Why do I exercise?

By Dr John Ellis MD

I got back into a regular exercise routine in order to try to lose weight. After a couple of weeks, it actually started to be fun! I especially enjoy doing weights (vitally important!), and walks outside along the Chicago lakefront.

Some of the benefits I’ve gained, besides weight loss, include:

Stress reduction

Clearer thinking

Less pain and disability

Better sleep

One recent article in the Wall Street Journal points out that gym can be made fun for kids. Exercise can also help kids do better in school. Sadly, though, many schools have cut out gym, despite the childhood obesity “epidemic.”

Exercise also counteracts aging, per the LA Times. Ladies, how many of you wouldn’t mind looking younger? It’s certainly nice when people tell me I look younger than I used to.

Similar results can be seen in humans. For 21 years, researchers at Stanford University have studied the effects of consistent exercise on 284 runners 50 and older. In a 2002 article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, they reported that — 13 years into the study — a control group of 156 similar people who exercised much less on the whole than the runners had a 3.3 times higher death rate than runners as well as higher rates of disabilities.