Alzheimer’s disease is rapidly becoming the most feared ailment of our generation. After all, what good is a healthy heart if you lose your ability to understand your surroundings.

Fortunately, new evidence suggests that exercise can prevent Alzheimer’s disease and vascular strokes, which can also cause dementia. For instance, studies are now showing that exercise beefs up brain volume, which declines as we age, and increases thinking ability as well.

And age is no barrier; a study published last year in Neurology found that daily physical activity reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline even in people over the age of 80.