The best preventive medicine? Exercise

'The Exercise Cure'
'The Exercise Cure' by Jordan D. Metzl
Book cover courtesy of publisher

What if we thought of exercise to treat every illness and used it as the best solution to battle heart disease or prevent diabetes? In his latest book, Dr. Jordan Metzl argues exercise is the "wonder drug" for many medical conditions.

"Science has shown again and again, across all manner of diseases, maladies, and health risks, that exercise can prevent, improve, or outright cure your symptoms," he writes. "As a sports medicine physician and an avid athlete myself, I've written this book to teach you how to maximize your dose of the world's most effective medicine."

In an interview with Huffington Post, he suggests an exercise routine for those who only have 15 to 20 minutes a day to exercise:

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Give me twenty minutes and I can make you work! I'm a huge fan of short duration, intense interval workouts. If you only have 20 minutes, start with 3 minutes of jumping jacks to warm up. Then I'd like three sets of five minute intervals. Set one, plyomteric jump squats, 6 sets of 15 jumps. Set two, 15 mountain climbers and then 15 legs down, repeated. And then set three, sets of eight burpees. In the last 2 minutes do planks, one minute forward and 30 seconds to each side. That is twenty minutes that will get you through the day, I promise.

Metzl joins The Daily Circuit to discuss the best exercises to treat and prevent a variety of health issues.

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