Most people start exercise programs in order to lose weight and improve their health. Interestingly enough, recent research has shown that there is a possibility that just exercise alone is enough to improve your health even if you don't lose weight.

A large study, recently performed, looked at thousands of people postmortem.  They divided the people into two groups.  Those that exercised during their lives and those that did not.  Surprisingly, there was very little difference between the two groups in relation to the average physical characteristics of the people. Both groups had an equal amount of thin and overweight people. The big difference between the two groups was in terms of average lifespan.  It was found that the group that exercised tended to outlive those that did not exercise by an average of four years. The study raised the question of whether being overweight is truly a risk factor for premature death.  Since there were just as many overweight people in the exercise group, this study showed that perhaps it is simply a lack of physical activity that leads to premature death.

Once again, this is another study showing the importance of incorporating exercise into your regular routine.  Not only will exercise help you to live longer but it will improve your quality of life.