🧠💼💬 Why Low-Key Exercise Might Secretly Be the Most Responsible Thing You Do All Week
- Brandon Bennett
- May 7
- 4 min read
Let’s start with a confession: I hate running. Not in a fun, “ha-ha I’m quirky” way. I mean I genuinely hate it—like soul-leaves-the-body level hatred. In fact, if you see me running then you should run too (I'm probably being chased...)
And yet, I exercise regularly. Not because I love it, not because I’m chasing six-pack glory (LOL), but because it turns out low-to-moderate-intensity movement is basically the cheat code for being a functioning adult (definition of "functioning" adult is subjective...)
A little walking, a bit of biking, maybe some yoga—you know, the kind of effort that won’t make your spleen threaten to unionize.
What follows is the shockingly persuasive case for moving your body just enough to make every part of life better, backed by science.
Like, real science. Peer-reviewed. Academic.
The kind of stuff smart people spend entire dissertations on while the rest of us are still trying to find clean socks.
🎓 School Performance: How Walking Beats Cramming (Sometimes)
If you’re going back to school as an adult or taking night classes to escape your day job’s soul-vacuum, here’s some good news: you don’t need to pull all-nighters fueled by self-loathing and instant ramen.
A 2024 meta-analysis found that college students who regularly exercised—think brisk walks, not CrossFit—were three times more likely to be in the top academic performers than those who didn’t move much (Trott et al., 2024).
What’s going on here? It’s not magic, it’s neurotransmitters.
Moderate exercise boosts things like dopamine and serotonin—aka the brain chemicals responsible for focus, mood, and not rage-quitting your homework.
So no, exercise won’t write your essay for you, but it will help your brain show up and pay attention.
Oh, and another study found that students who exercised more also had more academic confidence and engagement (Li et al., 2025).
Translation: they showed up to class and actually cared. Wild.
💼 Work Performance: Fewer Sick Days, Better Mood, Less Desire to Scream into a Desk Fan
Let’s be honest: half of adulting is showing up to work and pretending to be fine. But here’s the kicker—people who consistently do low- to moderate-intensity exercise aren’t just pretending to function better.
They actually are.
One study of 292 hospital employees found that those who hit the weekly 150-minute mark for exercise took a third as many sick days as their inactive coworkers (Losina et al., 2017). That’s not a motivational poster. That’s real absentee data.
Another randomized trial had sedentary office workers do moderate exercise three times a week for 12 weeks. The results?
Significantly higher job satisfaction, better coworker relationships, and an overall spike in “not loathing their existence” scores (Fang et al., 2019). Okay, that last part I made up, but the rest is real.
And before you say “But I don’t have time!”
—you don’t need to train for a marathon.
Just take a 20-minute walk on your lunch break.
Boom: productivity unlocked, existential dread slightly reduced.
💬 Relationships: Exercise—It’s Like Therapy, but Sweatier
Look, we’ve all snapped at someone we love because our day spiraled into a flaming dumpster of deadlines, notifications, and microwave meals. The fix?
Walk it off. Literally.
Daily activity—even mild exercise like walking—has been shown to boost marital satisfaction.
On days couples exercised together, they had better moods and stronger emotional connections (Yorgason et al., 2018). They also argued less and touched more. Take that, Hallmark.
Another study found that couples who work out together report better moods and enjoy the workout more (Sanchez et al., 2024). So if you're dating someone and things are rocky? Maybe skip the “talk” and do a light jog together.
If nothing else, you’ll be too winded to fight.
Even friendships benefit. Moderate weekly exercise was linked to lower loneliness risk over time in a giant study of 20,000 adults (Surkalim et al., 2024). You don’t need to join a cult-like spin class. Just find something vaguely enjoyable and do it regularly.
Bonus points if it includes a friend and ends in tacos.
TL;DR – The Magic is in the Middle
You don’t need a bootcamp. You don’t need to “go hard.” You just need to move your body intentionally a few times a week at a pace that gets your heart going but doesn’t make you question your life choices.
This isn’t about aesthetics. This is about:
Showing up to work or class without dying inside
Snapping at your partner slightly less
Having the emotional bandwidth to text your friends back
The best part? It’s all backed by science. This isn’t “influencer wellness”—this is actual neuroscience and public health data telling us that being “fit-ish” is enough.
So if you’ve been waiting for a sign to stop overthinking it and just start doing something—here it is. Go take a walk. Your GPA, boss, and partner will thank you.
Sources:
Trott, M. et al. (2024). Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 102569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102569
Li, L. et al. (2025). Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.00432/full
Losina, E. et al. (2017). Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocd.2017.02.007
Fang, Y. et al. (2019). BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7016-0
Yorgason, J. et al. (2018). Journal of Family Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000454
Sanchez, K. et al. (2024). Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407524123456
Surkalim, D. et al. (2024). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 111234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2024.111234
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