involves alternating short bouts of high-intensity exercise with lower-intensity exercise that allows for partial recovery, can match the health benefits of continuous exercise [ 42 ]. Studies in patients with class-1 obesity (BMI 30–34.9 kg/m 2 ), walking at a moderate level of intensity, randomized to two 15-min intervals of walking versus one 30-min interval, showed essentially the same improvements in overall health status [ 42 ]. Both intermittent and continuous exercise resulted in improvement of maximum oxygen consumption, body composition, and lipid profiles. In some categories, interval exercise even exceeded the benefit seen with continuous exercise (such as VLDL levels and percent fat lost) [ 42 ]. The value of these findings for intermittent exercise stems from three factors: there is less attrition with recommendations for interval exercise, time constraints, and short periods of interval exercising may allow for greater intensity of PA [ 42 ]. An additional study involving 28 sedentary overweight or obese men compared five 45- to 60-min sessions of continuous moderate intensity cycling per week for 6 weeks with three 20-min sessions of high-intensity interval exercise per week (for a total of 60 min) for 6 weeks. Similar improvements in cardio-metabolic risk factors including improved insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness, and a reduction in blood lipids and body fat percentage were observed in the groups [ 43 ]. While cardiovascular fitness was improved to a greater extent in the continuous exercise group, this study, along with numerous other studies of interval exercise showing similar outcomes in different populations, are encouraging in that they show many of the same improvements in overall health with a substantially reduced time commitment [ 43 ]. This is especially relevant as lack of time is cited as the most common reason for not exercising by many. In addition, interval exercise can be easily adapted to an individual’s starting fitness level by adjusting either the duration or intensity (or both) of the high-intensity component of exercise. This may be especially beneficial for sedentary overweight or obese individuals who are new to exercise. In light of both the potential health and time saving benefits, interval exercise training appears to be an appealing and worthwhile exercise option in addition to, or instead of, continuous exercise. The good news for public health is that short walks on a subject’s lunch break or brief periods of activity before and after work all count, and the sum of their duration may have similar benefits to a single continuous interval of exercise of the same duration.

Success of Pedometers

The use of pedometers to increase PA was generated years ago in Japanese walking clubs. The rationalization for the pedometer was that the average stride was estimated to be 2.5 ft. Therefore, 2000 steps should approximately equal a mile, 10,000 equaling about 5 miles [ 44 ]. Based on this rationalization, PA can be classified as sedentary (<5000 steps per day), low active (5000 to 7500 steps), somewhat active (7500 to 10,000 steps), and active (>10,000 steps per day). Highly active physical exercise is associated with >12,500 steps per day [ 44 ]. This is an arbitrary categorization, however, and 10,000 steps per day may be too little for children or too much for the elderly. Weight loss using a pedometer without caloric restriction is associated with minimal to modest weight loss of <2 kg [ 44 ]. Health benefits associated with use of the pedometer may be limited to a reduction in blood pressure, with not much change in cholesterol, triglycerides, or fasting glucose [ 44 ].

Exercise in the Intensive Care Unit

Exercise is becoming increasingly important in one of the least expected circumstances, that of a critically ill patient in the intensive care unit (ICU). Researchers have found that exercising muscle increases the uptake of amino acid fuel and promotes greater protein synthesis [ 45 , 46 ]. Patients in the ICU on a ventilator in some centers are gotten out of bed and encouraged to walk with assistance in the hallway. Other centers have used a pedaling device, some of which can even be adapted for passive activity in a patient who is otherwise sedated and minimally responsive. Exercise in the critical care setting helps maintain muscular strength, reduces the risk for long-term neuromuscular weakness, shortens rehabilitation, and is more likely to result in the patient being discharged to their home [ 45 , 46 ].

Recommendations for Public Health

Similar to the Food Guide Pyramid designed by the USDA, an activity pyramid has been created to guide the public in strategies to increase flexibility, muscular strength, and aerobic capacity ( www.wellspan.org/media/3648/activitypyramid-2009.pdf ). Every day, subjects are encouraged to increase activity in leisure and at work. Three to five times per week, aerobic activity should occur, accumulating 150 min each week ( www.wellspan.org/media/3648/activitypyramid-2009.pdf ). Two to three times per week, muscular activity focusing on flexibility and strength training should be scheduled. Sitting more than 30 min at a time, watching TV, or staring at a computer screen should be minimized or reduced as much as possible ( www.wellspan.org/media/3648/activitypyramid-2009.pdf ).

Guidelines differentiate between moderate and vigorous intensity of PA. Moderate intensity is defined by a 3–5 MET level of effort, and includes activities that cause some increase in breathing and heart rate (such as walking 3–4 miles per hour, bicycling on level ground, light swimming, gardening, or mowing a lawn) [ 4 ]. Vigorous intensity is defined by ≥6 METs, and is exemplified by activities causing large increases in breathing, heart rate, and sweating. Such activities of vigorous intensity would include jogging or running at faster than a 10 min mile, aerobic dancing, competitive sports, heavy yard or construction work, brisk swimming, or fast bicycling [ 4 ].

The amount of PA needed to optimize health is not clear. The particular dose of exercise required to achieve benefits with regard to a particular disease process is difficult to ascertain. For cardiovascular disease, the intensity of PA is inversely and linearly associated with increased mortality, with the biggest effect seen as a reduction of premature death [ 47 ]. PA of >2000 kcal per week extends life by 1–2 years by age 80 [ 47 ]. An average energy expenditure of 1000 kcal per week is associated with a 20–30 % decrease in all-cause mortality. Beginning at a minimum of 1000 kcal per week, increasing benefits are seen with increasing energy expenditure, suggesting a dose-response gradient to the effect of exercise on cardiovascular health [ 47 ]. For diabetes mellitus, there is decreased risk from this disease process with PA of >5.5 METs for at least 40 min per week [ 48 ]. Walking 2 h per week decreases the risk of premature death from diabetes [ 48 ]. Moderate exercise defined by a >4.5 METs for 30–60 min per day reduces both the risk of colon cancer and breast cancer [ 19 ]. For women in particular, >7 h per week of moderate exercise has been shown to be successful in reducing risk of breast cancer (TI01). For osteoporosis, the dose-response gradient is less clear, with recommendations simply emphasizing that osteogenic adaptation is load-dependent and site-specific [ 4 ]. The Center for Disease Control (CDC), the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Healthy People 2010 recommendations provide guidelines for aerobic activity for public health purposes [ 49 ]. Adults should engage in PA of moderate intensity for at least 150 min per week or engage in PA of vigorous intensity for at least 75 min per week. Bouts of exercise may be broken up into smaller increments lasting at least 10 min [ 49 ].

Should Anyone Not be Exercising?

Jim Fixx was a celebrity journalist who helped contribute to the running craze seen in the 1980s in the USA. His sudden death from cardiovascular disease, while jogging, raised questions as to the need for medical evaluation prior to engaging in a program of increasing PA. Moderately strenuous PA may trigger ischemic events, particularly among sedentary people. There is an increased incidence of primary heart attack in high-intensity exercise. In competitive athletes, 80 % of deaths are caused by coronary artery disease. Some subjects do need to have their health risks assessed prior to engaging in an aggressive program.

The degree to which a person is evaluated prior to exercise depends on the presence or absence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and whether the exercise will be moderate or vigorous in intensity [ 50 ]. Subjects at low risk would be those who are young in age (<45 years for male, <55 years for female), are asymptomatic, and have ≤1 cardiovascular risk disease factors. These patients do not need a medical evaluation or stress test for moderate or even vigorous exercise. Subjects at moderate risk are older (men >45 years, women >55 years), or have ≥2 risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For moderate exercise, no medical evaluation may be needed, but these subjects should undergo a stress test. If exercise of vigorous intensity is planned, both a medical evaluation and a stress test should be performed. For those patients at high risk, however, defined by ≥1 sign or symptom of cardiovascular, pulmonary, or metabolic disease, both a full medical evaluation and stress test should be performed before any program is undertaken [ 50 ].

Specifically, those subjects who should not be exercising are those experiencing an acute myocardial infarction, subjects with unstable angina, systolic blood pressure >180, diastolic pressure >110 ml/Hg, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, poorly controlled congestive heart failure, or thrombophlebitis [ 50 ].

While formal studies have shown that physician counseling is time-intensive and only minimally effective in changing behavior, physicians should no longer avoid the subject of recommendations for exercise as part of the healthcare they deliver to their patients. Physicians can begin by suggesting lifestyle changes such as climbing stairs at work, parking further away from the door on errands, walking regularly, and doing chores at home and in the yard. Clinicians should write on a prescription pad for the patient, specifying the type of exercise, duration, frequency, and intensity. The physician upon discharge from an office visit should determine plans for support and follow up to encourage success, manage obstacles, and prevent relapses. Clinicians should encourage their outpatients to involve community services such as physical therapy, mall-walking programs, school tracks, safe neighborhoods, the YMCA, and walk-a-thon’s.

Physicians should counsel that exercise is not an option. The exercise does not have to be continuous to be effective, and any physical activity counts. Patients should sit less, stand more, and plan their exercise activity at the beginning of each week. Subjects should be encouraged to find activities which they enjoy and involve others to maintain compliance. As Edward Stanley, the Earl of Derby in 1873 said, “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness” [ 51 ].

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

Rezende LF, Rey Lopez JP, Matsudo VK, Luiz OD. Sedentary behavior and health outcomes among older adults: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1):333.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm . Accessed June 12, 2016. Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics regarding current levels of PA in the United States and trends in physican recommendations to patients relevant to exercise.

Lee IM, Djoussé L, Sesso HD, Wang L, Buring JE. Physical activity and weight gain prevention. JAMA. 2010;303(12):1173–9.

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Warburton DE, Nicol CW, Bredin SS. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. CMAJ. 2006;174(6):801–9.

Garatachea N, Pareja-Galeano H, Sanchis-Gomar F, Santos-Lozano A, Fiuza-Luces C, Morán M, et al. Exercise attenuates the major hallmarks of aging. Rejuvenation Res. 2015;18(1):57–89. Discussion regarding the exercise mediated attenuation of physical fitness and functional decline in aging.

"Working With Special Populations Sport Essay." UKessays.com. 11 2013. All Answers Ltd. 06 2016 < https://www.ukessays.com/essays/sports/working-with-special-populations-sport-essay.php?cref=1 >

Blumenthal JA, Babyak MA, Moore KA, Craighead WE, Herman S, Khatri P, et al. Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159(19):2349–56.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Byrne A, Byrne DG. The effect of exercise on depression, anxiety and other mood states: a review. J Psychosom Res. 1993;37(6):565–74.

Macera CA, Hootman JM, Sniezek JE. Major public health benefits of physical activity. Arthritis Rheum. 2003;49(1):122–8.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Blair SN, Kohl 3rd HW, Paffenbarger Jr RS, Clark DG, Cooper KH, Gibbons LW. Physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy men and women. JAMA. 1989;262(17):2395–401.

Hu FB, Willett WC, Li T, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Manson JE. Adiposity as compared with physical activity in predicting mortality among women. N Engl J Med. 2004;351(26):2694–703.

Taylor RS, Brown A, Ebrahim S, Jolliffe J, Noorani H, Rees K, et al. Exercise-based rehabilitation for patients with coronary heart disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Med. 2004;116(10):682–92.

Hambrecht R, Niebauer J, Marburger C, Grunze M, Kälberer B, Hauer K, et al. Various intensities of leisure time physical activity in patients with coronary artery disease: effects on cardiorespiratory fitness and progression of coronary atherosclerotic lesions. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1993;22(2):468–77.

Sarzynski MA1, Burton J2, Rankinen T2, Blair SN3, Church TS2, Després JP4, et al. The effects of exercise on the lipoprotein subclass profile: a meta-analysis of 10 interventions. Atherosclerosis. 2015;243(2):364–72.

Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Ascherio A, Rexrode KM, Willett WC, et al. Physical activity and risk of stroke in women. JAMA. 2000;283(22):2961–7.

Helmrich SP, Ragland DR, Leung RW, Paffenbarger Jr RS. Physical activity and reduced occurrence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med. 1991;325(3):147–52.

Gregg EW, Gerzoff RB, Caspersen CJ, Williamson DF, Narayan KM. Relationship of walking to mortality among US adults with diabetes. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163(12):1440–7.

Boulé NG, Haddad E, Kenny GP, Wells GA, Sigal RJ. Effects of exercise on glycemic control and body mass in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. JAMA. 2001;286(10):1218–27.

Thune I, Furberg AS. Physical activity and cancer risk: dose-response and cancer, all sites and site-specific. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001;33(6 Suppl):S530–50. discussion S609-10.

Lee IM. Physical activity and cancer prevention—data from epidemiologic studies. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(11):1823–7.

Holmes MD, Chen WY, Feskanich D, Kroenke CH, Colditz GA. Physical activity and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. JAMA. 2005;293(20):2479–86.

Wolff I, van Croonenborg JJ, Kemper HC, Kostense PJ, Twisk JW. The effect of exercise training programs on bone mass: a meta-analysis of published controlled trials in pre- and postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int. 1999;9(1):1–12.

Kujala UM, Kaprio J, Kannus P, Sarna S, Koskenvuo M. Physical activity and osteoporotic hip fracture risk in men. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(5):705–8.

Liu-Ambrose TY, Khan KM, Eng JJ, Heinonen A, McKay HA. Both resistance and agility training increase cortical bone density in 75- to 85-year-old women with low bone mass: a 6-month randomized controlled trial. J Clin Densitom. 2004;7(4):390–8.

Feskanich D, Willett W, Colditz G. Walking and leisure-time activity and risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women. JAMA. 2002;288(18):2300–6.

Ranjbar E, Memari AH, Hafizi S, Shayestehfar M, Mirfazeli FS. Eshghi MA. J Sports Med. 2015;6(2):e24055.

Google Scholar  

Cloud J. Why exercise won’t make you thin. Time. 2009;174(6):49–51.

Swift DL, Johannsen NM, Lavie CJ, Earnest CP, Church TS. The role of exercise and physical activity in weight loss and maintenance. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2014;56(4):441–7.

Donnelly JE, Blair SN, Jakicic JM, Manore MM, Rankin JW, Smith BK. American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Appropriate physical activity intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain for adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(2):459–71.

Church TS, Martin CK, Thompson AM, Earnest CP, Mikus CR, Blair SN. Changes in weight, waist circumference and compensatory responses with different doses of exercise among sedentary, overweight postmenopausal women. PLoS One. 2009;4(2):e4515.

Miller CT, Fraser SF, Levinger I, Straznicky NE, Dixon JB, Reynolds J, et al. The effects of exercise training in addition to energy restriction on functional capacities and body composition in obese adults during weight loss: a systematic review. PLoS One. 2013;8(11):e81692.

Hill JO, Thompson H, Wyatt H. Weight maintenance: what’s missing? J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(5 Suppl 1):S63–6.

Steffens D, Maher CG, Pereira LS, Stevens ML, Oliveira VC, Chapple M, et al. Prevention of low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(2):199–208.

Myers J, Kaykha A, George S, Abella J, Zaheer N, Lear S, et al. Fitness versus physical activity patterns in predicting mortality in men. Am J Med. 2004;117(12):912–8.

Warburton DE, Gledhill N, Quinney A. Musculoskeletal fitness and health. Can J Appl Physiol. 2001;26(2):217–37.

Buckley JP, Hedge A, Yates T, Copeland RJ, Loosemore M, Hamer M, et al. The sedentary office: an expert statement on the growing case for change towards better health and productivity. Br J Sports Med. 2015;49(21):1357–62. Expert consensus on techniques to combat increased periods of sitting and inactivity in the modern workplace.

Tremblay MS, Esliger DW, Tremblay A, Colley R. Incidental movement, lifestyle-embedded activity and sleep: new frontiers in physical activity assessment. Can J Public Health. 2007;98 Suppl 2:S208–17.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

McManus AM. Physical activity—a neat solution to an impending crisis. J Sports Sci Med. 2007;6(3):368–73.

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Levine JA. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Nutr Rev. 2004;62(7 Pt 2):S82–97.

Bouchard C, Tremblay A. Genetic influences on the response of body fat and fat distribution to positive and negative energy balances in human identical twins. J Nutr. 1997;127(5 Suppl):943S–7S.

CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Hill JO, Wyatt HR, Reed GW, Peters JC. Obesity and the environment: where do we go from here? Science. 2003;299(5608):853–5.

Campbell L, Wallman K, Green D. The effects of intermittent exercise on physiological outcomes in an obese population: continuous versus interval walking. J Sports Sci Med. 2010;9(1):24–30.

Fisher G, Brown AW, Bohan Brown MM, Alcorn A, Noles C, Winwood L, et al. High intensity interval- vs moderate intensity-training for improving cardiometabolic health in overweight or obese males: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2015;10(10):e0138853.

Tudor-Locke C, Bassett Jr DR. How many steps/day are enough? Preliminary pedometer indices for public health. Sports Med. 2004;34(1):1–8.

Morris PE, Goad A, Thompson C, Taylor K, Harry B, Passmore L, et al. Early intensive care unit mobility therapy in the treatment of acute respiratory failure. Crit Care Med. 2008;36(8):2238–43.

Schweickert WD, Pohlman MC, Pohlman AS, Nigos C, Pawlik AJ, Esbrook CL, et al. Early physical and occupational therapy in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2009;373(9678):1874–82.

Paffenbarger Jr RS, Hyde RT, Wing AL, Hsieh CC. Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. N Engl J Med. 1986;314(10):605–13.

Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, Kaplan GA, Cohen RD, Salonen R, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. Arch Intern Med. 1996;156(12):1307–14.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health. 2nd ed. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office; 2000.

Balady GJ, Weiner DA. Exercise testing for sports and the exercise prescription. Cardiol Clin. 1987;5(2):183–96.

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Stanley-3rd-earl-of-Derby/article-supplemental-information.htm Accessed June 2016

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

Keith R. Miller

Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA

Stephen A. McClave, Kristine Krueger & Sarah Landes

National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, Valley Village, CA, 91607, USA

Melina B. Jampolis

Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

Ryan T. Hurt

Department of Surgery, East Virginia University, Roanoke, VA, USA

Bryan Collier

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith R. Miller .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

Keith R. Miller has received compensation from Nestlé for serving as faculty in its fellowship program, from Abbott for serving on a surgical advisory board, and from Metagenics for serving on an advisory board.

Stephen A. McClave declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Melina B. Jampolis declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ryan T. Hurt has received compensation from Nestlé Nutrition for service as a consultant.

Kristine Krueger declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Sarah Landes declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Bryan Collier declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Gastroenterology, Critical Care, and Lifestyle Medicine

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Miller, K.R., McClave, S.A., Jampolis, M.B. et al. The Health Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity. Curr Nutr Rep 5 , 204–212 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-016-0175-5

Download citation

Published : 14 July 2016

Issue Date : September 2016

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-016-0175-5

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Physical activity
• Energy expenditure
• Non-exercise activity thermogenesis
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Physical Activity Is Good for the Mind and the Body

Health and Well-Being Matter is the monthly blog of the Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Everyone has their own way to “recharge” their sense of well-being — something that makes them feel good physically, emotionally, and spiritually even if they aren’t consciously aware of it. Personally, I know that few things can improve my day as quickly as a walk around the block or even just getting up from my desk and doing some push-ups. A hike through the woods is ideal when I can make it happen. But that’s me. It’s not simply that I enjoy these activities but also that they literally make me feel better and clear my mind.

Mental health and physical health are closely connected. No kidding — what’s good for the body is often good for the mind. Knowing what you can do physically that has this effect for you will change your day and your life.

Physical activity has many well-established mental health benefits. These are published in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and include improved brain health and cognitive function (the ability to think, if you will), a reduced risk of anxiety and depression, and improved sleep and overall quality of life. Although not a cure-all, increasing physical activity directly contributes to improved mental health and better overall health and well-being.

Learning how to routinely manage stress and getting screened for depression are simply good prevention practices. Awareness is especially critical at this time of year when disruptions to healthy habits and choices can be more likely and more jarring. Shorter days and colder temperatures have a way of interrupting routines — as do the holidays, with both their joys and their stresses. When the plentiful sunshine and clear skies of temperate months give way to unpredictable weather, less daylight, and festive gatherings, it may happen unconsciously or seem natural to be distracted from being as physically active. However, that tendency is precisely why it’s so important that we are ever more mindful of our physical and emotional health — and how we can maintain both — during this time of year.

Roughly half of all people in the United States will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder at some point in their lifetime, with anxiety and anxiety disorders being the most common. Major depression, another of the most common mental health disorders, is also a leading cause of disability for middle-aged adults. Compounding all of this, mental health disorders like depression and anxiety can affect people’s ability to take part in health-promoting behaviors, including physical activity. In addition, physical health problems can contribute to mental health problems and make it harder for people to get treatment for mental health disorders.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the need to take care of our physical and emotional health to light even more so these past 2 years. Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General highlighted how the pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in youth .

The good news is that even small amounts of physical activity can immediately reduce symptoms of anxiety in adults and older adults. Depression has also shown to be responsive to physical activity. Research suggests that increased physical activity, of any kind, can improve depression symptoms experienced by people across the lifespan. Engaging in regular physical activity has also been shown to reduce the risk of developing depression in children and adults.

Though the seasons and our life circumstances may change, our basic needs do not. Just as we shift from shorts to coats or fresh summer fruits and vegetables to heartier fall food choices, so too must we shift our seasonal approach to how we stay physically active. Some of that is simply adapting to conditions: bundling up for a walk, wearing the appropriate shoes, or playing in the snow with the kids instead of playing soccer in the grass.

Sometimes there’s a bit more creativity involved. Often this means finding ways to simplify activity or make it more accessible. For example, it may not be possible to get to the gym or even take a walk due to weather or any number of reasons. In those instances, other options include adding new types of movement — such as impromptu dance parties at home — or doing a few household chores (yes, it all counts as physical activity).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I built a makeshift gym in my garage as an alternative to driving back and forth to the gym several miles from home. That has not only saved me time and money but also afforded me the opportunity to get 15 to 45 minutes of muscle-strengthening physical activity in at odd times of the day.

For more ideas on how to get active — on any day — or for help finding the motivation to get started, check out this Move Your Way® video .

The point to remember is that no matter the approach, the Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (anything that gets your heart beating faster) each week and at least 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening activity (anything that makes your muscles work harder than usual). Youth need 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Preschool-aged children ages 3 to 5 years need to be active throughout the day — with adult caregivers encouraging active play — to enhance growth and development. Striving toward these goals and then continuing to get physical activity, in some shape or form, contributes to better health outcomes both immediately and over the long term.

For youth, sports offer additional avenues to more physical activity and improved mental health. Youth who participate in sports may enjoy psychosocial health benefits beyond the benefits they gain from other forms of leisure-time physical activity. Psychological health benefits include higher levels of perceived competence, confidence, and self-esteem — not to mention the benefits of team building, leadership, and resilience, which are important skills to apply on the field and throughout life. Research has also shown that youth sports participants have a reduced risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts and tendencies. Additionally, team sports participation during adolescence may lead to better mental health outcomes in adulthood (e.g., less anxiety and depression) for people exposed to adverse childhood experiences. In addition to the physical and mental health benefits, sports can be just plain fun.

Physical activity’s implications for significant positive effects on mental health and social well-being are enormous, impacting every facet of life. In fact, because of this national imperative, the presidential executive order that re-established the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition explicitly seeks to “expand national awareness of the importance of mental health as it pertains to physical fitness and nutrition.” While physical activity is not a substitute for mental health treatment when needed and it’s not the answer to certain mental health challenges, it does play a significant role in our emotional and cognitive well-being.

No matter how we choose to be active during the holiday season — or any season — every effort to move counts toward achieving recommended physical activity goals and will have positive impacts on both the mind and the body. Along with preventing diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and the additional risks associated with these comorbidities, physical activity’s positive effect on mental health is yet another important reason to be active and Move Your Way .

As for me… I think it’s time for a walk. Happy and healthy holidays, everyone!

Yours in health, Paul

Paul Reed, MD Rear Admiral, U.S. Public Health Service Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by ODPHP or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.

Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits Essay

Exercises that include physical activities are very essential to both body and mental health of human beings. In fact this is one of the areas where many studies have been conducted by scholars from different parts of the world to show that exercise is essential to all people regardless of their age, sex and occupation. Healthcare givers also recommend that patients with chronic sicknesses should do some workouts to facilitate their healing. According to the recent studies on the importance of exercise to human beings, it is evident that people have begun to realize the need for doing exercise. In fact people from different parts of the world participate in various exercises and other physical activity in order to keep fit and remain healthy. This paper highlights some of the major importance of workouts to our bodies and why people should do exercises.

One of the major benefits of exercise is that it helps in maintaining a healthy body weight. Cases of people being overweight are common in the modern society due to people shying away from physical activities and desire for junk food. Change of lifestyles has made many people to be overweight and this comes with health complications. Participating in physical activity burns calories and this promotes weight loss. Exercises also help in maintaining weight loss among those working on how to lose some of their body weight.

Exercise makes an individual stronger and boosts the body energy. Some people are very weak to an extent that they are heavily fatigued by simple duties such as doing shopping or doing basic domestic chores. Regular exercise improves bone and muscle strength and give gives the body endurance to tiring activities. When you participate in regular workouts, oxygen and other necessary nutrients are delivered to the lungs, heart and other vital body organs to ensure that they are functioning well. Consequently, a person is able to do simple routine tasks without getting easily exhausted.

Exercise also improves moods and looks. Studies show that people who do not participate in any physical activities and workouts are mostly in bad moods and gloomy. Ordinarily, people get involved in some activities that may lower their moods and exercise helps in improving moods and maintain the charming appearance. Simple workouts stimulate the brain to release some chemicals that make an individual feel happy and relaxed. This also improves the facial looks therefore raising self-esteem and confidence. For those who want to keep fit and maintain certain body looks such as models, sports people and celebrities, exercise helps in achieving the desired physical body appearances.

Exercise is also believed to promote good sleeping habits. Sometimes it becomes difficult to fall asleep or to remain asleep especially after a busy day. Regular exercise can help in promoting better sleep and ensure that it is a continuous one. To the married people, sex life is important and cannot be taken for granted. However, this has become a major challenge to the modern couples because many people retire to their beds feeling too tired to participate in physical intimacy. Exercise makes helps in maintaining a positive sex life and it promotes arousal for both women and men. Studies show that regular physical activity helps men to overcome erectile dysfunction making sex life more enjoyable.

Exercise is also paramount for maintaining better health. Regular workouts improve the immune system and this reduces the chances of getting sick. However, it is worth noting that over exercising can destroy the body immune system. Additionally, regular exercise reduces stress thereby contributing to a healthy living. Regular workouts take the body and mind from the stressing activities and this relieves the body the weight of the stress. The energy used in handling stress is therefore used for other productive processes of the body. Some people suffer from poor digestion and metabolism especially the elderly ones. Exercise helps in ensuring that digestion and absorption of food in the body take place as well. Workouts also increase the rate of metabolisms and the end result is good health. For those doing trainings such as weight lifting and muscle builders, workouts promotes muscle buildup and helps in changing the body shape to the desired body shape. Regular exercise also improves the body stamina and enhances flexibility and stability. Workouts stretch the body and ensure a good posture. This is vital for body stability and it also prevents early body aging. It also reduces the chances of getting easily injured when doing routine duties.

Generally, it is evident that exercise is good for both our mental and body health. It is also worth noting that exercise is enjoyable and can be used to bring people close to their friends. Physical activity is fun and it gives people an opportunity to participate in things that make them happy. Participating in a dance class or soccer club is very enjoyable and makes you to feel relaxed. However it is important for the people with special health conditions to ensure that they have consulted their healthcare for advice on the best workouts to avoid more harm to their body.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, August 21). Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits. https://ivypanda.com/essays/physical-exercises-and-their-health-benefits/

"Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits." IvyPanda , 21 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/physical-exercises-and-their-health-benefits/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits'. 21 August.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits." August 21, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/physical-exercises-and-their-health-benefits/.

1. IvyPanda . "Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits." August 21, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/physical-exercises-and-their-health-benefits/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits." August 21, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/physical-exercises-and-their-health-benefits/.

• Aerobic and Anaerobic Workouts Comparison
• Daily Workouts App Evaluation
• Work Out and Stay Healthy: Persuading Classmates
• The Problem of Falling Asleep
• Endurance Training Programs in Soldiers and Athletes
• Weight Training: Principles and Recommendations
• Physical Fitness Training Programs for Athletes
• Muay Thai and Kickboxing Promotion in the UAE
• Market Outcomes for Resistance Bands
• The Governmental Healthcare Program and Patient Behavior
• The Benefit of Personal Fitness
• Obesity and Benefits of Exercising
• Wellness Goal: Diets and Exercises for Gaining Lean Body Mass
• Impacts of the Regular Exercise on the Human Life Quality
• Yoga for Depression and Anxiety

My Study Campus

• Essay Writing

Essay on Benefits of Physical Exercise: Enhancing Health and Well-being

Physical exercise is an essential aspect of a healthy lifestyle, offering a multitude of benefits for both the body and mind. Regular engagement in physical activities not only improves physical fitness but also promotes mental and emotional well-being. This essay explores the significant advantages of physical exercise, highlighting its impact on overall health, disease prevention, mental well being, and longevity.

I. Physical Health Benefits:

A. enhanced cardiovascular health:.

Regular exercise strengthens the heart muscles, improves blood circulation, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.

B. Weight Management and Metabolic Health:

Engaging in physical activities helps maintain a healthy weight by burning calories, boosting metabolism, and promoting the growth of lean muscle mass. It also helps regulate blood sugar levels and thus reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

C. Improved Bone Density and Joint Health:

Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking or weightlifting, promote the growth of strong bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Additionally, physical exercise strengthens the muscles surrounding the joints, reducing the risk of joint injuries and arthritis.

II. Mental and Emotional Well-being:

A. reduced stress and anxiety:.

Physical exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, known as “feel-good” hormones, which alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression. It serves as a natural mood enhancer and promotes a sense of well-being.

B. Enhanced Cognitive Function:

Regular exercise improves cognitive function by increasing blood flow to the brain and promoting the growth of new brain cells. It enhances memory, concentration, and overall mental sharpness.

C. Improved Sleep Patterns:

Physical activity helps regulate sleep patterns, promoting deep and restorative sleep. It can alleviate insomnia and improve overall sleep quality, leading to better mental and physical rejuvenation.

III. Disease Prevention and Longevity:

A. reduced risk of chronic diseases:.

Regular exercise reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and metabolic syndrome. It also helps manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

B. Enhanced Immune System:

Physical exercise boosts the immune system, making individuals less susceptible to common illnesses and infections. It improves the body’s defense mechanisms, reducing the severity and duration of illnesses.

C. Increased Longevity:

Engaging in regular physical activity has been associated with increased longevity. It helps maintain healthy body weight, prevents chronic diseases, and improves overall quality of life, contributing to a longer and healthier lifespan.

Conclusion:

The benefits of physical exercise are undeniable like yoga , encompassing improvements in physical health, mental well-being, disease prevention, and longevity. By incorporating regular exercise into our daily lives, we can enjoy enhanced cardiovascular health, better weight management, improved mental clarity, and a reduced risk of chronic diseases. Physical exercise is not only beneficial for our bodies but also contributes to a happier, more fulfilling life. Let us embrace the power of physical exercise and unlock its tremendous benefits for a healthier and more vibrant future.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Stories

• Essay Topics

Important Essays for Oriental Insurance Administrative Officer Exam 2024

Restraint is the Formula of Solution Essay Writing

Essay on Perfection: A Journey of Excellence and Growth

You may have missed.

• Board Exam Result

MP Board 10th result 2024

• Best Courses

UP Board Result 2024 Class 10

• Important Days

Important Days in April 2024

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Physical Exercise — The Comprehensive Benefits of Exercise: A Path to Health and Wellness

The Comprehensive Benefits of Exercise: a Path to Health and Wellness

• Categories: Healthy Lifestyle Physical Exercise

About this sample

Words: 603 |

Published: Sep 7, 2023

Words: 603 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Chapter 1: physical benefits of exercise, chapter 2: mental benefits of exercise, conclusion: embracing the benefits of exercise, 1. improved cardiovascular health, 2. increased muscle strength, 3. improved flexibility, 4. reduced risk of chronic diseases, 1. enhanced cognitive function, 2. improved mood and mental health, 3. stress reduction, 4. enhanced sleep quality.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Life Nursing & Health

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 561 words

2 pages / 1117 words

3 pages / 1196 words

1 pages / 578 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Physical Exercise

Proper nutrition and physical activity are crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Unhealthy eating habits and a lack of exercise can lead to serious health conditions such as [...]

Longevity has always been a subject of fascination, and in recent years, the search for the fountain of youth has led many to explore the role of exercise in extending one's lifespan. This essay delves into the lives of [...]

Easterlin, M. C., Chung, P. J., & Leng, M. (2023). Association of Team Sports Participation With Long-term Mental Health Outcomes Among Individuals Exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences. JAMA Pediatrics.National Public Radio. [...]

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Mental disorders affect one in four people. Retrieved from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/fitness-wellbeing/a28917865/the-mental-health-benefits-of-boxing/

What do you feel after exercise? Exercise is the cheapest and most useful tool for not only stress, but for many other things. For me, when I exercise, I get a feeling of comfort and relaxation. My whole body changes into a more [...]

Keeping physically fit requires resolve! Nothing is more important than deciding to follow a fitness plan. Around the holidays so many of us make a New Year's resolution to get fit and healthy, but I'm here to tell you that [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

The Health Benefits of Exercise Essay

Exercise is not just for Olympic athletes or supermodels. In fact, you're never too unfit, too young or too old to do it. Regardless of your age, gender or role in life, you can benefit from regular physical activity. If you're committed, exercise in combination with a sensible diet can help provide an overall sense of well-being and can even help prevent chronic illness, disability and premature death. Some of the benefits of increased activity are Improved Health, increased efficiency of heart and lungs, reduced cholesterol levels, increased muscle strength, reduced blood pressure, and reduced risk of major illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, weight loss. Aerobic and …show more content…

You'll also increase your muscle mass. With more muscle mass your body burns more calories both while you are exercising and while you are at rest. With a little research you can learn which exercises will best help you to firm and shape specific areas of your body. Remember to maintain a balanced routine so as not to overwork or risk injury to a specific muscle group. As you shape and strengthen your muscles they are better able to help support your spine, a key factor in good posture. By stretching you can improve your flexibility and contribute to the smooth functioning of your joints. Together, healthy bones and muscles help you to keep your balance, move with agility and grace, and maintain a healthy and youthful appearance. Regular physical activity fortifies your immune system and helps you to avoid or recover more quickly from colds and other minor maladies. It can also help to prevent and in some cases reverse many chronic conditions we associate with aging: coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis, osteoporosis, and depression. Fitness results in better coordination of muscles and an increase in strength, flexibility and stamina. While improvements in these areas certainly help athletic performance, they also help reduce the risk of injury -- stronger, limber muscles are less susceptible to

The Effects of Exercise on Mental Health Essay

• 14 Works Cited

Some hypothesize that moderate levels of exercise will decrease the symptoms of mental health conditions (Blumenthal et al., 2007; Diaz & Motta, 2008; Motta, Kuligowski, & Marino, 2010; Rosenbaum, Nguyen, Lenehan, Tiedemann, van der Ploeg, & Sherrington, 2011) and therefore be used as an alternative or complimentary treatment option for mental health (Libby, Pilver, & Desai, 2012).

Essay on Persuasive Speech Outline

Exercise and physical activity deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently.

The Effects Of Exercise On The Musculoskeletal System

To maintain effectiveness of muscle and bone activity, the effects of on the musculoskeletal system are the greatest benefits a person can ask for.

Attention Getter For Persuasive Speech Outline

According to Mayo Clinic, “exercise benefits every part of your body, it helps you feel better, have more energy, and contributes to your life expectancy.” (Mayo, 2011).

Obesity is a Disease Essay

of physical exertion. Regular physical activity has significant health benefits, and even modest increases in energy expenditure can have health enhancing effects.

Working Out Research Paper

Working out not only improves your physical and mental health, but also increases your life span. If you seek to live longer find a proper work out regimen and/or consult a physician to get accurate information about how your body is doing and a good way to increase that lifespan of yours. The physical benefits for women of working out will not only help you live longer, but also improve your quality of life all around. The mental benefits that women will acquire from committing to a health plan will implement this improved quality of life instantly and also help them catch up to the leptin and insulin of men. Increase your lifespan today, with working out. The body is revamped and your metabolism

Benefit Of Exercise Persuasive Essay

Physical activity has been proven to have phenomenal benefits on the human body and is an important part of a balanced lifestyle. Statistics have shown that regular exercise can prevent illness and lower one’s likelihood of being diagnosed with a series of diseases significantly. It has been ‘medically proven’ that regular exercise can reduce a subject’s chance of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease or stroke by 35%, type two diabetes by 50%, colon cancer by 50%, breast cancer by 20%, early death by 30%, osteoarthritis by 83% and a number of other life threatening illnesses. Regular exercise can improve a person’s overall wellbeing and immunity to common illnesses. During physical activity, a person’s heart rate can increase significantly and allow more oxygenated blood to be supplied to muscles. A person’s breathing rate can increase during exercise and supply more oxygen to the lungs. The increased blood flow during exercise allows the brain to function better. Exercise has many benefits to the human body and is a major factor of disease

The Importance of Exercise and Eating Healthy Essay

Exercise and eating healthy are two of the most important things you need to do to take care of your body properly. Both exercise, and eating healthy, have many advantages and benefits. They help with multiple things needed throughout your life. These things include growing physically, mentally, and if you are religious, spiritually as well. All of this adds up to your body functioning in the highest and best way possible.

Exercise is one of the most important factors in a persons’ life. Physical activity, or the lack of it, can result in a person having a healthy life or cause them to have diabetes. The benefits of exercise are countless. The positive health results, the improvement in attitude, even better academic performance are all factors which make not exercising inexcusable.

• 18 Works Cited

The benefits of physical exercise in humans far outweighs the harmful effects associated with exercise. A prescription of physical activity has been known to delay the onset or prevention of many chronic diseases. An improvement in heart function, lower blood pressure and improve functional capacity is noticed after just a few weeks of exercising. Physical activity will also result in an increase of lean muscle mass, promote weight maintenance, increased flexibility, and a generally stronger more fit individual. Conversely, exercise when preformed strenuously or obsessively can counteract such positive effects, bringing up some issues like oxidative stresses, injuries, and

The Importance of Physical Activity Essay

• 7 Works Cited

Physical Activity is undeniably good for everyone, not only does it keep you fit and healthy but when started at a young age, it can set up good habits for life. Sometimes however, people do not take care of their physical wellbeing, resulting in obesity and other eating disorders which can be detrimental to their health.

Physical Exercise And Mental Exercise Essay

The articles by Erikson et al., Gatz, Korol et al., and Draganski et al. explore the concept of increased physical activity and/or mental activity having effects on the cognitive function and development or deterioration of the brain as we age. Although I agree that physical exercise is critical in increasing cognitive function because of the health benefits it provides, as well as the increased blood flow and circulation throughout the body, I ultimately believe that a healthy brain is not achieved solely by physical exercise or mental exercise, but both. I think there is a link between physical and mental exercise, and that the combination of these two activities creates higher cognitive functioning of the mind as well as the body. The mind and body come together and meet to make an overall healthy individual.

Essay on Personal Narrative: Exercise Changed My Life

Adding exercises into one’s daily routines can change their whole lifestyle. Many people look at exercise as being something just for people who want to lose weight or to become muscle bound, but there are a great deal of benefits that can be received from exercising regularly. Of course gaining muscle and losing fat are the two most popular reasons that usually attract people to the gym, but they make up a small part of the potential benefits that can be achieved with exercise. There are several ways in which I have benefited in my life from exercising regularly, besides just making me bigger and stronger. It has made me become more organized, helped me make better decisions, and motivated me to take on new challenges in life.

The Health Benefits of Exercise Essay example

Do you need some motivation to get off the couch and begin exercising? Maybe you have started to work out and then stopped your work out routine so many times that you cannot keep track of the number of programs you have tried. Well you are not alone. In fact, by statistics that would make you an average American. All the same, working out for the sake of health and well-being is becoming increasingly important as we continue to learn the effects of inactivity. There are many benefits that arrive from the presence of exercise in your daily routine. Improve strength, improved cardiovascular fitness, and an improved immune system are just three of the MANY benefits that come from exercise and activity. I will tell you a little bit more

Effect Of Exercise On Health

The philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) said: “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it” (Vina, Sanchis‐Gomar, Martinez‐Bello, & Gomez‐Cabrera, 2012, p. 2). Exercise has several benefits; it enhances the overall health of a person. It is important for strengthening the muscles, building bones, and maintaining a healthy weight. Besides, humans are not becoming any younger each day. Moreover, scientists and researchers discover new diseases, illnesses and disorders that could potentially be fatal for a human’s body, which can lead to death. Thus, the purpose of this essay is to analyze the effects of exercise and focus on three factors: pain, ability to learn, and chronic medical condition. People need to maintain a healthy body because as time goes by the body starts to deteriorate, and it loses its original form. However, age should not be a hindrance if a person wants to change his/her lifestyle to stay healthy. Evidence has shown that exercise is beneficial for improving pain, enhances the ability to learn, and has a long-term benefit in preventing chronic medical conditions. This paper will discuss the impact of exercise on improving pain, the effects of exercise in relation to the ability to learn, and exploring the interrelationship of exercise and chronic medical conditions.

Related Topics

• Physical exercise
• Adipose tissue
• Exercise physiology

Essay on Nutrition And Exercise

Students are often asked to write an essay on Nutrition And Exercise in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Nutrition And Exercise

Importance of nutrition.

Eating healthy foods gives your body the energy it needs to work well. Imagine your body like a car. Without the right fuel, a car won’t run smoothly. For us, good food is our fuel. Fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy give us vitamins and energy. Eating a mix of these helps us grow and stay strong.

Benefits of Exercise

Moving and being active is just as important as eating well. When we exercise, our hearts pump faster, which is good for heart health. Playing sports, running, dancing, or even walking helps our muscles and bones get stronger and keeps our bodies fit.

Combining Nutrition and Exercise

Nutrition and exercise work together like a team. When we eat healthy and move enough, our bodies can work their best. This means we can run faster, think clearer, and feel happier. It’s important to balance good food with fun activities to stay healthy.

250 Words Essay on Nutrition And Exercise

Why eating right and moving more are important.

Eating well and staying active are like two peas in a pod; they work best together. When we eat good foods, they give us the energy to run, play, and even think better. Exercise, or moving our bodies, keeps our muscles and bones strong. It’s like when you play a game, you need both a charged controller and a working console to have fun.

The Power of Good Food

Think of your body as a car. Just as cars need the right fuel to run, our bodies need the right food to work well. Foods that are close to how they are found in nature are usually the best. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and lean proteins like chicken or fish. Eating a rainbow of foods makes sure we get all the different vitamins and minerals we need.

Exercise Keeps Us Healthy

Moving around is not just for athletes; it’s for everyone. Exercise can be anything that gets you moving: walking, dancing, biking, or playing sports. When we move, our hearts beat faster, pumping more blood to our body. This keeps our heart healthy and can make us feel happier because it releases special chemicals in our brain that make us feel good.

Balance is Key

Balancing what we eat with how much we move is like walking a tightrope. Too much food and not enough exercise can lead to weight gain, while too much exercise and not enough food can make us tired and sick. It’s important to find a middle ground where we eat enough to have energy but also move enough to use that energy.

Remember, eating well and exercising are not just about looking a certain way; they’re about feeling great and being able to do all the things you love to do.

500 Words Essay on Nutrition And Exercise

When we talk about staying healthy, two key things come to mind: eating right and exercising. Just like a car needs the correct fuel to run well, our bodies need good food to work and play. Exercise is like the engine that keeps the car moving. Together, they keep our body-machine running smoothly.

Good Food for a Strong Body

Eating right means choosing foods that are good for you. Imagine your plate is a rainbow. Fruits and vegetables of different colors, like red apples and green spinach, give you a mix of vitamins. These help fight off sickness and keep your body strong. Protein from foods like chicken, beans, or nuts helps build muscles. Carbohydrates from bread and rice give you energy to run and play. Lastly, your body needs a bit of fat from foods like avocados or cheese for energy and to help your brain work well.

Exercise for Health and Happiness

Exercise is not just for athletes. It’s for everyone. Running, jumping, and playing sports make your heart strong. It’s like a muscle that gets better with practice. Other exercises like lifting weights make your muscles bigger and bones tougher. Even a simple walk with your dog or dancing in your room is good. It keeps your body moving and can make you feel happy by releasing something called endorphins, which are like tiny messengers in your body that make you feel good.

Balance is when you have just the right amount of something. Eating too much or too little can be bad for you. The same goes for exercise. Eating a lot of candy and not enough vegetables can make you feel tired and sick. Not moving enough can make your muscles weak. But too much exercise without enough rest can also be bad. It’s like playing with a toy non-stop until it breaks. Your body needs rest to fix itself and get stronger.

Teamwork: Nutrition and Exercise

Nutrition and exercise work together like a team. Good food gives you the energy to move and play. Exercise helps use that energy and makes you hungry for healthy foods. If you eat well but don’t move much, you might not feel your best. If you exercise a lot but eat only junk food, you might not have the energy to play. It’s like trying to ride a bike with flat tires; it just doesn’t work well.

Starting Good Habits Early

Starting to eat well and move more when you’re young is a great idea. It’s like learning to read or write; the sooner you start, the better you get. These habits can stick with you as you grow up. It’s easier to keep doing something you’ve always done than to start something new when you’re older.

Eating right and exercising are like best friends that help you stay healthy and strong. By making smart choices about food and moving your body every day, you can play, learn, and grow better. Remember, your body is a unique machine that needs care, and you’re the driver. You have the power to keep it running smoothly with good nutrition and exercise.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Nursing As A Career
• Essay on Nurse
• Essay on Human Influence On Climate Change

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Home / Essay Samples / Health / Physical Exercise / Benefits of Exercise: What Is the Real Importance

Benefits of Exercise: What Is the Real Importance

• Category: Science , Health
• Topic: Body , Human Physiology , Physical Exercise

Pages: 2 (1088 words)

• Downloads: -->

References 

• Aafid Gulam ( 2016 ). Need, importance and benefits of exercise in daily life. International journal of physical education, sports and health, 3 ( 2 ), 127-130. 
• Abderrahman Quattas, Mohamed Aziz Riahi, Monoem Haddad & Ruben Goebel ( 2015 ).
• The moderating effect of physical exercise in anxiety disorder. International congress of physical education, sports, and kinetotherapy, 281-285. 
• Abdul Rauf Ridzuan, Khairun Nizam Muhamad Yusof, Najihah Hanisah Marmaya,
• Noraznira Abdul Razak, Noor Khairin Nawwarah Khalid, & Rizuwan Abu Karim ( 2018 ). Public awareness towards healthy lifestyle. International journal of academic research in business and social sciences, 8 ( 10 ), 927-936. 
• Hassmen, P., Johansson, M., & Jouper, J. ( 2008 ). Acute effects of qigong exercise on mood and anxiety. International journal of stress management, 15 ( 2 ), 199-207.
• Kamakhya Kumar ( 2017 ). Importance of healthy life style in healthy living. Juniper online journal of public health, 2 ( 5 ), 001-003. 
• McNerney,M.W., Radvansky,.G.A, ( 2015 ). Mind racing : The influence of exercise on long-term memory consolidation. Routledge Taylor &Francis group, 1-12. 
• Mohammed Abou Elmadg ( 2016 ). Benefits, need and importance of daily exercise. International journal of ohysical education, sports and health, 3 ( 5), 22-27. 
• Ten ways to increase your brainpower. Health and fitness journal. 12 ( 5 ), 52. 
• Ravi Kumar ( 2017 ). The benefits of physical activity and exercise for health.  Review international journal of multidisciplinary, 2 ( 2 ), 1-3. 
• Resul Cekin ( 2015 ). Psychological benefits of regular physical activity. Universal journal of education research, 3 ( 10 ), 710-717. 
• Shaffer, J. ( 2016 ). Neuroplasticity and clinical practice : buiding brain power for health.
• Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1118. 
• Staples, S. ( 2015 ). The relationship between exercise and self-esteem, sleeping patterns, anxiety and energy levels. ( Unpublished academic exercise). Dublin Business School, Dublin, Irelands. 
• Zahra Hamidah, Puteri Teesa Radhiyanti Santoso & RM. Haryadi Karyono ( 2015 ).
• Effect of regular exercise on anxiety and self-esteem level in college students. Althea medical journal, 2 ( 3 ), 429-432. 

--> ⚠️ Remember: This essay was written and uploaded by an--> click here.

Found a great essay sample but want a unique one?

are ready to help you with your essay

You won’t be charged yet!

Alcohol Abuse Essays

Drugs Essays

Drug Addiction Essays

Drunk Driving Essays

Smoking Essays

Related Essays

We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you.

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service  and  Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Your essay sample has been sent.

In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper.

samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->