Diabetes Center - About Us

 March 6, 2026

 

If you’re in need of some motivation to get out and be active, then sit down and read this impressive list of exercise benefits. Better still, stand up and read it.

Exercise is a key contributor to people living longer, healthier, more vibrant lives.

 LONGER LIFE

It’s been over 30 years since researchers observed that physical activity extends life. One of the earliest studies found that champion male Finnish skiers lived, on average, over four years longer than average Finnish men.[2] More recently, an investigation of some of the longest-living people on earth— Okinawans and Seventh-day Adventists—showed that all of these groups engaged in plenty of physical activity as part of their daily living.[3,4] Researchers have examined many possible mechanisms by which exercise extends life. One study, using identical twins, probed the link between exercise and the length of telomeres. Telomeres are the protective ends of chromosomes that shorten as we age and are one of the most important factors in the ageing process. The study found that inactive people were biologically up to 10 years older than more active individuals, based on the length of their telomeres. The researchers concluded that reduced length of telomeres was a key method by which a sedentary lifestyle may accelerate the ageing process.[5]

 There’s little point avoiding disease and living longer if we’re not living happy, fulfilled lives. And exercise helps with this, too.

 Exercise increases our energy levels, meaning we don’t feel tired and fatigued so easily. One way it does this is by improving our cardiovascular fitness or efficiency,[36] resulting in improved delivery of oxygen to our cells. Another fascinating mechanism is that exercise stimulates the creation of new mitochondria in our muscle cells.[37] Mitochondria are the power houses of our cells, where energy is unleashed from the food we’ve eaten. Hence, exercise increases our capacity to generate energy.

 Source: https://discoverhope.my/lesson/benefits-of-exercise-part-i/

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Come join us in this community walking group. 

1. AVOID PROLONGED SITTING

Exercising for 30 minutes a day is something great you can do for your body—60 minutes a day is even better![42] But they’re not enough by themselves. Researchers have found that even regular exercise has limited benefit, if aside from your session of training you spend the remainder of your time mostly sitting. “While exercising daily has many health-promoting benefits, if you spend the rest of your day sitting around and not moving, your risk of ill-health, disease and premature death jumps back up!”[42,43]

It’s not just about how long we spend sitting, but how long we spend sitting without a break. Prolonged, uninterrupted sitting is the problem. Having regular movement breaks—or even just standing breaks—are linked to lower measurements of waist circumference, body mass index, blood triglycerides and fasting plasma glucose levels.[44]

Find ways in your everyday life to spend less time sitting. You could try standing and folding the clean clothes while watching TV. Or why not stand at your office desk while talking on the phone? Could a walking meeting work for your team instead of the usual boardroom sitting fest?