If someone asked why exercise is good for you, most of us would probably have a similar answer…. It makes you stronger, it keeps your heart healthy, and who doesn’t love a good runner’s high?

All of those things are true. But the truth is that they are also only part of the story.

Scientists have known for decades that regular physical activity reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, certain cancers, and premature death. The amazing thing about science is that it never sleeps, and we are STILL discovering things about how exercise achieves all of this.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers another piece of the puzzle. Researchers investigating muscle ageing identified a protein called DEAF1 that appears to become more active as we grow older. As DEAF1 levels increase, an important cellular pathway called mTORC1 becomes overactive. Without getting too caught up in the genetics, what happens is that ageing muscle becomes less efficient at clearing away damaged proteins and maintaining itself, contributing to the gradual loss of muscle function that many people experience later in life.

The exciting part? Exercise reversed much of this process.

Rather than simply strengthening muscles, physical activity appeared to switch off this harmful pathway, restoring the muscle’s ability to repair and renew itself. In other words, exercise wasn’t just making muscles work harder. It was changing the instructions that those muscle cells were receiving.

When you’re moving your body, whether that is pounding the pavement, avoiding rocks on a mountain bike, or squatting with the equivalent weight of a small person, you’re sending your muscles information, thousands of signals throughout your body, which set off a cascade of internal processes. 

Muscles release molecules that communicate with the brain, liver, pancreas, immune system, and fat tissue. Genes are switched on and off. Mitochondria adapt. Insulin sensitivity improves. Inflammation changes. Cells repair themselves more effectively.

Studies like this remind us that many of the benefits of exercise happen long before you notice changes in the mirror or improvements in your performance.

At The Noakes Foundation, this is exactly why research matters.

Every year, we learn a little more about how lifestyle influences human biology. Questions that once seemed impossible to answer are now being explored using sophisticated laboratory techniques, wearable technology, and real-world implementation studies. Each discovery helps us understand not only that lifestyle works, but why and how it works.

Research doesn’t happen in isolation. Behind every published paper are years of work by researchers, participants, clinicians, laboratory staff, data analysts, and supporters who believe that better science leads to better health. Every breakthrough starts with someone asking a question and having the resources to investigate it.

By supporting Sweat for Science, you’re helping make that possible.

You’re helping us continue asking the difficult questions, challenging outdated assumptions, and generating evidence that can improve lives here in South Africa and beyond.

Because today’s workout may strengthen your muscles, but today’s research could change the future of health for millions.

Reference

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2508893122