Why exercise?
You know exercise is good for you. Its merits — ranging from preventing illness to making you feel good about
yourself — are hard to ignore. But in case you need more convincing, here's a look at the many ways getting out there
and moving can have a positive impact on your health.
Cardiovascular health: Reduce your risk of heart disease
The term cardiovascular system refers to the circulation of your blood through your heart and blood vessels. With
each beat of your heart, a surge of blood is released from your heart's main pumping chamber into an intricate web of
blood vessels that spread throughout your body. Blood pressure refers to the force that's exerted on your artery walls
as blood passes through. This force helps keep the blood in your arteries flowing smoothly. A buildup of plaques in
your arteries, caused by cholesterol and other products in your bloodstream, can interrupt your blood flow and cause
life-threatening damage to your cardiovascular system.
When you exercise regularly, your entire cardiovascular system benefits. This is because exercise:
Prevents the onset of high blood pressure if you're at increased risk of developing it
Lowers your blood pressure if you already have high blood pressure
Increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and decreases the
concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) in your blood
Strengthens your heart so it can pump your blood more efficiently and bring much-needed oxygen and nutrients to the
rest of your body. This is one of the main reasons why you generally feel refreshed and more energetic after exercise.
Your respiratory system also benefits. Regular exercise promotes rhythmic, deep breathing. Your lungs actually
develop greater capacity, so you're better able to take in oxygen to nourish your cells.
Considering all these factors, exercise reduces your risk of dying of heart disease.
Strong bones and muscles: Improve your balance and coordination
Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do to prevent the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.
Strength-training exercises — such as lifting weights or working with resistance tubes — are particularly valuable in
this regard. Also important are exercises that bear your body's weight, such as walking and jogging. Strength-training
and weight-bearing exercises help preserve bone mass and may even increase bone density. This means your bones may
grow stronger. By strengthening your muscles and bones, you can also improve your balance and coordination, reducing
your risk of falls.
Healthy weight: Burn calories efficiently
Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight by burning calories. Your body requires a certain amount of energy to
continue the functions you need to sustain life. And if you exercise, your body works harder and needs more fuel
(calories). Even after you stop exercising, your body continues to burn calories at a modestly increased rate for a
few hours. The more intensely you exercise, the more calories you burn.
By burning more calories than you take in, you can reduce body fat, giving you a healthier body composition. Losing
body fat can make you look and feel better and can reduce your risk of obesity. Maintaining a healthy body weight
eases pressure on your bones and joints, which can help prevent conditions such as arthritis.
Lower blood sugar levels: Control diabetes
Regular exercise, coupled with a healthy diet, is an important way to prevent or control type 2 diabetes (formerly
called adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes). Type 2 diabetes affects the way your body uses blood sugar.
Exercise can help insulin work better and can lower your blood sugar. As your muscles contract during exercise, they
use sugar for energy. To meet this energy need, sugar is removed from your blood during and after exercise, which
lowers your blood sugar level.
Exercise also reduces blood sugar by increasing your sensitivity to insulin — allowing your body to use available
insulin more efficiently to bring sugar into your cells.
Depression: Lift the weight off your shoulders
Exercise fights depression by activating the neurotransmitters — chemicals used by your nerve cells to communicate
with one another — associated with depression. Those neurotransmitters are serotonin and norepinephrine. The levels of
those neurotransmitters and their balance with each other play a role in how you react to daily events. When you
experience depression, the level of serotonin, norepinephrine or both may be out of sync. Exercise may help
synchronize those brain chemicals. Exercise also stimulates the production of endorphins — other neurotransmitters
that produce feelings of well-being. This phenomenon is more commonly referred to as runner's high.
Breast and colon cancer: Lower your risk level
Exercise also reduces your risk of developing other chronic diseases, such as breast cancer and colon cancer.
Regular exercise: Enhance your quality of life
The strength and endurance gains of regular exercise make daily tasks — such as grocery shopping or doing yardwork —
much easier on your body. And moderate exercise at least three hours before bedtime can help you relax and sleep
better at night. Exercise promotes psychological benefits, too. If you look and feel better about yourself, you'll be
more confident and have greater self-esteem.
Another plus is a longer life expectancy. In a study of Harvard graduates, men who burned 2,000 or more calories a
week by walking, jogging, climbing stairs or playing sports lived an average of one to two years longer than those who
burned fewer than 500 calories a week by exercising. You not only might live longer if you exercise regularly, but you
might live more years independently and healthfully.
Physical activity vs. exercise
Thirty minutes or more of physical activity on most days is all you need to improve your fitness and gain the
benefits of regular exercise.
Although the terms physical activity and exercise are often used synonymously, there is a difference. Physical
activity refers to any body movement that burns calories, such as mowing the lawn, walking upstairs, making the bed or
walking your dog. Exercise is a more structured form of physical activity. It involves a series of repetitive
movements designed to strengthen or develop some part of your body and improve your cardiovascular fitness. Exercise
includes walking, swimming, bicycling and many other activities.
Both physical activity and exercise are valuable. The important thing is to keep moving, whether or not the activity
is structured.
yourself — are hard to ignore. But in case you need more convincing, here's a look at the many ways getting out there
and moving can have a positive impact on your health.
Cardiovascular health: Reduce your risk of heart disease
The term cardiovascular system refers to the circulation of your blood through your heart and blood vessels. With
each beat of your heart, a surge of blood is released from your heart's main pumping chamber into an intricate web of
blood vessels that spread throughout your body. Blood pressure refers to the force that's exerted on your artery walls
as blood passes through. This force helps keep the blood in your arteries flowing smoothly. A buildup of plaques in
your arteries, caused by cholesterol and other products in your bloodstream, can interrupt your blood flow and cause
life-threatening damage to your cardiovascular system.
When you exercise regularly, your entire cardiovascular system benefits. This is because exercise:
Prevents the onset of high blood pressure if you're at increased risk of developing it
Lowers your blood pressure if you already have high blood pressure
Increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and decreases the
concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) in your blood
Strengthens your heart so it can pump your blood more efficiently and bring much-needed oxygen and nutrients to the
rest of your body. This is one of the main reasons why you generally feel refreshed and more energetic after exercise.
Your respiratory system also benefits. Regular exercise promotes rhythmic, deep breathing. Your lungs actually
develop greater capacity, so you're better able to take in oxygen to nourish your cells.
Considering all these factors, exercise reduces your risk of dying of heart disease.
Strong bones and muscles: Improve your balance and coordination
Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do to prevent the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.
Strength-training exercises — such as lifting weights or working with resistance tubes — are particularly valuable in
this regard. Also important are exercises that bear your body's weight, such as walking and jogging. Strength-training
and weight-bearing exercises help preserve bone mass and may even increase bone density. This means your bones may
grow stronger. By strengthening your muscles and bones, you can also improve your balance and coordination, reducing
your risk of falls.
Healthy weight: Burn calories efficiently
Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight by burning calories. Your body requires a certain amount of energy to
continue the functions you need to sustain life. And if you exercise, your body works harder and needs more fuel
(calories). Even after you stop exercising, your body continues to burn calories at a modestly increased rate for a
few hours. The more intensely you exercise, the more calories you burn.
By burning more calories than you take in, you can reduce body fat, giving you a healthier body composition. Losing
body fat can make you look and feel better and can reduce your risk of obesity. Maintaining a healthy body weight
eases pressure on your bones and joints, which can help prevent conditions such as arthritis.
Lower blood sugar levels: Control diabetes
Regular exercise, coupled with a healthy diet, is an important way to prevent or control type 2 diabetes (formerly
called adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes). Type 2 diabetes affects the way your body uses blood sugar.
Exercise can help insulin work better and can lower your blood sugar. As your muscles contract during exercise, they
use sugar for energy. To meet this energy need, sugar is removed from your blood during and after exercise, which
lowers your blood sugar level.
Exercise also reduces blood sugar by increasing your sensitivity to insulin — allowing your body to use available
insulin more efficiently to bring sugar into your cells.
Depression: Lift the weight off your shoulders
Exercise fights depression by activating the neurotransmitters — chemicals used by your nerve cells to communicate
with one another — associated with depression. Those neurotransmitters are serotonin and norepinephrine. The levels of
those neurotransmitters and their balance with each other play a role in how you react to daily events. When you
experience depression, the level of serotonin, norepinephrine or both may be out of sync. Exercise may help
synchronize those brain chemicals. Exercise also stimulates the production of endorphins — other neurotransmitters
that produce feelings of well-being. This phenomenon is more commonly referred to as runner's high.
Breast and colon cancer: Lower your risk level
Exercise also reduces your risk of developing other chronic diseases, such as breast cancer and colon cancer.
Regular exercise: Enhance your quality of life
The strength and endurance gains of regular exercise make daily tasks — such as grocery shopping or doing yardwork —
much easier on your body. And moderate exercise at least three hours before bedtime can help you relax and sleep
better at night. Exercise promotes psychological benefits, too. If you look and feel better about yourself, you'll be
more confident and have greater self-esteem.
Another plus is a longer life expectancy. In a study of Harvard graduates, men who burned 2,000 or more calories a
week by walking, jogging, climbing stairs or playing sports lived an average of one to two years longer than those who
burned fewer than 500 calories a week by exercising. You not only might live longer if you exercise regularly, but you
might live more years independently and healthfully.
Physical activity vs. exercise
Thirty minutes or more of physical activity on most days is all you need to improve your fitness and gain the
benefits of regular exercise.
Although the terms physical activity and exercise are often used synonymously, there is a difference. Physical
activity refers to any body movement that burns calories, such as mowing the lawn, walking upstairs, making the bed or
walking your dog. Exercise is a more structured form of physical activity. It involves a series of repetitive
movements designed to strengthen or develop some part of your body and improve your cardiovascular fitness. Exercise
includes walking, swimming, bicycling and many other activities.
Both physical activity and exercise are valuable. The important thing is to keep moving, whether or not the activity
is structured.
