The Mayo Clinic lists the following benefits of aerobic exercise: reduces excess weight; increases stamina; wards off illness; reduces the risk of heart disease and certain cancers; helps manage chronic conditions such as high blood pressure; strengthens the heart; boosts mood; and helps you stay active and independent as you age. Mayo Clinic, October 2017

Norwegian researchers reviewed the exercise habits and depression risk of 34,000 men and women and found that those who engaged in just an hour of exercise per week, of any intensity, had a 44% lower risk for developing depression than did not exercise at all. American Journal of Psychiatry, October 2017

Reaching daily physical activities goals can be difficult when life gets in the way. To help you become more active, the National Library of Medicine recommends the following: use the stairs instead of the elevator; walk to a co-worker’s desk or office instead of sending an email; park farther away in the parking lot to…

Teenagers who engage in impact sports—basketball, baseball, football, and soccer, for example—appear to have greater bone density than adolescents who participate in non-impact sports, like swimming, or who refrain from athletics. Additionally, impact sport athletes also have a reduced risk for sustaining a stress fracture compared with non-athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences, December 2017

In this study, children aged 7-13 years engaged in short bursts of high-intensity training (HIT) for just ten minutes a day for six weeks. Compared with students in a control group who maintained their usual routine, those in the HIT group demonstrated greater improvements in tasks involving memory, information processing, and behavior, including the ability…

Aerobic fitness appears to substantially lower the risk of breast cancer. In a new animal study, researchers observed that rats with low natural fitness were about four times more likely to develop breast cancer than rats with high fitness levels. Furthermore, less-fit rats developed the disease earlier than the highly fit rats, and once the…

A recent report confirms there is strong scientific evidence for moderate exercise during pregnancy and that it is safe and beneficial for both mother and child. In the report, investigators observed the following benefits associated with moderate exercise during pregnancy: the prevention of excessive weight gain; a lower risk of fetal macrosomia; and a lower…

Among a group of 84 stroke patients, those with higher cardiorespiratory fitness scores performed better on cognitive assessments and had brain scans showing both greater grey matter brain volume and greater white brain matter integrity. This suggests that physical fitness may protect the brain in the event of a stroke. International Journal of Stroke, October…

New research suggests that resistance training can slow the progression of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In a new study, researchers followed 35 individuals with MS for six months. Half of the participants engaged in resistance training twice a week, while the others continued to live their normal routine. Using MR scans, researchers observed that participants who…

Not only do children who are more active and physically fit perform better in school but a new study indicates that kids with greater cardiovascular fitness are also less likely to miss class due to illness. Journal of School Health, September 2017