A new long-term study from Finland has found that adults who stay physically active are less likely to suffer from the harmful effects of stress.
The research, based on data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, shows that regular exercise throughout adulthood helps protect the body from long-term stress. On the other hand, being inactive for years may increase the body’s stress burden.
The study was a joint effort between the University of Oulu and the Oulu Deaconess Institute Foundation. It followed over 3,300 people from age 31 to 46. Researchers looked at how active participants were during their free time and compared their habits to the physical activity recommendations made by the World Health Organization (WHO).
They also measured something called “allostatic load,” which is a way to track how much stress has built up in the body over time.
The findings were clear: people who didn’t get enough exercise had a higher allostatic load, meaning their bodies showed more signs of stress by the time they reached midlife.
Those who stayed active met the WHO guidelines for physical activity and had lower stress levels. Even more interesting, people who became more active over time had the same low stress burden as those who were consistently active all along.
On the other hand, people who became less active during adulthood showed higher stress levels. This shows that it’s not just early-life habits that matter—regular physical activity throughout adulthood plays a key role in helping the body manage stress.
Doctoral researcher Maija Korpisaari explained that exercise doesn’t just benefit one stage of life. Instead, being active on a regular basis seems to offer long-lasting protection from the negative effects of stress.
The researchers measured stress using a variety of biological markers, and the results remained consistent no matter which markers they used. This adds strength to their conclusion.
This study adds to growing evidence that physical activity can help prevent the long-term damage caused by stress. According to Korpisaari, both exercise earlier in life and continuing to stay active as an adult are important. Staying physically active appears to help the body handle stress better—even many years later.
The researchers suggest that more long-term studies should be done to better understand how exercise affects the body’s stress systems. They also want to explore how different stress indicators work and how factors like age, gender, and overall health might influence the results.
In short, if you want to protect your body from the damaging effects of long-term stress, staying active throughout your adult life may be one of the best things you can do.
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The study is published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
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