Exercise science research Archive

This archive preserves foundational and earlier research that has informed the development of exercise science, physical activity and my own work in movement and exercise adherence.

It includes landmark studies alongside earlier research on mortality, cardiovascular health, metabolic health, brain health, cancer, strength and physical function, sedentary behaviour, exercise adherence and human movement.

Some studies in this archive have since been superseded, refined or strengthened by newer evidence. Inclusion does not mean that a study represents current scientific consensus.

For my current synthesis of the evidence, including recent systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials and major guidelines, visit Exercise Science Research: Movement, Strength, Health and Adherence.

Archive curated by Darryl Edwards MSc, FCIMSPA (Chartered), FBSLM, DFSEM(UK), DipExMed, ACSM-CES®.

Archive reviewed: August 2026

How to Use This Archive

Exercise science has developed considerably across the decades represented here.

Research methods have improved. Physical activity measurement has increasingly moved from self-report to device-based measurement. Larger prospective cohorts, randomised trials and modern evidence synthesis have strengthened or challenged some earlier conclusions.

This archive therefore serves three purposes:

To preserve influential and historically relevant exercise-science research.

To show how evidence about physical activity and health has developed.

To provide deeper source material alongside the current Exercise Science Research resource.

For current conclusions about exercise and health, use the main research page.

Foundations of Exercise and Physical Activity Research

Modern exercise epidemiology developed from research examining whether habitual movement, occupational activity and physical fitness predicted disease and premature mortality.

Several papers below helped establish concepts that now sit at the centre of exercise science.

Selected Landmark Papers

Morris et al., 1953

Coronary Heart-Disease and Physical Activity of Work.

This landmark occupational study compared coronary heart disease among workers with different levels of occupational physical activity. It became one of the foundational studies linking habitual physical activity with cardiovascular health.

Morris JN, Heady JA, Raffle PAB, Roberts CG, Parks JW. Coronary heart-disease and physical activity of work. Lancet. 1953.

Paffenbarger et al., 1986

Physical Activity, All-Cause Mortality, and Longevity of College Alumni.

This prospective study of Harvard alumni helped establish the relationship between habitual physical activity and subsequent mortality and contributed to early understanding of physical-activity dose.

Paffenbarger RS Jr, Hyde RT, Wing AL, Hsieh CC. Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:605-613.

Blair et al., 1989

Physical Fitness and All-Cause Mortality: A Prospective Study of Healthy Men and Women.

This influential prospective study shifted attention towards cardiorespiratory fitness as an important predictor of mortality.

Blair SN, Kohl HW III, Paffenbarger RS Jr, Clark DG, Cooper KH, Gibbons LW. Physical fitness and all-cause mortality: a prospective study of healthy men and women. JAMA. 1989;262:2395-2401.

Pedersen and Saltin, 2006

Evidence for Prescribing Exercise as Therapy in Chronic Disease.

This wide-ranging review helped consolidate the concept of exercise as a therapeutic intervention across numerous chronic conditions.

Pedersen BK, Saltin B. Evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in chronic disease. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2006;16(suppl 1):3-63.

Additional Foundational Research

Blair SN, Morris JN. Healthy hearts and the universal benefits of being physically active: physical activity and health. Ann Epidemiol. 2009.

Nocon M, Hiemann T, Müller-Riemenschneider F, et al. Association of physical activity with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2008.

World Health Organization. Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health. 2010.

Physical Activity, Cardiovascular Health and Mortality

Physical activity research has consistently examined relationships between movement, cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.

The papers below represent earlier stages in the development of that evidence.

Mortality and Physical Fitness

Myers J, Kaykha A, George S, et al. Fitness versus physical activity patterns in predicting mortality in men. Am J Med. 2004.

Leitzmann MF, Park Y, Blair A, et al. Physical activity recommendations and decreased risk of mortality. Arch Intern Med. 2007.

Patel AV, Bernstein L, Deka A, et al. Leisure time spent sitting in relation to total mortality in a prospective cohort of US adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2010.

Ekelund U, Ward HA, Norat T, et al. Activity and all-cause mortality across levels of overall and abdominal adiposity in European men and women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015.

Ekelund U, Steene-Johannessen J, Brown WJ, et al. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate, the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality? Lancet. 2016.

Cardiovascular Disease

Grøntved A, Hu FB. Television viewing and risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 2011.

Armstrong MEG, Green J, Reeves GK, Beral V, Cairns BJ. Frequent physical activity may not reduce vascular disease risk as much as moderate activity: large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom. Circulation. 2015.

Merom D, Ding D, Stamatakis E. Dancing participation and cardiovascular disease mortality. Am J Prev Med. 2016.

Blood Pressure

Beunza JJ, Martínez-González MA, Ebrahim S, et al. Sedentary behaviours and the risk of incident hypertension: the SUN Cohort. Am J Hypertens. 2007.

Cornelissen VA, Fagard RH. Impact of resistance training on blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Hypertension. 2011.

Cornelissen VA, Smart NA. Exercise training for blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Heart Assoc. 2013.

Metabolic Health

Exercise influences glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, body composition and numerous metabolic pathways.

The studies in this section document earlier research into these mechanisms and outcomes.

Blood Glucose and Insulin Sensitivity

Thiebaud D, et al. The effect of graded doses of insulin on total glucose uptake, glucose oxidation, and glucose storage in man. Diabetes. 1982.

Ferrara CM, et al. Effects of aerobic and resistive exercise training on glucose disposal and skeletal muscle metabolism in older men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006.

Colberg SR, et al. The Big Blue Test: effects of 14 minutes of physical activity on blood glucose levels. Diabetes Care. 2013.

Richter EA, Hargreaves M. Exercise, GLUT4, and skeletal muscle glucose uptake. Physiol Rev. 2013.

Ryan AS, et al. Aerobic exercise and weight loss reduce vascular markers of inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity in obese women. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014.

Harmer RA, et al. Amount and frequency of exercise affect glycaemic control more than exercise mode or intensity. Br J Sports Med. 2015.

Type II diabetes

Hu FB, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Rimm EB. Physical activity and television watching in relation to risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in men. Arch Intern Med. 2001.

Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson JE. Television watching and other sedentary behaviours in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. JAMA. 2003.

Karstoft K, et al. The acute effects of interval versus continuous walking exercise on glycaemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014.

Blood Lipids

Kraus et al., 2002

This randomised exercise study helped clarify that the amount and intensity of exercise can produce different effects on plasma lipoproteins.

Kraus WE, et al. Effects of the amount and intensity of exercise on plasma lipoproteins. N Engl J Med. 2002.

Holme I, et al. ApoB but not LDL cholesterol is reduced by exercise training in overweight healthy men: results from the Oslo Diet and Exercise Study. J Intern Med. 2007.

Monda KL, et al. Longitudinal impact of physical activity on lipid profiles in middle-aged adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. J Lipid Res. 2009.

Hayashino Y, et al. Effects of supervised exercise on lipid profiles and blood pressure control in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2012.

Jordy AB, Kiens B. Regulation of exercise-induced lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle. Exp Physiol. 2014.

James AP, et al. Effects of a one-year randomised controlled trial of resistance training on blood lipid profile and chylomicron concentration in older men. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016.

Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity

Carroll S, Dudfield M. What is the relationship between exercise and metabolic abnormalities? A review of the metabolic syndrome. Sports Med. 2004.

Ford ES, Kohl HW, Mokdad AH, Ajani UA. Sedentary behaviour, physical activity, and the metabolic syndrome among US adults. Obes Res. 2005.

Ohkawara K, et al. A dose-response relation between aerobic exercise and visceral fat reduction: systematic review of clinical trials. Int J Obes. 2007.

Hunter GR, et al. Resistance training conserves fat-free mass and resting energy expenditure following weight loss. Obesity. 2008.

Ismail I, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of aerobic versus resistance exercise training on visceral fat. Obes Rev. 2012.

Johns DJ, et al. Diet or exercise interventions versus combined behavioural weight-management programmes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of direct comparisons. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014.

Verheggen RJ, et al. Effects of exercise training versus hypocaloric diet on body weight and visceral adipose tissue: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2016.

Mitochondrial Function

Baar K, et al. Adaptations of skeletal muscle to exercise: rapid increase in the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1. J Appl Physiol. 2002.

Menshikova EV, et al. Effects of exercise on mitochondrial content and function in ageing human skeletal muscle. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006.

Steiner JL, et al. Exercise training increases mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain. J Appl Physiol. 2011.

Robinson MM, et al. Enhanced protein translation underlies improved metabolic and physical adaptations to different exercise training modes in young and old humans. Cell Metab. 2017.

Inflammation and Other Cardiometabolic Biomarkers

Research into individual biomarkers can help explore biological mechanisms. Changes in a biomarker should not automatically be interpreted as changes in clinical disease risk.

Petersen AMW, Pedersen BK. The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2005.

Fischer CP. Interleukin-6 in acute exercise and training: what is the biological relevance? Exerc Immunol Rev. 2006.

Pedersen BK, et al. Role of myokines in exercise and metabolism. J Appl Physiol. 2007.

Deminice R, et al. The effects of acute exercise and exercise training on plasma homocysteine: a meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2016.

Homocysteine is retained here as a historical biomarker topic rather than treated as a major independent exercise-science outcome.

Exercise and the Gut Microbiome

Early studies helped generate interest in relationships between physical activity, fitness and the gut microbiome. Diet, medication, environment and other factors make this a complex area to interpret.

Clarke SF, et al. Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity. Gut. 2014.

Estaki M, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness as a predictor of intestinal microbial diversity and distinct metagenomic functions. Microbiome. 2016.

Cronin O, et al. Exercise, fitness, and the gut. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2016.

Johannesson E, Simrén M, Strid H, Bajor A, Sadik R. Physical activity improves symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial. Am J Gastroenterol. 2011.

Brain and Mental Health

Research into exercise and the brain spans cognition, neuroplasticity, ageing, neurodegenerative disease, depression, anxiety and mood.

Cognition, Brain Ageing and Neurodegeneration

Colcombe et al., 2004

This study contributed to early human evidence connecting cardiovascular fitness with age-related differences in brain structure and cortical plasticity.

Colcombe SJ, Kramer AF, Erickson KI, et al. Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and ageing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004.

Cotman CW, Berchtold NC, Christie LA. Exercise builds brain health: key roles of growth-factor cascades and inflammation. Trends Neurosci. 2007.

Hamer M, Chida Y. Physical activity and risk of neurodegenerative disease: a systematic review of prospective evidence. Psychol Med. 2009.

Smith PJ, Blumenthal JA, Hoffman BM, et al. Aerobic exercise and neurocognitive performance: a meta-analytic review of randomised controlled trials. Psychosom Med. 2010.

Geda YE, Roberts RO, Knopman DS, et al. Physical exercise, ageing, and mild cognitive impairment: a population-based study. Arch Neurol. 2010.

Erickson et al., 2011

This randomised trial became an influential study in the literature examining aerobic exercise, hippocampal volume and memory in older adults.

Erickson KI, et al. Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011.

Ahlskog JE, Geda YE, Graff-Radford NR, Petersen RC. Physical exercise as a preventive or disease-modifying treatment of dementia and brain ageing. Mayo Clin Proc. 2011.

Vidoni ED, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with atrophy in Alzheimer's disease and ageing over two years. Neurobiol Aging. 2012.

Zhu N, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function in middle age: the CARDIA study. Neurology. 2014.

Depression, Anxiety and Mood

Steptoe A, et al. Acute effects of aerobic exercise on mood. Health Psychol. 1988.

Scully D, Kremer J, Meade MM, Graham R, Dudgeon K. Physical exercise and psychological wellbeing: a critical review. Br J Sports Med. 1998.

Dunn AL, Trivedi MH, O'Neal HA. Physical activity dose-response effects on outcomes of depression and anxiety. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001.

Guszkowska M. Effects of exercise on anxiety, depression and mood. Psychiatr Pol. 2004.

Broman-Fulks JJ, et al. Effects of aerobic exercise on anxiety sensitivity. Behav Res Ther. 2008.

Ströhle A. Physical activity, exercise, depression and anxiety disorders. J Neural Transm. 2009.

Hopkins ME, et al. Differential effects of acute and regular physical exercise on cognition and affect. Neuroscience. 2012.

Teychenne M, Costigan SA, Parker K. The association between sedentary behaviour and risk of anxiety: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2015.

Stress Physiology

Tsatsoulis A, Fountoulakis S. The protective role of exercise on stress-system dysregulation and comorbidities. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006.

Hill EE, et al. Exercise and circulating cortisol levels: the intensity threshold effect. J Endocrinol Invest. 2008.

Cancer and Physical Activity

Earlier cancer research examined relationships between physical activity and cancer incidence, treatment-related outcomes, physical function and survivorship.

For current exercise-oncology evidence, including more recent randomised trials, see the main Exercise Science Research resource.

Cancer Prevention and Incidence

World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. 2007.

Wolin KY, Yan Y, Colditz GA, Lee IM. Physical activity and colon cancer prevention: a meta-analysis. Br J Cancer. 2009.

Wu Y, Zhang D, Kang S. Physical activity and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013.

Schmid D, Leitzmann MF. Television viewing and time spent sedentary in relation to cancer risk: a meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014.

Keimling M, Behrens G, Schmid D, Jochem C, Leitzmann MF. The association between physical activity and bladder cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Cancer. 2014.

Behrens G, Jochem C, Keimling M, et al. The association between physical activity and gastroesophageal cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Epidemiol. 2014.

Moore et al., 2016

This large pooled analysis examined leisure-time physical activity and incidence across 26 cancer types in approximately 1.44 million adults and became an influential study in physical activity and cancer epidemiology.

Moore SC, Lee IM, Weiderpass E, et al. Association of leisure-time physical activity with risk of 26 types of cancer in 1.44 million adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2016.

Cancer Survivorship and Exercise

Speck RM, Courneya KS, Masse LC, Duval S, Schmitz KH. An update of controlled physical activity trials in cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Cancer Surviv. 2010.

Tsianakas V, Harris J, Ream E, et al. CanWalk: a feasibility study with embedded randomised controlled trial pilot of a walking intervention for people with recurrent or metastatic cancer. BMJ Open. 2017.

Muscle, Strength and Physical Function

Muscle strength and physical capacity influence mobility, independence and the ability to perform daily tasks. Earlier exercise research examined strength training across ageing, musculoskeletal disease and neurological conditions.

Musculoskeletal Health and Function

Vuori I. Exercise and physical health: musculoskeletal health and functional capabilities. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1995.

Hootman JM, Macera CA, Ham SA, Helmick CG, Sniezek JE. Physical activity levels among the general US adult population and in adults with and without arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2003.

Smuck M, Kao MC, Brar N, Martinez-Ith A, Choi J, Tomkins-Lane CC. Does physical activity influence the relationship between low back pain and obesity? Spine. 2014.

Multiple Sclerosis and Physical Function

White LJ, et al. Resistance training improves strength and functional capacity in persons with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2004.

Schulz KH, et al. Impact of aerobic training on immune-endocrine parameters, neurotrophic factors, quality of life and coordinative function in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci. 2004.

Dettmers C, et al. Endurance exercise improves walking distance in multiple sclerosis patients with fatigue. Acta Neurol Scand. 2009.

Dalgas U, et al. Fatigue, mood and quality of life improve in multiple sclerosis patients after progressive resistance training. Mult Scler. 2010.

Sedentary Behaviour

Sedentary behaviour developed into a distinct research area as evidence accumulated that prolonged sitting and low movement across the day could provide information beyond structured exercise participation alone.

Owen et al., 2010

This paper helped formalise sedentary behaviour as a distinct population-health research field and drew attention to prolonged sitting alongside conventional physical-activity recommendations.

Owen N, Healy GN, Matthews CE, Dunstan DW. Too much sitting: the population-health science of sedentary behaviour. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2010.

Hu FB, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Rimm EB. Physical activity and television watching in relation to risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in men. Arch Intern Med. 2001.

Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson JE. Television watching and other sedentary behaviours in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. JAMA. 2003.

Patel AV, Bernstein L, Deka A, et al. Leisure time spent sitting in relation to total mortality in a prospective cohort of US adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2010.

Thorp AA, Owen N, Neuhaus M, Dunstan DW. Sedentary behaviours and subsequent health outcomes in adults: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. Am J Prev Med. 2011.

Teychenne M, Costigan SA, Parker K. The association between sedentary behaviour and risk of anxiety: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2015.

Exercise Behaviour and Adherence

Exercise produces physiological adaptation through repeated exposure. Participation and adherence therefore determine whether an effective exercise stimulus is accumulated over time.

Research into adherence has examined motivation, self-efficacy, enjoyment, perceived competence, environmental barriers, social factors and programme design.

Selected Research

Ryan et al., 1997

This study examined intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence and forms part of the behavioural literature connecting autonomous reasons for exercising with continued participation.

Ryan RM, Frederick CM, Lepes D, Rubio N, Sheldon KM. Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence. Int J Sport Psychol. 1997;28:335-354.

Chinn DJ, White M, Harland J, Drinkwater C, Raybould S. Barriers to physical activity and socioeconomic position: implications for health promotion. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999.

Trost SG, Owen N, Bauman AE, Sallis JF, Brown W. Correlates of adults' participation in physical activity: review and update. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002.

Kahn EB, Ramsey LT, Brownson RC, et al. The effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity: a systematic review. Am J Prev Med. 2002.

DellaVigna and Malmendier, 2006

This behavioural-economics study of gym membership demonstrated the gap that can occur between intentions, purchasing behaviour and actual exercise attendance.

DellaVigna S, Malmendier U. Paying not to go to the gym. Am Econ Rev. 2006;96:694-719.

Thiel A, Thedinga HK, Thomas SL, et al. An observational study of the social dynamics of physical inactivity in German and Hawaiian leisure settings. BMC Public Health. 2016.

Active Play and Human Movement

Play provides a different lens through which to examine movement behaviour.

Research and theory have considered play in relation to learning, social development, exploration, motivation and human development. The direct evidence examining active play as a long-term adult exercise-adherence strategy remains considerably less developed.

This distinction is important.

Foundational Play Literature

Groos K. The Play of Man. Appleton; 1901.

Gray P. Play as a foundation for hunter-gatherer social existence. Am J Play. 2009;1:476-522.

Gray P. The decline of play and the rise of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Am J Play. 2011.

Blaisdell AP. Play as the foundation of human intelligence: the illuminating role of human brain evolution and development and implications for education and child development. Journal of Evolution and Health. 2015.

Active Play and Exercise Participation

Edwards, 2019

In No Play No Gain: Is Exercise as Medicine Too Bitter a Pill to Swallow?, I examined the gap between the established health benefits of exercise and persistently poor physical-activity participation.

I proposed active play as one potential route towards greater engagement and called for randomised controlled trials comparing play-based movement with conventional fitness programmes.

That research question continues to inform my work.

Edwards D. No Play No Gain: Is Exercise as Medicine Too Bitter a Pill to Swallow? Journal of Evolution and Health. 2019;3(1) 7. doi:10.15310/2334-3591.1108.

Evidence supporting autonomy, enjoyment, positive affect, social interaction and intrinsic forms of motivation is stronger than the direct experimental evidence that adult active play independently improves long-term exercise adherence.

Additional Historical Topics

The original research collection also included studies examining narrower outcomes such as gut health, sexual function, cortisol responses, individual inflammatory biomarkers and specific clinical populations.

These papers remain part of the archive where they provide historical or mechanistic context. They should not be interpreted as evidence that every measured biomarker or physiological response translates directly into improved long-term health outcomes.

Sexual Function

Meston CM, Gorzalka BB. Differential effects of sympathetic activation on sexual arousal in sexually dysfunctional and functional women. J Abnorm Psychol. 1996.

Hoffman BM, Babyak MA, Sherwood A, et al. Effects of aerobic exercise on sexual functioning in depressed adults. Ment Health Phys Act. 2009.

Lorenz TA, Meston CM. Exercise improves sexual function in women taking antidepressants: results from a randomised crossover trial. Depress Anxiety. 2014.

Silva AB, Sousa N, Azevedo LF, Martins C. Physical activity and exercise for erectile dysfunction: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2017.

Sleep

Naylor E, et al. "Daily social and physical activity increases slow-wave sleep and daytime neuropsychological performance in the elderly." Sleep., 2000

Wang X, et al. "Sleep quality improved following a single session of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in older women: Results from a pilot study." J Sport Health Sci., 2014

Hartescu L, et al. "Sleep Quality and Recommended Levels of Physical Activity in Older People." J Aging Phys Act., 2016

Karimi S et al., “Surveying the effects of an exercise program on the sleep quality of elderly males.”, Clin Interv Aging., 2016

Yamanaka Y et al., “Physical exercise accelerates reentrainment of human sleep-wake cycle but not of plasma melatonin rhythm to 8-h phase-advanced sleep schedule.”, Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol., 2010

Current Exercise Science Evidence

This archive documents how the evidence base has developed.

For current interpretation, recent evidence and practical conclusions across physical activity dose, longevity, resistance training, sedentary behaviour, mental health, brain health, exercise oncology, exercise adherence and active play, continue to: Exercise Science Research: Movement, Strength, Health and Adherence

About This Archive

This archive is curated rather than systematic.

It preserves papers that appeared in earlier versions of my exercise-science research collection alongside selected foundational studies relevant to my work.

A paper's inclusion reflects historical, scientific or contextual relevance. It does not imply endorsement of every conclusion or that it represents the highest current level of evidence.

Duplicate references have been consolidated. Current evidence is prioritised on the main Exercise Science Research page.

Curated by Darryl Edwards

Last archive review: August 2026

Applied Movement Medicine

Movement medicine also has specific relevance in cancer care. Through Movement Oncology™, Darryl Edwards provides private exercise oncology support for people living with and beyond cancer, helping patients move safely alongside clinical care during treatment, recovery and survivorship.

Learn more about exercise oncology support for cancer treatment, recovery and survivorship.

You can review some of this evidence on why exercise is medicine below.

““If there is any deficiency in exercise the body will fall sick.””

— Hippocrates