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You can try not to think about it. You can hope to find alternatives that, you might think, provide greater benefit or simply are easier. But a well-designed workplace wellness program can help reinforce a central truth: Exercise matters.

The latest argument comes form Aaron E. Carroll, well known for his blog, The Incidental Economist, as well as “a Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Research Mentoring at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research.”

Carroll also writes frequently for the New York Times, and his latest piece outlines “Why You Should Exercise.” Carroll: “Last year, I wrote a column arguing that evidence shows that diet, not exercise, is the key to weight loss. Since then, I have been troubled at how some readers have taken this to mean that exercise therefore has no value.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Of all the things we as physicians can recommend for health, few provide as much benefit as physical activity.”

Among the ample evidence Carroll provides is this study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine titled, “Evidence on the effects of exercise therapy in the treatment of chronic disease.”

This meta-study concludes: “The most consistent finding of the review studies summarised here is that aerobic/functional capacity and muscle strength can be improved by exercise training among patients with different diseases without having detrimental effects on disease progression. This is important, as with population aging exercise therapy may be an important means of reducing disability and increasing the number of older people living independently. Severe complications during these carefully tailored programs were rare. In some diseases, such as osteoarthritis, pain symptoms may also be reduced. As this review shows, there is accumulating evidence that in patients with chronic disease exercise therapy is effective in improving the prognostic risk factor profile.”

Importantly, Carroll highlights the fact that many people inflate the amount of exercise they feel they need to perform, which can feel intimidating to some. What matters, he states, is doing something:

“I’m not alone in thinking that physical activity to improve health should be hard. When I hear friends talk about exercising, they discuss running marathons, participating in cross-fit classes or sacrificing themselves on the altar of Soul Cycle. That misses the point, unfortunately. All of these are way, way more than you need to do to get the benefits I’ve already described.”

He continues: “Today, my goals are much more modest. Trekking from my office to the clinic and back again gives me 30 minutes of exercise. Or, I walk to the supermarket from my office to grab lunch, at a mile each way. In colder weather, I spend half an hour on the elliptical machine. Doing this five days a week gets me the activity I need.”

The piece cites numerous other studies that would benefit wellness program managers looking for ways to engage participants and encourage them to get started (and keep up with) exercise!