Movement

Topics

• Cardiorespiratory fitness

  Cardiorespiratory fitness, usually measured as maximal aerobic capacity in an exercise test, is one of the most consistent predictors of health in large cohort studies: adults with higher fitness have lower rates of death from all causes and of cardiovascular events, with a dose-response pattern per 1-MET difference. Higher fitness is also associated with lower rates of cancer death, type 2 diabetes and depression, though that evidence is thinner. Controlled trials show that endurance and interval training both raise VO2max in healthy young to middle-aged adults. The fitness-outcome evidence is observational, so it shows association rather than proof that raising fitness causes the lower risk.

  • Energy
  • Longevity
  • Mind

  6 claims

• Daily steps

  Large pooled analyses of prospective cohorts with device-measured steps find that adults who take more steps a day have a progressively lower risk of death and of cardiovascular disease, with associations for type 2 diabetes, dementia and depressive symptoms resting on fewer studies. The lower risk levels off below the popular 10 000 step figure, at a point that differs by age, and associations appear from a few thousand steps above the least active level. All the evidence is observational, so residual confounding and reverse causation remain possible.

  • Longevity
  • Mind

  5 claims

• Mobility and balance

  In older adults living in the community, exercise programmes built mainly on balance and functional exercises reduce falls, with high-certainty evidence from a Cochrane review of randomised trials, and exercise may also modestly improve balance measures and reduce fear of falling. Regular stretching increases joint range of motion in healthy adults, and strength training appears to give similar gains, but this evidence is low certainty and no trials have tested flexibility exercise alone for falls. Tai chi for falls is covered in the qigong-and-tai-chi topic.

  • Longevity
  • Recovery
  • Strength

  5 claims

• Protein with resistance training on plant diets

  Meta-analyses of randomised trials found that soy protein supports resistance-training gains in lean mass and strength much like animal protein, and that strength gains do not differ by protein source. Pooled trials show a small muscle-mass edge for animal protein over non-soy plant proteins, mostly in younger adults, while small training trials of high-protein vegan diets found comparable gains. Acute studies show plant proteins stimulate less muscle protein synthesis gram for gram; anabolic resistance in older adults is a separate topic.

  • Strength
  • Vegan

  5 claims

• Strength training

  In older adults, randomised trials show that progressive resistance training increases muscle strength substantially and improves some measures of physical function. In adults generally, trials link resistance training with modestly lower resting blood pressure and fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms, and cohort studies associate muscle-strengthening activities with a lower risk of death and major non-communicable diseases, with the largest association at about 30-60 minutes a week and unclear added benefit beyond that.

  • Longevity
  • Mind
  • Strength

  5 claims

• Zone 2 vs intervals

  Both steady moderate-intensity (continuous or "Zone 2") training and high-intensity interval training raise aerobic fitness substantially in trials, with interval training producing somewhat larger gains in maximal oxygen uptake in healthy adults and in adults living with lifestyle-related cardiometabolic conditions. For body fat the two approaches performed similarly in overweight adults, with interval training taking less time. A 2025 narrative review found no trial evidence that Zone 2 is the optimal intensity for mitochondrial or fat-burning capacity in the general population. In supervised cardiac rehabilitation, serious cardiac events were rare with both kinds of training.

  • Energy
  • Longevity

  5 claims