two boys beside adult black and white border collie

How exercise improves your health

Exercise isn’t “extra.” It’s part of how the human system stays healthy.
This page brings together the key ways physical activity improves health — and why long periods of inactivity create problems in modern life. If you want practical direction, use the sections below to explore the topics, articles, and courses I’m building over time.

Moving is living — and this page is your starting point.

For years, we have been told that exercise is good for us. Now the evidence is becoming indisputable.  Being inactive is as bad as smoking or drinking too much alcohol. It could even be more serious than that.

This isn’t the “final word” on the topic. There are hundreds of benefits and mechanisms. This video is simply my attempt to outline a handful, clearly enough that you start to see the bigger picture:

Exercise isn’t just about burning calories. It’s a powerful signal that affects the whole system — energy, mood, balance, aging, and how your body handles nutrients.

In this video you’ll hear about:

  • Why movement improves energy (and why sitting drains it)
  • Mood and mental clarity benefits
  • Balance, coordination, and fall prevention
  • Aging well (staying capable for longer)
  • Metabolic health (beyond “calories in/out”)
  • Bones, tissues, and resilience

This video expands on why physical activity and exercise improve health and how to make movement realistic in modern life.”

Watch the full video here:


If it doesn’t load, watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZUWb-cNl00

Prefer the 60-second version? Watch the Short: Move More, Eat Anything (https://youtube.com/shorts/GU_tA-eTvuo)

Question for you: what’s the hardest one to stay consistent with — movement, sleep, or nutrition?

Study the courses

Start here if you want a guided pathway (otherwise scroll for articles).

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Diseases

Child running around a wet play area

For now I’m creating a series of course covering the various topics related to activity and health. So far I have published:

Key articles

Activity is so useful throughout life that I’ve also compiled a list of the main articles worth reading to build your general knowledge.

Exercise Physiology

Exercise has a profound effect on the human body. Even a basic understanding of exercise and it’s effect on humans will open your mind to what movement can do for you and your health.

Why Fit2Thrive exists

For years we’ve been told exercise is good for us. Now the evidence is hard to ignore: long periods of inactivity are linked with serious health risks — on the same level as many lifestyle habits we already take seriously.

Fit2Thrive exists because I’ve spent years collecting research, ideas, and observations about what helps people stay well in modern life. For a long time I either kept that information private or scattered it across older blog posts, because I wasn’t sure how to share it in a way that was genuinely useful.

This site is now my place to organise what I’m learning and share it as I go. Not because I think I have “the answer,” but because I care about the discussion. I’m here to learn in public, test ideas in real life, and connect the dots in a way that helps us all make better choices.

The core message is simple: living well is an active process. Moving is living — and activity isn’t only physical. It’s mental and emotional too. Over time, this library will grow across all three.

Useful Reading

Here is more useful information

Overview of current research. Just a general talk about a book about the value of exercise

Talking about the value of exercise and best ways to do it.