Note to boomers: happiness is not a warm gun. It may be, however, a willingness to exercise just a little longer than usual. Researchers at Penn State are convinced that people’s satisfaction with life is demonstrably higher on days when they exercised more than usual. How much more? A little more. A Penn State news release reports that the researchers recruited two groups of college students, and had one group with 190 people keep a diary every day for eight days. The second group, with 63 people, entered information into a secure website every day for 14 days. Both groups answered questions aimed at determining participants’ satisfaction with life, physical activity and self-esteem. By correlating self-esteem with exercise, the researchers determined that the amount of physical activity a person undertakes in a particular day directly influences his or her satisfaction with life. By exercising just a little more than usual, the team found, a person can significantly improve his or her satisfaction with life. Read more from Penn State. Read an abstract of the study here.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Thursday, October 16, 2025
I agree that exercising helps promote self esteem, happiness and more satisfaction in life. Great read. Thanks.
These researchers have way too much time on
on their hands.