Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Podcast Index | Overcast | YouTube

There’s something deeply empowering about realizing that the most potent tool we have for health and longevity isn’t tucked away in a clinic or pharmacy—it’s already in your hands. Or, more accurately, in your legs, heart, and lungs. Exercise is our most powerful lever for living long and well. And now, new research not only reinforces that claim, but also refines how we can use this tool more strategically. If you’ve already built some movement into your week or are looking for a reason to start, this one’s for you.

What We’ve Known All Along: Movement is Medicine

In a prior article and podcast episode, I laid out the fundamentals: regular exercise can reduce the risk of overall mortality, heart attack, stroke, cancer, and dementia by 20–30%. Even those who begin later in life—think 65 to 85 years old—still see substantial gains. A comprehensive program includes four exercise elements: aerobic (150–300 minutes per week in Zone 2), strength training (1-2 times/week), flexibility/balance (as often as possible), and some anaerobic effort (weekly). Nothing about that has changed. What’s new is how much smarter we can be about when, how, and what kind of exercise we do to unlock even greater benefits.

Six Surprising Benefits of Exercise You Might Not Know About

Fresh data shows that movement pays off in more ways than we previously realized.

First, it’s can lower your blood pressure. A study of over 14,000 people who wore blood pressure monitors found that just 15–20 minutes of true exercise (not just fast walking) lowered blood pressure by a few points. That might sound minor, but even a 2–3 point drop can lower population-wide cardiovascular risk by 10–20% (PubMed).

Second, it may help your sleep—both quality and quantity. A meta-analysis of 19 studies showed people who exercised not only fell asleep faster but stayed asleep longer, with better sleep efficiency. And the more you moved, the better the sleep (a dose-response relationship) (PubMed).

Third, it may aid weight loss. Even modest movement (as little as 30 minutes per week) helped shed pounds in a meta-analysis of 116 randomized trials. There was a clear dose-response relationship: more minutes, more weight lost, up to about 300 minutes per week (JAMA Network).

Fourth, it can support mental health. In a review of 33 observational studies covering nearly 100,000 adults, those who logged more steps—especially above 5,000 to 7,000 per day—reported fewer symptoms of depression. While it’s hard to untangle cause and effect here, the association is compelling enough to keep walking (JAMA Network).

Fifth, resistance training lowered C-reactive protein, a key marker of inflammation linked to diseases like cancer and heart disease. This was observed across 19 clinical trials in people aged 60 and above (ScienceDirect).

And finally, aerobic fitness was linked to larger hippocampal volume—part of the brain tied to memory. One study found fitter adults had better spatial memory and larger hippocampi, which often shrink with age (Wiley).

How You Exercise Also Matters

Recent studies have opened new doors into optimizing not just what we do, but how we do it. Timing, intensity, and consistency all matter—and some findings may surprise you.

Intense workouts too close to bedtime may affect your sleep. A study using wearable data from 14,000 people found that exercising less than two hours before bed was associated with delayed sleep onset by over 30 minutes, especially for high-intensity activity. Moderate movement earlier in the day? No sleep disruption at all (Nature).

Another revelation? Women may get more bang for their buck when it comes to exercise. A study of 400,000 adults over 20 years found that women who exercised had a 24% lower risk of death, compared to 15% for men. Even more compelling: women needed only 57 minutes per week to see this benefit, while men needed 100 (NIH, JACC).

Prefer to cram your movement into the weekends? That may be fine. A study of 89,000 people from the UK Biobank database showed that “weekend warriors” had the same health benefits as those who exercised throughout the week. What matters most is getting it in (Circulation).

Even caffeine can offer a temporary performance boost if sleep is compromised. In one study, runners performed worse after just three hours of sleep—unless they took caffeine, which restored performance to their baseline levels (Springer).

One caution: cold plunges right after strength training may blunt muscle gains. A clever study put one leg in cold water and one in warm post-workout, and the cold leg showed significantly reduced blood flow and amino acid uptake—factors important for muscle repair and growth (LWW).

My Routine—and Yours

In case you’re curious, I train year-round for three races: an Olympic triathlon, a swim-run with my brother (a series of island hopping swims and runs, carrying everything with you), and either a full or half Ironman distance triathlon. My weekly routine includes one swim, one long outdoor bike/run combo, an indoor bike session, a speed run, and a strength session with a trainer. That’s about five to six hours a week (up to 8-10) depending upon time of year and upcoming races. Nothing magical—just consistent effort tailored to my goals and time.

But you don’t need a race on the calendar. Five or ten minutes here and there, a brisk walk, a few flights of stairs—they all count. What matters most is that you start. The benefits, as we now know, are too significant to ignore.

In Closing: Move When You Can, However You Can

Exercise isn’t about perfection—it’s about momentum. The evidence keeps rolling in, and it all points in the same direction: the more we move, the more we gain. Not just more years in our life, but more life in our years. Whether it’s to lower your blood pressure, sleep more soundly, ease anxiety, or simply stay sharp, this is the lever worth pulling.

So, move. And if you found value in this post, share it. We all have someone in our life who could use a nudge toward better health. Let’s keep lifting each other up, one step at a time.

Until next time—live long and well.