3 ms·

Exercise May Be the Most Potent Medical Intervention Ever Known

76 points by gmays 2y ago

Khelavaster 2y ago
[dead]
carlgreene 2y ago
Moving, as the body is intended to do, is exceptionally good for it? Who would have thought!
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  And it follows that sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day is probably exceptionally bad for it.
  - copperx 2y ago
    It? Body and mind are one and the same if you subscribe to materialism. It can be harmful to think of the body as an external entity.
Horffupolde 2y ago
“Exercise” is just an integral part of life, like eating and sleeping. Just because it can’t be reductionistically understood doesn’t mean it’s not necessary.
guerrilla 2y ago
Brains a for moving.
mensetmanusman 2y ago
Try standing more than you sit during the day as a first step.
- Someone1234 2y ago
  Simply standing has mixed results from studies. Now, something like an under-desk walker or peddles on the other hand MAY have health benefits.
guitarlimeo 2y ago
Totally agree. Once I started lifting weights a lot of my internal struggles became easier to deal with, and if I don't go to the gym for a week those become hard again. I would probably put it even before sleep in importance (if your not an insomniac, and probably even then) as it helps with your sleep too.
unsupp0rted 2y ago
This doesn't make sense to me, evolutionarily. Why do I hate going to the gym / lifting weight & cardio so much? Why do I feel no obvious benefits from a month of 4-days a week of weight training (apart from some extra strength & minor visible changes)? If exercise is so potent and so beneficial, then shouldn't I crave it the way I crave sugar? Or at least not actively dislike it?
- jwiz 2y ago
  My counterpoint is that I do crave it. Training again after being sick is such a feeling of relief, on par with when I smoked and would have a cigarette after many hours without one.
  - unsupp0rted 2y ago
    This is extremely lucky for you, but the majority of the population is the opposite: which is why gyms oversell annual memberships, knowing that the overwhelming majority of purchasers will quit after 1~3 months (because working out is hard and not pleasant).
- exe34 2y ago
  the things you crave are those that got your ancestors to live long enough to produce offspring that can reproduce.
- jasonsb 2y ago
  I'm sorry to hear that, but that's how medicine works. It looks like a miracle when it works and like a waste of time when it doesn't.
- copperx 2y ago
  Constant locomotion was required to stay alive until very recently. Everything required movement. Had you been rewarded by the body to keep moving, you would have to ingest many more calories than were available.
- pipodeclown 2y ago
  I really don't see how this is not obvious. Evolutionarily speaking our survival strategy involved high amounts of exercise (running after antilopes and gathering plants/fruits) so our bodies are optimised for high amounts of exercise. At the same time we needed to survive in unpredictable and sometimes low calories invironnements, our behavioural instincts are therefore to gather and consume as much calories as we can while expending as little calories as possible in the process (binge eating while loafing around if possible). Such optimisations and instincts can lead to unwanted outcomes in new environments such as those of modern sedentary lifestyles. I really don't see how you subjectively not feeling a benefit to an active lifestyle conflicts with the above.
ck2 2y ago
It's critical in life but there are limits to what exercise can do of course I've been trying to run myself out of long-covid for four years now, doesn't work Anyway that's an odd website to link to when there are endless studies and papers on this https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867414013178 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009286741...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
PaulKeeble 2y ago
Exercise research might be the area of medical research with the most fraud ever known. The amount of papers in this field showing effects that never materialise is astounding.
0xcde4c3db 2y ago
> On the one hand, physical activity is clearly one of the best interventions for preventing physical disease and mental suffering As far as I've read, it's decidedly unclear that general physical activity as an intervention is proven for much of anything; as Dr. Ashley mentions, most of the data we have is from observational studies. I think it's fair to say that for the vast majority of people, a moderate amount of physical activity is almost certainly better overall than being a total couch potato. But it's also not as simple as "active good, sedentary bad". In particular, I've seen a few studies suggesting that physical activity at one's job might not have the same disease-prevention benefits as physical activity for leisure (e.g. [1]), which casts some doubt on the idea that the benefits are primarily coming from physical activity per se. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621902/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621902/
- atoav 2y ago
  Might have to do with: - physically active jobs paying less, and we simply measure poorer people being less healthy - physically active jobs being less of a cardio activity, and more of a "lift these 20 kg packages in unergonomic posture till you need a back surgery" I don't know many jobs which actually keep people fit in a healthy sense without coming with significant risks (think fire fighters, soldiers). Except maybe working in sports as a personal trainer or a sports teacher or something. But I know people below 40 who suffer from all kind of health issues which they would not have if they weren't couch potatoes as you phrased it. And this gets much worse the older you go. If you really doubt that excersise helps talk to a veteran retirement home nurse and ask them if they think excercise helps their clients.
  - trillic 2y ago
    Gym teacher probably
  - Horffupolde 2y ago
    Any job which pays well and lets you train by yourself.
- devinmcafee 2y ago
helph67 2y ago
"Unfortunately, diet, exercise, and sleep are so deeply intertwined, it is not possible to say that one is more important than the others" https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/diet-exercise-sleep https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/diet-exercis...
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
amai 2y ago
„One minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life.“ It is not that easy: “While it may be unsurprising to hear a boxer is more likely to live a shorter time than the average man, it is more shocking to learn how tennis players continue to live longer as the years pass, and that, despite advances in medicine and technology, footballers are less likely now than in the 1930s to live longer. This research also confirms that social factors – such as socio-economic background and level of education – have a key influence on longevity.” https://ilcuk.org.uk/top-level-sportsmen-may-live-13-per-cent-longer-than-the-average-man/ https://ilcuk.org.uk/top-level-sportsmen-may-live-13-per-cen...
- amai 2y ago
  „The association between lifespan and popular team sports in males was positive for cricket, rowing, baseball, water polo, Australian rules, hurling, lacrosse, field hockey, minimal for rugby, canoeing and kayaking, basketball, gridiron football, and football (soccer), and negative for handball and volleyball. Racquet sports (i.e., tennis and badminton) exhibited a consistent and positive association in both male and female athletes, as shown by an extended lifespan of up to 5.7 years in males (95% CI [5, 6.5]) and 2.8 years in females (95% CI [1.8, 3.9]). Although lacking conclusive evidence, we theorize that the observed results may be attributed to the aerobic and anaerobic characteristics of each sport, with mixed sports yielding the maximum benefits for the lifespan.“ See also https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-024-01307-9 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-024-01307-9

76 points by gmays 2y ago

Khelavaster 2y ago

[dead]

carlgreene 2y ago

Moving, as the body is intended to do, is exceptionally good for it? Who would have thought!

SoftTalker 2y ago
And it follows that sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day is probably exceptionally bad for it.
- copperx 2y ago
  It? Body and mind are one and the same if you subscribe to materialism. It can be harmful to think of the body as an external entity.

Horffupolde 2y ago

“Exercise” is just an integral part of life, like eating and sleeping. Just because it can’t be reductionistically understood doesn’t mean it’s not necessary.

guerrilla 2y ago

Brains a for moving.

mensetmanusman 2y ago

Try standing more than you sit during the day as a first step.

Someone1234 2y ago
Simply standing has mixed results from studies. Now, something like an under-desk walker or peddles on the other hand MAY have health benefits.

guitarlimeo 2y ago

Totally agree. Once I started lifting weights a lot of my internal struggles became easier to deal with, and if I don't go to the gym for a week those become hard again. I would probably put it even before sleep in importance (if your not an insomniac, and probably even then) as it helps with your sleep too.

unsupp0rted 2y ago

This doesn't make sense to me, evolutionarily. Why do I hate going to the gym / lifting weight & cardio so much? Why do I feel no obvious benefits from a month of 4-days a week of weight training (apart from some extra strength & minor visible changes)? If exercise is so potent and so beneficial, then shouldn't I crave it the way I crave sugar? Or at least not actively dislike it?

jwiz 2y ago
My counterpoint is that I do crave it. Training again after being sick is such a feeling of relief, on par with when I smoked and would have a cigarette after many hours without one.
- unsupp0rted 2y ago
  This is extremely lucky for you, but the majority of the population is the opposite: which is why gyms oversell annual memberships, knowing that the overwhelming majority of purchasers will quit after 1~3 months (because working out is hard and not pleasant).
exe34 2y ago
the things you crave are those that got your ancestors to live long enough to produce offspring that can reproduce.
jasonsb 2y ago
I'm sorry to hear that, but that's how medicine works. It looks like a miracle when it works and like a waste of time when it doesn't.
copperx 2y ago
Constant locomotion was required to stay alive until very recently. Everything required movement. Had you been rewarded by the body to keep moving, you would have to ingest many more calories than were available.
pipodeclown 2y ago
I really don't see how this is not obvious. Evolutionarily speaking our survival strategy involved high amounts of exercise (running after antilopes and gathering plants/fruits) so our bodies are optimised for high amounts of exercise. At the same time we needed to survive in unpredictable and sometimes low calories invironnements, our behavioural instincts are therefore to gather and consume as much calories as we can while expending as little calories as possible in the process (binge eating while loafing around if possible). Such optimisations and instincts can lead to unwanted outcomes in new environments such as those of modern sedentary lifestyles. I really don't see how you subjectively not feeling a benefit to an active lifestyle conflicts with the above.

ck2 2y ago

It's critical in life but there are limits to what exercise can do of course I've been trying to run myself out of long-covid for four years now, doesn't work Anyway that's an odd website to link to when there are endless studies and papers on this https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867414013178 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009286741...

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

PaulKeeble 2y ago

Exercise research might be the area of medical research with the most fraud ever known. The amount of papers in this field showing effects that never materialise is astounding.

0xcde4c3db 2y ago

> On the one hand, physical activity is clearly one of the best interventions for preventing physical disease and mental suffering As far as I've read, it's decidedly unclear that general physical activity as an intervention is proven for much of anything; as Dr. Ashley mentions, most of the data we have is from observational studies. I think it's fair to say that for the vast majority of people, a moderate amount of physical activity is almost certainly better overall than being a total couch potato. But it's also not as simple as "active good, sedentary bad". In particular, I've seen a few studies suggesting that physical activity at one's job might not have the same disease-prevention benefits as physical activity for leisure (e.g. [1]), which casts some doubt on the idea that the benefits are primarily coming from physical activity per se. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621902/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621902/

atoav 2y ago
Might have to do with: - physically active jobs paying less, and we simply measure poorer people being less healthy - physically active jobs being less of a cardio activity, and more of a "lift these 20 kg packages in unergonomic posture till you need a back surgery" I don't know many jobs which actually keep people fit in a healthy sense without coming with significant risks (think fire fighters, soldiers). Except maybe working in sports as a personal trainer or a sports teacher or something. But I know people below 40 who suffer from all kind of health issues which they would not have if they weren't couch potatoes as you phrased it. And this gets much worse the older you go. If you really doubt that excersise helps talk to a veteran retirement home nurse and ask them if they think excercise helps their clients.
- trillic 2y ago
  Gym teacher probably
- Horffupolde 2y ago
  Any job which pays well and lets you train by yourself.
devinmcafee 2y ago

helph67 2y ago

"Unfortunately, diet, exercise, and sleep are so deeply intertwined, it is not possible to say that one is more important than the others" https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/diet-exercise-sleep https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/diet-exercis...

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

amai 2y ago

„One minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life.“ It is not that easy: “While it may be unsurprising to hear a boxer is more likely to live a shorter time than the average man, it is more shocking to learn how tennis players continue to live longer as the years pass, and that, despite advances in medicine and technology, footballers are less likely now than in the 1930s to live longer. This research also confirms that social factors – such as socio-economic background and level of education – have a key influence on longevity.” https://ilcuk.org.uk/top-level-sportsmen-may-live-13-per-cent-longer-than-the-average-man/ https://ilcuk.org.uk/top-level-sportsmen-may-live-13-per-cen...

amai 2y ago
„The association between lifespan and popular team sports in males was positive for cricket, rowing, baseball, water polo, Australian rules, hurling, lacrosse, field hockey, minimal for rugby, canoeing and kayaking, basketball, gridiron football, and football (soccer), and negative for handball and volleyball. Racquet sports (i.e., tennis and badminton) exhibited a consistent and positive association in both male and female athletes, as shown by an extended lifespan of up to 5.7 years in males (95% CI [5, 6.5]) and 2.8 years in females (95% CI [1.8, 3.9]). Although lacking conclusive evidence, we theorize that the observed results may be attributed to the aerobic and anaerobic characteristics of each sport, with mixed sports yielding the maximum benefits for the lifespan.“ See also https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-024-01307-9 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-024-01307-9