Essentially, yes! According to Harvard Health Publishing, exercise provides an incredible myriad of health benefits. These benefits range from strengthening bones to positive effects on mood, losing weight and improving balance, to preventing chronic illness such and diabetes and heart disease.
The longevity benefit is not all about reducing your chances of dying from a chronic disease. There are actual cellular changes associated with regular exercise that keep you younger. Researchers at Bringham Young University who studied the DNA of nearly 6,000 adults found that the telomeres, the end caps on chromosomes that shorten with age, were longer in people who were active compared to those who were sedentary. This correlated to about a 9-year difference in cell aging between those who were active versus those who were inactive.