The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, depression, and several types of cancer, in particular breast and colon cancers.

In addition to the disease-fighting properties of exercise, regular activity can improve the quality of your life and your general well-being in many other ways, such as helping you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.

Exercise at a Glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:

• Reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
• Lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
• Reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
• Improve your mood and mental functioning.
• Keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
• Help you maintain a healthy weight.
• Help you maintain your independence well into your later years.