Benefits Of Exercise - Stay Healthy, Do Exercise

ExercisennExercise is also known as physical activity and includes anything that gets you moving, such as walking, dancing, or working in the yard. You can earn the benefits of being physically active without going to a gym, playing sports, or using fancy equipment. When you're physically fit, you have the strength, flexibility, and endurance needed for your daily activities. Being physically active helps you feel better physically and mentally.nnExercise is any movement that works your body at a greater intensity than your usual level of daily activity. Exercise raises your heart rate and works your muscles and is most commonly undertaken to achieve the aim of physical fitness.nnExercise is any activity that works our muscles, increasing the amount of oxygen delivered to them and generally improving cardiovascular health. Most people know they should exercise more, but few actually do. About 40% of Americans are completely sedentary; that is, they participate in no regular exercise, and 40% exercise below levels that impart health and fitness benefits.nnBenefitsnnExercise helps you manage your weight-Want to drop those excess pounds? Trade some couch time for walking or other physical activities. This one's a no-brainer. When you exercise, you burn calories. The more intensely you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the easier it is to keep your weight under control. You don't even need to set aside major chunks of time for working out. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk during your lunch break. Do jumping jacks during commercials. Better yet, turn off the TV and take a brisk walk. Dedicated workouts are great, but activity you accumulate throughout the day helps you burn calories, too.nnHeart Disease and Stroke- Daily physical activity can help prevent heart disease and stroke by strengthening your heart muscle, lowering your blood pressure, raising your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (good cholesterol) and lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (bad cholesterol), improving blood flow, and increasing your heart's working capacity.nnStrengthens and boosts your immune system-Various researches have shown that exercising improves immune function. In teenage and adult men, exercise is a powerful natural immune cell stimulator. In older men, the functioning of the immune system progressively declines, which can lead to an increased risk of infectious diseases and a reduced response to vaccination. The good news is that regular, moderate cardio workouts, such as jogging, walking or cycling, can partly offset the immune function decline in healthy older men.nnExercised Induced Asthma-Exercise induced asthma (or EIA) causes symptoms of coughing, wheezing, chest tightness to breathing, or shortness of breath. Children with EIA may experience breathing difficulty 5-20 minutes after exertion begins. EIA may occur more easily on cold, dry days than on warm, humid days.nnWard off Disease-Research has confirmed that any amount of exercise, at any age, is beneficial. And, in general, the more you do, the greater the benefits. The National Academy of Sciences has recommended that everyone strive for a total of an hour per day of physical activity. Sounds like a lot, but the hour can be made up of several shorter bursts of activity (it can be walking, gardening, even heavy housecleaning) done throughout the day.