What are the mental and physical health benefits of exercise?

Exercise has many benefits, both curative and preventive, for physical and mental health. Any amount of exercise, even if it falls below the suggested amount, is likely to produce benefits.

1. Improves cardiovascular health

Regular exercise is good for heart health. Possible benefits include:

• improving cholesterol levels
• lowering blood pressure
• reducing the risk of heart attacks and heart disease
• reducing the risk of stroke

Reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease is an important benefit of exercise.

A person can begin experiencing the benefits of regular exercise right awayTrusted Source, though the CDCTrusted Source recommend that adults perform 150 minutes a week of at least moderate intensity activity.

The benefits continue to increase as people are more active than this.

2. Helps with diabetes management

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), different types of exercise can benefit people with, or at risk of, type 2 diabetes by:

• improving control of blood glucose
• reducing cardiovascular risk factors
• helping with weight loss
• helping with general well-being
• delaying or preventing the development of type 2 diabetes

Exercise can also benefit people with type 1 diabetes by:

• improving cardiovascular fitness
• strengthening muscles
• improving insulin sensitivity

The ADA say, “Physical activity and exercise should be recommended and prescribed to all individuals with diabetes as part of management of glycemic control and overall health.”

3. Reduces risk of some cancers

The National Cancer Institute say there is “strong evidence that higher levels of physical activity are linked to lower risk” of the following cancers:

• colon
• stomach
• esophageal
• breast
• bladder
• uterine (endometrial)
• kidney

For example, a 2016 analysis of 26 breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer studies found a 37% reduction in cancer-specific mortality when comparing the most active patients with the least active.

There may also be a link between physical activity and reduced risk of other cancers, but the evidence is less clear.

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4. Improves mental health and mood

Physical activity can help reduce anxiety, and this benefit can start right afterTrusted Source a moderate or vigorous exercise session.

Longer term, regular exercise can also help reduce the risk of depression.

5. Improves bone health

Regular exercise can help prevent the bone density loss that occurs with aging, say the CDCTrusted Source.

Moderate or vigorous muscle-strengthening and aerobic exercise, as well as bone-strengthening programs, can all helpTrusted Source.

Real benefits to bone density begin with only about 90 minutesTrusted Source of exercise a week.

Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking and dancing, and resistance exercises are particularly good for bone health.

6. Helps build and strengthen muscles

Weight-bearing exercise helps build strong muscles, which is particularly important for adults as they get older.

7. Increases chance of living longer

“Strong scientific evidence shows that physical activity delays death from all causes,” according to a 2018 report from the Department of Health and Human ServicesTrusted Source.

Even better, the benefits start to accumulate with modest amounts of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. The greatest jump occurs when a person goes from being “inactive” to being “insufficiently active.”

8. Helps maintain a moderate weight

The CDCTrusted Source say there is good evidence that exercise can help maintain weight over time, although it may take more than the recommended amount to do so.

In general, losing weight and then keeping it off also require a healthful, balanced diet.

It is easy to overestimate the number of calories that exercise burns.

The CDCTrusted Source give some examples of the calories that a person weighing 154 pounds would burn during an hour of activity for:

• hiking: 370 calories
• light gardening: 330 calories
• running or jogging at 5 miles per hour: 590 calories

9. May help with chronic pain

In 2017, an overviewTrusted Source of Cochrane Reviews, which look systematically at the evidence for particular interventions, examined whether exercise and physical activity help with chronic pain in adults.

The study concluded that a definitive answer would require more research.

The authors note that although the quality of evidence was generally low, “There is some evidence of improved physical function and a variable effect on both psychological function and quality of life.”

None of the interventions appeared to cause any harm. The authors of the overview noted limited evidence regarding improvement in pain severity.