Reasons to exercise always seemed clear: Less stress, more strength, better sleep, good muscle tone and heart power, more vitality, and -- oh yeah -- the ability to eat a little more than your couch potato counterpart.

Do you really exercise to live a year, maybe two, longer? I think not. Do you go to the gym or lace up the walking shoes thinking to yourself, "Let's see, as of today I've gained 162 more days on my life." No.

So let's put some realistic perspective on the findings of those fitness researchers who always seem to be out to confuse use. Years ago, they told us we had to go crazy with exercise for any benefit. Wrong, they discovered, as they eventually found even the mildest strolls and garden-puttering provided some health benefits, such as lower blood cholesterol or blood pressure, and moderate exercise helped us lose weight and get fit and more toned.

Sometime after that, another study came out with conclusions that seemed to revert to the do-it-til-you-drop days. In another installment of the ongoing study of 17,300 Harvard alumni, researchers found that only vigorous exercise fostered longevity. This even perplexed one of the authors and study founders, Ralph Paffenbarger, Ph.D., retired Stanford University professor.

Paffenbarger has been one of the leading proponents of incorporating light to moderate movement into the day as a way to live a more vital and healthy life. The bottom line has been, something is better than nothing.

And that, my friends, no matter what the studies imply, is still the bottom line.

Oh sure, the more you do and the more vigorously you do it, the more your health and longevity will improve (to a reasonable point, of course). But forget about all those mightier-than-thou folks out there who are now wagging their tongues and calling out neener-neener-neener, see, if you don't pound your body, you may as well not bother, so pass the remote control.

Every little bit counts because every little bit adds up to better health and more energy that will keep your days happier and free of disease. That, Paffenbarger has pointed out, is the true key to health: Being functional and vital until the end. Not necessarily adding few days of life.

Just to clarify, scientists define light exercise as what uses up to three times as much energy as the body at rest, such as house chores or strolling. Moderate exercise uses three to six times the energy of doing nothing, such as walking briskly or leisurely cycling. Vigorous exercise means raising energy use to more than six times your resting state, such as swimming laps, singles tennis or walking 4 to 5 mph.

If you do nothing or you have friends and loved ones that do nothing, then do something, or encourage them to do something. It's no secret that the real gains in health and decrease in risk of disease come when someone goes from nothing to something. The "light" approach will work best as a way to ease into it.

If you already do something, then try to pick up the pace occasionally, say, incorporating hills into a walk or run once a week for a real sweat-popper.

Let the confusing findings on fitness wash over you -- until they are really conclusive. Start with a little, then build. Take heed only of how you feel, not of the measly minutes you have perhaps added to your life.

I for one don't care if I live to be 88 instead of 86. I do care that I wake up every day until my last day on this earth feeling strong and younger than my years, ready for challenges and adventures that many might find formidable.