The science of fitness and how to make it a habit

Guests: Gretchen Reynolds, Martin Gibala, Angela Duckworth

Researchers are continuing to find out about even more ways in which exercise is beneficial – how it keeps our cells young, our memory sharp, our immune system strong, our heart healthy, and our body limber into old age. It also has profound effects on our mental health.  Still even knowing all that, only 20 percent of American adults meet the recommended fitness guidelines and 30 percent don’t work out at all. This hour, we’ll learn about the powerful effects physical activity has on our bodies and brains and talk about the different types of exercise we should be doing –do high-intensity work outs really payoff?  We’re joined by GRETCHEN REYNOLDS, Phys Ed columnist for The New York Times and MARTIN GIBALA, professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. And University of Pennsylvania psychology professor ANGELA DUCKWORTH explains why it’s so hard to make exercise a habit and how to make a fitness routine stick.