Cited by 416Physical Activity and HealthExercise and Physiological ResponsesStress Responses and Cortisol

Biological mechanisms underlying the role of physical fitness in health and resilience

Open access
Silverman, Marni N., Deuster, Patricia A.·2014·Interface Focus

Abstract

Physical fitness, achieved through regular exercise and/or spontaneous physical activity, confers resilience by inducing positive psychological and physiological benefits, blunting stress reactivity, protecting against potentially adverse behavioural and metabolic consequences of stressful events and preventing many chronic diseases. In this review, we discuss the biological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical fitness on mental and physical health. Physical fitness appears to buffer against stress-related disease owing to its blunting/optimizing effects on hormonal stress responsive systems, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. This blunting appears to contribute to reduced emotional, physiological and metabolic reactivity as well as increased positive mood and well-being. Another mechanism whereby regular exercise and/or physical fitness may confer resilience is through minimizing excessive inflammation. Chronic psychological stress, physical inactivity and abdominal adiposity have been associated with persistent, systemic, low-grade inflammation and exert adverse effects on mental and physical health. The anti-inflammatory effects of regular exercise/activity can promote behavioural and metabolic resilience, and protect against various chronic diseases associated with systemic inflammation. Moreover, exercise may benefit the brain by enhancing growth factor expression and neural plasticity, thereby contributing to improved mood and cognition. In summary, the mechanisms whereby physical fitness promotes increased resilience and well-being and positive psychological and physical health are diverse and complex.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1098/rsfs.2014.0040

Cites

226 of 226 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Exercise induces positive mental health and improved cognitive function via enhancing neuroplasticity and growth factor expression, as well as reducing stress related complications.

    “It is now widely thought that exercise induces positive mental health and improved cognitive function via enhancing neuroplasticity and growth factor expression, as well as reducing stress related complications [201].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Silverman, M. N., & Deuster, P. A.
Affiliations
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (US)
Venue
Interface Focus
Published
2014-10-06
Volume
4
Issue
5
Pages
20140040
ISSN
  • 2042-8898 (ISSN-L)
  • 2042-8901
OpenAlex
W2158629827
Cited by
416
References
226
Citations by year
2026: 58 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 1
FWCI
1.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Interface Focus (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
physical fitness, resilience, physical activity, psychological stress, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, sympathetic nervous system, stress reactivity, low-grade inflammation, abdominal fat, positive mood, well-being, neuroplasticity, growth factors, chronic disease prevention

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review