By now you should have plenty of motivation, but there are even more reasons to exercise for health.
Fractures.
Like most of the body’s tissues and organs, bones improve with use. In this case, weight-bearing and resistance exercises increase bone calcium, thus preventing and treating osteoporosis (meaning “thin bones”). Do better bone density scores translate into better health? Indeed they do. Physical activity such as walking cuts the risk of hip fractures by about 40 percent in both men and women. And a study of more than thirty thousand Danes found that moderate exercise, such as walking for twenty to forty minutes a day, was as effective as more intense exercise. But although walking is good protection against hip fractures, it doesn’t lower the risk of wrist fractures—that’s why upperbody strength training is so important .
Gallstones.
Studies of women and men from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy have linked regular
exercise with a 34 to 60 percent lower risk of painful gallbladder attacks. Scientists are not sure how exercise accomplishes this, but several possibilities come to mind. Obesity increases the risk of gallstones, but exercise is protective in people who are overweight as well as in their thin peers. Exercise may also work by changing the composition of bile, making stone formation less likely.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Like it or not, most men develop enlargement of their prostate glands as they age. By age eighty, about one-fourth of all men will experience BPH severe enough to require treatment, and many others will have milder symptoms they can live with. A Harvard study of 30,634 men found that walking two to three hours a week reduced the risk of symptomatic BPH by 25 percent.
Erectile dysfunction.
You may be surprised that brainy Harvard scientists renowned for advances in molecular biology and high-tech medicine also think about sexuality. But another Harvard study linked regular exercise to a 41 percent reduction in the risk of erectile dysfunction (impotence)—and all it took was about thirty minutes of walking a day. And in 2004, a randomized clinical trial reported that moderate exercise (averaging less than twentyeight minutes a day) can help restore sexual performance in obese middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction.
Parkinson’s disease
A 2005 Harvard study linked physical activity to a 30 percent reduction in the risk of Parkinson’s disease in men. And men who exercised regularly early in life enjoyed a 60 percent lower risk of this debilitating neurologic illness later in life.
Ulcers. In 2000, researchers from South Carolina and Georgia reported that men who walk or run at least ten miles a week are 62 percent less likely to develop duodenal ulcers than less active men. It’s a surprise, since nearly all ulcers are caused by infection with H. pylori (the “ulcer bug”) or by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as aspirin and ibuprofen). Confirmatory studies are needed.
Pregnancy.
Several studies indicate that moderate exercise improves fetal growth and improves a woman’s odds of having a healthy baby. Women who perform modest exercise early in pregnancy are particularly likely to benefit. In contrast, intense exercise may harm fetal development. Pregnant women should be especially careful to avoid trauma and activity intense enough to raise body temperature.
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