Exercise  is the “fountain of youth.” Aerobic exercise  builds endurance and strengthens the heart. Exercise creates new brain cells and can help ward off cancer and diabetes. Strength training builds muscles—and you are never too old to build muscles!  It can also keep you from accumulating the wrong kind of body fat.

1.   Exercise can curb your risk of cancer by indirectly keeping off excess weight. Weight gain is associated with quite a few cancers.

2.   Exercise creates new brain cells. Seniors who are more fit perform better on cognitive tests to the point where they’re sometimes no different than young adults.

3.   Exercise boosts insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a hormone that allows blood sugar to enter the body’s cells, where it is stored or used as fuel.

4.   Weight training or resistance training strengthens muscles and bones.

5.   Sitting can kill you. People who sit for the majority of their day have higher mortality rates than people who don’t.

6.   Aerobic exercise lowers the risk of a stroke.

7.   Aerobic exercise cuts the risk of a heart attack by 20 to 35 percent in most studies.

8.   Weight-bearing aerobic and strength-training exercise three to five days a week can increase—or slow the decrease in—the density of spine and hip bones.

9.   Moderately active people have a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome than inactive people.

10. Active people are 15 to 25 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression than inactive people.

11. Forty minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise three to five times a week lowers blood pressure 2 to 5 points.

12. If you have arthritis, moderate-intensity, low-impact exercise for 30 to 60 minutes three to five times a week can reduce pain and disability.

13.  Seniors  who are physically active have about a 30 percent lower risk of falls.