exercise

In addition to helping us enjoy a healthier body weight, exercise may also boost our immune system. Studies have found that if we let kids run around for just six minutes, the levels of immune cells circulating in their blood may increase by nearly 50 percent. At the other end of the life cycle, regular exercise may also help prevent age-related immune decline. One study found that while elderly, sedentary women have a 50 percent chance of getting an upper-respiratory illness during the fall season, those randomized to begin a half-hour-a-day walking program dropped their risk down to 20 percent.

Physical activity is also considered a promising preventive measure against breast cancer—not only because it helps with weight control but because exercise tends to lower circulating estrogen levels. Five hours a week of vigorous aerobic exercise may lower estrogen and progesterone exposure by about 20 percent, and moderately intense activity may offer as much benefit as vigorous exercise; walking an hour a day or more appears to be associated with significantly lower breast cancer risk.

Can exercise halt cognitive decline? Researchers took a group of people with mild cognitive impairment (for example, those starting to forget things or regularly repeating themselves) and had them engage in aerobic exercise for 45 to 60 minutes a day, 4 days a week, for 6 months. The control group simply stretched for the same time periods. Researchers found that in the control group, cognitive function appeared to continue to decline. But the exercising group not only didn’t get worse, they seemed to get better, answering more test questions correctly after six months, indicating their memory had improved. Indeed, aerobic exercise may actually reverse age-related shrinkage in the memory centers of the brain and help improve cerebral blood flow, improve memory performance, and help preserve brain tissue.

Exercise may also help prevent and treat high blood pressure, and improve our mood and quality of sleep. If the U.S. population collectively exercised enough to shave just 1 percent off the national body mass index (BMI), 2 million cases of diabetes, 1.5 million cases of heart disease, and up to 127,000 cases of cancer may be prevented.

I recommend 90 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, such as brisk (four miles per hour) walking or 40 minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging or active sports) each day.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Image Credit: Adrian Flores / Unsplash. This image has been modified.

245 videos

All Videos for Exercise

Running group coming towards camera on a trail

How Much Exercise Is Too Much?

It may be prudent to limit chronic, vigorous exercise to no more than an hour a day and no more than five hours a week, taking at least one or two days off. For runners, the recommended upper limit for longevity benefits is 30 miles a week.

Group of adults of various ages walking together outdoors

Does Exercise Extend Your Lifespan or Just Your Healthspan?

I was surprised by how much controversy is in the medical literature over whether the apparent longevity benefits of exercise are even real.

People exercising on treadmills at the gym

Exercise Is Medicine

The evidence supporting the overall health benefits of physical activity is overwhelming.

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How Many Steps Should We Get Every Day?

The official exercise recommendations are a “trade-off between optimizing health outcomes and minimizing requirements for individuals,” but what does the science say is best?

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Lying at a Slight Head-Down Tilt (Trendelenburg Position) to Burn Fat

How might we trick our body into producing this fat-burning exercise hormone without lacing up our gym shoes?

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Does Drinking More Water Help You Lose Weight?

Those who stay hydrated tend to maintain a healthier body weight, but is it cause and effect?

How Much Exercise Does It Take to Improve Aging Cognitive Function?

If the relationship between exercise and dementia prevention is cause-and-effect, as much as 20 percent of Alzheimer’s disease may be attributable to physical inactivity.

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The Best Dietary Detox

By eating at a lower rung on the food chain, those choosing plant-based diets suffer less exposure to the industrial pollutants that bioaccumulate up the ladder.

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Does Increasing Protein Intake Slow Age-Related Muscle Mass Loss?

Adding extra protein to the diets of older men and women is put to the test.

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The TAME Trial: Targeting Aging with Metformin

If you have diabetes, metformin can make things better, but if you don’t, the drug may make things worse.

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Side Effects of Metformin as a Life-Extension Drug

As a mild mitochondrial poison, metformin carries a variety of downsides.

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Naturally Boosting AMPK with Exercise for Life Extension

AMPK is said to serve as a “mitochondrial guardian.”

How Much Exercise Does It Take to Boost Immunity?

Exercising may make our immune systems more than five times better at fighting infection.

The Best Exercise Type and Frequency for Bone Density

When it comes to bone health, it’s use it or lose it.

Side Effects of Resveratrol Supplements

Resveratrol supplements may blunt some of the positive effects of exercise training.

The Secret to Weight Loss Through Exercise

Exercise ramps up appetite, helping to explain why calories burned don’t necessarily equal calories lost, so how can we lose weight through physical activity?

The Exercise “Myth” for Weight Loss

Why is it so hard to outrun a bad diet?

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How to Delay the Age of Menopause with Diet and Lifestyle Factors

Approximately half of the variability of age of menopause among women is explained by genetics. What behaviors or circumstances can help explain the rest?

How to Boost Your Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) for Heart Health

How can we improve the capacity of our blood vessels to repair themselves?

Preventing and Treating Osteoporosis (Webinar Recording)

I’m happy to share the recording of my webinar on osteoporosis, which includes 11 videos and a Q&A.

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How Not To Age – Live Presentation

In this live lecture, Dr. Greger offers a sneak peek into his latest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

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Fall Prevention Is the Most Important Thing for Preventing Osteoporosis Bone Fractures

A combination of resistance exercise to improve lower limb muscle strength and balance training can beat out drugs for preventing osteoporotic bone fractures.

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What Is Creatine? Can It Treat Sarcopenia (Muscle Loss with Age)?

When accompanied by a progressive strength-training regimen, 3 grams of creatine a day may improve muscle performance in older adults.

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Book Trailer for How Not to Age

Learn about my newest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

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The Side Effects of Yoga

What is the rate of yoga injuries compared to other activities?

Yoga Put to the Test for IBS, Inflammatory Bowel, Menopause, and Osteoporosis

A study using sham acupuncture underscores the necessity of controlling for expectancy effects.

Yoga Put to the Test for Depression, Anxiety, and Urinary Incontinence

Which of the 50 different yoga styles have been shown to be best?

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Yoga Put to the Test for Headaches, Diabetes, Osteoarthritis, and the Elderly

What happens when real yoga is compared to sham yoga?

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Yoga Put to the Test for MS, Back Pain, Neck Pain, Insomnia, and Breast Cancer

Is yoga better than other types of exercise, better than nothing but similar to other physical activity, or not beneficial even when it’s compared to doing nothing at all?

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How to Prove Whether Yoga Has Special Health Benefits

Yoga practitioners are healthier, but does practicing yoga lead to good health, or does good health lead to practicing yoga?

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep Without Sleeping Pills

Taking less than just 18 Ambien-class sleeping pills in an entire year may triple the risk of dying prematurely.

Greens, Green Tea, and Nuts Put to the Test for Telomeres

Not all plant foods are linked to less cellular aging based on telomere attrition, and not all animal foods are linked to more.

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What to Eat to Prevent Telomere Shortening

The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of plant-based diets may explain why they can effectively reverse cellular aging by elongating telomeres.

Better to Exercise Before or After Meals for Weight Loss and Blood Sugar Control?

If people burn more fat on the days they exercise before eating, rather than afterwards, why doesn’t this translate into more weight loss?

Older male kneeling down to tie sneakers

The Best Time to Exercise for Weight Loss

Burn off significantly more body fat exercising before meals, rather than after them.

Improving VO2 Max: A Look at Vegetarian and Vegan Athletes

Plant-based diets improve the performance of athletes and nonathletes alike.

Is Swimming Good for Weight Loss?

Exercising in cool water or under cool conditions on land can lead to an increase in post-workout calorie intake.

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The Best Diet for Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain Relief

Anti-inflammatory diets can be effective in alleviating chronic pain syndromes.

Diet and Lifestyle for Cancer Prevention and Survival

What kind of diet should cancer patients eat?

Do Vegans Have Lower Bone Density and More Fractures?

What are the bone fracture rates of omnivores vs. vegetarians vs. vegans?

Popular Videos for Exercise