35 Benefits of Aerobic Training or Planned Physical Activity

Most of our Method Health community already enjoy and prioritise being physically active regardless of their busyness of life. Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure, such as working, playing, carrying out household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuits. In other words, “any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level.” Many assume these activities are “exercise,” but in terms of health outcomes, they are not. Exercise forms a subset of physical activity that offers a more predictable improvement in health outcomes. Exercise is defined as a structured, planned, repetitive approach to physical activity with the primary goal to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness.

Distinct subcategories of exercise are essential for the best chance at a long and healthy life. At Method Health, we undertake strength (resistance) and aerobic training subsets of exercise. Some cheeky few groans and growls when we suggest during our group classes to complete the path run, rowing ergo, ski, burpees, sled, treadmill sprints, bike or upper body cycle ergo (everyone loves the mits). These, however, are all forms of aerobic training, the subcategory of physical activity that is “any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature.” Apples and oranges are both fruits; consume both as each has different health benefits. Likewise, aerobic and strength training overlap in triggering shared exercise adaptation that promotes better health. Still, aerobic and strength training produce distinct adaptations that result in divergent health improvements. The many health benefits of strength training can be read about at this link. Here, I will focus on aerobic training.

An important training goal for which aerobic training is the best choice is cardiorespiratory fitness, defined as “the capacity of the cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) and respiratory (lungs) systems to supply oxygen-rich blood to the working skeletal muscles and the capacity of the muscles to use oxygen to produce energy for movement.” If you are at the more casual stage of buy-in to the overall premise, you can be encouraged to know that just participation alone can have some benefits! It's hard to isolate the benefits of being fitter versus completing adequate aerobic exercise each week for health benefits. It is like the difficulty distinguishing between the benefits of being strong versus completing 30-60 minutes weekly of strengthening exercises. However, total fitness might be more critical than just participation in activity for some health benefits, such as mortality. Generally, to see the benefits of aerobic activities listed below, you're encouraged to try to be as aerobically fit as possible and to meet the Australian PA Recommendations of completing up to 150- 300 min of moderate or 75 min of vigorous PA. Then, aim to increase aerobic fitness as much as possible within or over those weekly-minute recommendations.

I have underlined which of the benefits below are related to increased aerobic fitness versus just weekly participation in an adequate amount of aerobic exercise. Like all my articles, this is a living document and will be updated as our current understanding of exercise as medicine changes.

Exercise or sport-related

Regular progressive PA increases aerobic fitness, reducing fatigue by completing all your daily living activities. Increased aerobic fitness primarily occurs through increased muscle capillarisation and capillary function (increase in blood flow and oxygen supply to the muscle), increased red blood cells (to increase oxygen carrying capacity), improved energy metabolism (your mitochondria become more efficient, allowing energy utilisation to occur at faster rates from our stored and quickly created energy sources from carbohydrates, fat, and protein), and heart adaptations that increase the hearts filling and contraction capacity (which allows more blood to be pumped around the body with each contraction). See this reference for more about aerobic training adaptation that improves aerobic fitness.
Weekly strength training improves time trial performance across swimming and cycling events.
Regular running increases tendon stiffness, which is great for improving running economy (reduces the energy consumption during a task) and, therefore, performance. Muscle strength is improved to a slight extent, especially in very sedentary people who start exercise, but not as much as from strength training.
Improve team sports-related running tolerance.
Reduces sports-related injuries. In sports injuries where fatigue is a risk factor, improved aerobic fitness is part of the physical qualities that help reduce fatigue rate during sport, which might protect against injury. Strength is another physical quality that is protective as well.
Aerobic training, such as 20 minutes of walking, improves short-term range of motion, like holding a static stretch or completing a full range of motion strength exercises. Importantly, as listed, aerobic training has many additional benefits that are not provided by stretching.
Even in small amounts, it can improve recovery between sets of strength or power exercises, meaning you can complete more of these types of exercise. This is particularly relevant for group classes where the goal is to do as much work as possible to improve exercise tolerance and general health or increase daily energy expenditure to improve body composition, or for CrossFit-like sessions where completing many sets of different exercise in as little time as possible is the goal.

Health Related

All-cause mortality. Studies cite a 30% lower risk of early death if participants participate in adequate aerobic training. That’s 40% in all-cause mortality when combining aerobic and resistance training into your week. Imagine a pill that promised that health benefit. Everyone would be prescribed that pill. Running or jogging even less than 50 min a week at any pace reduces the risk of premature death (see the graph below). Physical inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor globally for early death, behind high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. Reducing time spent sitting or being sedentary also improves lifespan. Use 5 seconds to 5 min of light to vigorous “exercise snacks” to break up prolonged occupational or hobby-related sedentary time.
Cardiovascular disease. Regular aerobic activity assists in reducing blood pressure and unfavourable blood lipids such as LDL cholesterol and reducing primary aging-related low-grade persistent inflammation. Types of cardiovascular disease assisted by regular PA include coronary/ischemic heart disease and associated atherosclerosis and angina, atrial fibrillation, stroke risk, peripheral artery disease, hypertension, left and right-sided heart failure, and deep vein thrombosis formation. Exercise also improves medically stable postural hypotension or posture-change-related drops in blood pressure. High-intensity interval training is a safe option to reduce blood pressure in those with and without current cardiovascular disease when guided by a trained exercise specialist.
Both types of diabetes. For Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), especially when combined with strength training, aerobic training is a potent medication to improve resting blood sugar scores and increase insulin sensitivity. A one-point increase in VO2 max (a measure of aerobic fitness) is associated with 3% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Sedentary behaviour decreases insulin sensitivity and increases total fat mass, which impairs glucose metabolism, contributing to the development of diabetes. Adequate weekly exercise is much more potent at preventing high blood glucose levels seen in diabetes compared to avoiding carbohydrates or added sugar in your diet. Maintaining a healthy weight and staying physically active reduces any adverse effects of irregular, minimal amounts of consumed processed carbohydrates and soft drinks. Regular PA can help T2D without needing to lose weight. Related to T1D, exercise reduces the increased risk of CVD in people with T1D. It improves blood glucose levels without needing insulin as a regulator of glucose uptake into a cell, so you will use less insulin over time and save insulin-related costs.
Cancer risk is reduced, especially with weekly running participation. This is especially seen in colon, endometrial, breast, and prostate cancer rates. Increased weekly activity also increases the chance of survival from cancer compared to those who are physically inactive. Regular exercise assists in cancer-related fatigue and pain that can increase during cancer treatment.
Elevates mood to lower rates of depression and anxiety. Endorphins released from the brain due to repetitive muscle contraction contribute to the “runners high.” Treatment of depression with exercise has also been shown to be effective. Psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenia can be reduced with only 90 min of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week.
Activity within international guidelines has no adverse effect on joint health in people with or without osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It contributes to preventing disability associated with OA and RA. Running in moderate amounts <250 min per week has not been shown to harm or cause osteoarthritis. Reduces rates of persistent joint pain in most joints, especially when exercise is completed outdoors in the green.
The fitter you are, the better you tolerate heat stress, which is great for maintaining comfort during hot summers.
Decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease through a decrease in the rate of cognitive decline seen with aging.
It can improve cognition in people with or without cognitive impairment. Improves your brain function, including increasing attention, problem-solving, and creativity capacity. This is true for all children, all the way to centenarians. There is a significant positive relationship between physical activity levels and perceptual skills, intelligence, achievement, verbal tests, and mathematic tests, and children with low physical activity levels have poorer academic achievement scores than physically fit children. The cognitive effects of physical activity are probably related to positive effects on structural changes, including increased blood vessel and nerve formation and increased hormones released by the brain in response to exercise that improve the function of current nerves and blood vessels within some areas of the brain.
It improved body image.
Increases independence at all ages, especially in older adults and abilities, and improves quality of life significantly as measured by questionnaires. Primary aging is inevitable, but the faster-occurring secondary or physiological aging related to disease, bodily abuse, and reduced physical activity is preventable. It also increases age-related walking speed, endurance, and safety.
Assist reduction in body fat and systemic adipose and aging-related inflammation significantly influenced by a sedentary lifestyle. 150 minutes per week can assist in maintaining diet-related weight loss, while above 300 minutes per week can assist in weight loss outside of diet.
“Early mobilisation,” the technical term used in hospitals to describe getting out of bed and completing walking and physio-guided exercise as soon as possible each day, reduces hospital visit-related disability and time of hospital stay. This could be related to emergency or elective joint or organ surgery, severe COVID-19, ICU care (yes, you can exercise on a ventilator), or post-trauma-related surgery.
Increase immunity (muscle is an endocrine organ, releasing many helpful immune hormones during vigorous contraction).
Improve subjective sleep quality, insomnia, and sleep apnoea.
Strong part of the prevention and management of decline from Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis. Improve the tolerance of daily activity for those affected by spinal cord injuries. Just perform the aerobic and strength exercises in the regions where muscle contraction is present or emerging.
Regular weight-bearing aerobic exercise helps maintain bone mass as you age. This is especially true for post-menopausal women. However, think of strength and jump training to increase your bone density at any age. Walking (which does very little) has less effect on bone health than jogging, which has less effect than jumping exercises.
Improved tolerance to the birthing process. Reduced rates of gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, and weight gain during pregnancy.
It is helpful in the prevention and treatment of liver disease, which is the 11th most common cause of death globally. Maintaining or increasing physical activity provides health benefits for patients with liver disease, independent of weight changes.
Improves gut health-related conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis (and associated bleeding), gallbladder disease (including inflammation, infection, stones, or obstruction)
Improve lung health to prevent and manage the consequences of lung conditions such as COPD and lung surgery. Reduces frequency of asthma “attacks”. After regular exercise, all ages with asthma report less exercise-induced asthma attacks and less anxiety in connection with physical exertion. Most data suggests there is a “J-shaped” relationship between physical inactivity and acquiring upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) or the common cold, with very little increasing the risk, moderate amounts having the most protective effects of reducing URTI, with large amounts having the largest risk for those with large training volume leading up to a long-distance running competition but think for training accumulation periods longer than one week. Physical activity improves exercise capacity, slows the decline in lung function, and improves the quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis.
Useful in the prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease. Increased sedentary behaviour is associated with kidney disease risk development.
Helpful for reducing the severity of menstrual cramps. Assist in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome.
Reduces severity and frequency of headaches related to migraines. Regular exercise is essential to the evidence-based SEEDS (Sleep, Exercise, Eating/nutrition, Diary, and Stress) migraine management strategies.
Improve physical and mental tolerance to stressful work, whether physical or sedentary (office work). Reduced fatigue at work.
Improved lifespan for people with genetic conditions such as Down syndrome and Autism.
Reduces onset of exercise-related cramping. Cramping during exercise is mainly caused by fatigue rather than hydration or electrolyte imbalance, as once thought. Emerging evidence suggests properly dosed aerobic training through improving exercise tolerance and reducing cramping frequency.
Physical inactivity is a cause of erectile dysfunction, and regular PA is effective at treating erectile dysfunction, partially through assisting weight loss but primarily through blood vessel function improvements.

Being physically active and completing regular aerobic and strength training provides greater promise than any other medical intervention, including nutrition, in reducing the risk of most chronic diseases. To see the benefits listed, you're encouraged to be as aerobically fit as possible while meeting the Australian Physical Activity Recommendation of completing up to 150- 300 minutes of moderate or 75 min of vigorous physical activity. You see significant benefits before this point, so aim to reach this amount over time, but less is still good for your health. It's kind of like saying that brushing your teeth for 10 seconds is better than nothing but not better than over 2 minutes (Don’t ask for a reference for this). Most studies show a dose-dependent relationship between the amounts of physical activity and aerobic fitness on health benefits up until around the 150-300 min weekly mark. More = better, but after about 300 minutes, the rate of improvement slows down. Therefore, the greatest rate of health improvement effects is seen in people who previously completed minimal exercise per week and who began participating in moderate exercise per week. This should be encouraging for those who are not doing any exercise; initial dosages of exercise have very large positive health effects compared to those who are already regularly active. Also, the Weekend warriors who complete all their exercises across 1-2 days of the week still have significant reductions in persistent disease risk. See the link for more information about PA recommendations for all ages and abilities.

Whether you come to Method Health for health or performance benefits, just like strength training, aerobic training inside or outside the gym is a must, and no one is too old to exercise. Regular exercise expands your “health span” and slows down physiological aging. Sorry aerobic training doesn’t affect chronological age, but its many benefits help you live longer. Invest in your health as, just like saving money, it’s never too late to start aerobic training, including running. Pass this blog on to those you feel will benefit from starting or knowing more. Let us know what benefit of aerobic training you want to hear more about in future posts.