Exercise Benefits

Why is exercise good for me?
Physical exercise can improve both your mental and physical health. The benefits of aerobic exercise include improved cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and flexibility. Exercise pumps more blood through your veins. This increases the size of your arteries, prevents fat from clogging your arteries and helps prevent blood clots. A strong heart does not have to work so hard so you are less likely to have a heart attack. Regular exercise also increases your HDL (good) cholesterol and helps lower your total cholesterol. Exercise also helps lower your blood pressure. Your lungs will also benefit from exercise as they become better conditioned so that activities such as climbing stairs will not make you out of breath. Muscles that are not used become small and inelastic, but aerobic exercise will help tone your body by increasing muscle size, strength and flexibility while burning calories. Exercise can also help alleviate stress and make you more productive, so choose something that you enjoy and stick with it.

What does a good exercise program include?
The Surgeon General recommends accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise on most days of the week. Any physical activity is good but regular aerobic exercise will help your body use oxygen more efficiently so your heart, lungs and muscles will be stronger and healthier. Some examples of aerobic exercise are brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming and aerobic dance.

An effective exercise program should include:

Warm-up 3 to 5 minutes
A warm-up gradually increases your heart rate and the blood flow to the heart and muscles preparing them for exercise. To warm-up, do the activity you have chosen (for example walking or biking) at a slower pace for about 5 minutes.

Aerobic Activity
5 to 10 minutes at first gradually increasing to 30-60 minutes. The term aerobic means, "using oxygen." During aerobic exercise you use oxygen to burn calories for energy. You should exercise within your target heart rate zone.

Cool-down 3 to 5 minutes
Cooling down allows your heart rate, breathing and blood pressure to return to normal. It also prevents blood from pooling in your working muscles, returns it to your heart and brain, and prepares your body for stretching. To cool down, decrease your activity to a slower pace for about 5 minutes.

Stretching - 5 to 10 minutes
Stretching will improve your flexibility, decrease muscle soreness and help you relax. Stretch your major muscle groups, the muscles you were using for your exercise. Stretch in a relaxed, controlled manner. Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds. Do not bounce. Never stretch to the point of feeling pain.

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Strength training is also a very important component of an exercise program. Benefits from strength training are:

1. Increased Metabolic Rate - Strength training increases the body's metabolic rate, causing the body to burn more calories throughout the day. Strength Training helps increase your metabolism because muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn every day, not just when you are exercising.

2. Increasing and Restoring Bone Density - Inactivity and aging can lead to a decrease in bone density and brittleness. Studies have clearly proven that consistent strength training can increase bone density and prevent Osteoporosis.

3. Increased Lean Muscle Mass and Muscle Strength, Power, and Endurance - Everyone can benefit from being stronger. We can work harder, we can play more, we can workout longer, and we can be more alive. Strength training prevents muscle loss. Dieting (reducing calories) tends to cause a loss in muscle. You can help avoid this by lifting weights while reducing your calorie intake. Strength training will help you preserve muscle, while also losing fat.

4. Injury Prevention - A wide variety of sports-related or life-related injuries can be prevented by strengthening muscles and joints.

5. Improved Balance, Flexibility, Mobility and Stability - Stronger and more resilient muscles improves our balance, which means more comfortable living & fewer falls or accidents.

6. Decreased Risk of Coronary Disease - Participation in a consistent strength-training program has a wide variety of affiliated health benefits including decreasing cholesterol and lowering your blood pressure.

7. Aids Rehabilitation and Recovery - One of the best ways to heal many types of injuries is to strengthen muscles surrounding the injured area. The stronger your muscles, the quicker the healing process. Exercise can help you sleep better. People who exercise tend to fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer.

8. Enhanced Performance in Sports or Exercise - No matter what your favorite sport or physical activity, with the proper strength training program, your performance can unquestionably be improved, and in some cases dramatically so.

9. Aging Gracefully - There is no more important reason to making a strength training a consistent part of your life, than to ensure you age gracefully. Physical activity keeps us alive and vibrant. Strength training ensures we are strong enough to participate in aerobic activities, outdoor recreation, and sports. Strong seniors fall down less. If they do fall down, their stronger bodies are more resilient, are injured less by the fall, and are able to heal more quickly after an injury.

10. Feeling Better and Looking Better - As painful as strength training can sometimes feel, there is nothing more satisfying than the feeling after a good solid work-out. Stronger muscles and joints can have a dramatic impact on posture and leaner toned muscles tend to make everyone feel better about their appearance. This all leads to improved self-esteem and increased self-confidence. Exercise provides benefits not only for you physically but also for your mental well being. Regular exercise has been linked to helping reduce depression. Regardless of your body appearance, regular fitness helps improve your self-esteem.
Your metabolism slows, as you get older. This is primarily due to a decrease in muscle tissue. After the age of 30, your body gradually begins to lose its muscle. If your activity level stays the same and the amount of calories you eat stay the same, you will still gain weight because your metabolism has slowed down. However, if you exercise with weights and do some type of aerobic activity on a regular basis, you probably won't notice much of a change in your metabolism as you age.

11. Exercise helps reduce some symptoms of menopause (like hot flashes, irregular sleep and irritability) and it helps lower the long-term risks of cardiovascular disease.

12. Leaner total body. Physical fitness increases your lean (fat-free) body percentage (and of course decrease your body fat percentage). So, the more muscles you build from strength training, the more calories you will burn (even at rest). Plus, building muscles will also help keep your metabolic rate constant. Without strength training, typically a person gradually loses about 5% of their metabolic rate every decade.

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Health and Fitness benefits of a regular fitness program include:

Reduces Body Fat. There is more to excess body fat than just our appearance. Excessive body fat has been linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and bone and joint deterioration. At a slow stroll, the body may burn as few as 60 additional calories per mile compared to normal calorie expenditure. But at faster paces, this efficiency increases. For example, walking at a pace of 21/2 miles in 30 minutes can burn more than 200 calories!

Lowers Resting Pulse Rate. As you become more fit with fitness walking and your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood, your resting heart rate should drop.

Reduces Blood Cholesterol. In conjunction with a low-fat diet, regular fitness walking can reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering the total cholesterol level, as well as the level of LDL or "bad" cholesterol involved in plaque formation. Regular exercise can also increase the level of HDL, the "good" cholesterol.

Reduces Blood Pressure.

Increases Metabolism. A regimen of fitness walking can rev up the metabolism by increasing the amount of metabolically active or "calorie-burning" lean muscle tissue.

Maintains Bone Density

Increases Flexibility and Tones Muscles

Increases Muscle Strength

Reduces Stress. Vigorous exercise stimulates the body to release "endorphins"; morphine-like chemicals that make us feel better.

Improves Problem-solving. Psychologists say that sometimes stepping back from a problem may be the most effective way to solve it.

Improves Self-esteem. By helping you to look and feel good, fitness can help improve how you feel about yourself.