Physically active people live longer and live better. And exercise helps the mind as well as the body, fighting both stress and depression.
Exercise is the best-kept secret in prevention.
A reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, the nation's first and third leading killers, should give every man reason enough to get off his couch. For several years now, doctors have known that exercise does reduce the risk of certain malignancies. Both men and women can walk away from colon cancer, but exercise may also help women reduce their risk of breast and reproductive cancers. Breast and female reproductive cancers are driven by hormones. Men, too, develop hormone-sensitive malignancies, the most important of which will be diagnosed in about 198,000 Americans this year and will claim about 31,500 lives.