Exercise Benefits are Limitless

It's never too late to start exercising and reap the benefits of improving your health.

"Breathing and moving are part of being alive. And every little bit of exercise helps," says Jodie McCord, a certified fitness instructor and lifestyle and weight management consultant. "You've got to use and lengthen and stretch your muscles and tendons to keep their flexibility and range of motion." McCord directs a fitness program called Well Beings in Columbia, South Carolina.

"This pays off in many ways," she explains. "Such as being able to get in and out of your car easily and releasing aches and pains and muscular tightness."

There are three basic types of exercise:

• Range-of-motion exercises are designed to increase and maintain joint mobility, decrease pain and improve function. These exercises involve moving a joint as far as it will comfortably go and then stretching it a little further.
• Strengthening exercises involve moving the muscle without moving the joint. These exercises increase muscle strength to stabilize weak joints.
• Endurance exercises include walking, swimming, bicycling, jogging, dancing and skiing. These dynamic forms of exercise increase endurance, whereas range-of-motion and strengthening do not.

Exercise related injury to joints and muscles usually happens from exercising too long or too hard, especially if a person has not been active for some time.

 The FIT formula:

To improve your physical fitness look at how often, how hard and how long you’re exercising:

F= frequency (days per week)

I = intensity (how hard, e.g., easy, moderate, vigorous) or percent of heart rate

T = time (amount for each session or day)

 Weight Loss and Management

Being overweight is associated with elevated serum cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, gallbladder disease, gout and certain types of cancer, and has serious impact on cardiovascular health and lung function.

From working with overweight clients for more than twenty years, John Foreyt, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition Research Clinic at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine, offers the following recommendations for successful weight management:

• regular physical activity: exercise increases caloric expenditure, feelings of well-being and perceived energy level. Studies also suggest exercise can be effective in regulating appetite. The challenge is to incorporate exercise into other life-long habits.
• social support: when family, friends, colleagues or treatment support groups encourage and support people it is easier for them to regulate their weight over the long term.
• internal motivation: people managing their weight for internal reasons, such as “I’m doing this to be in charge of my life,” have more success that those doing it for external success such as, “fitting into a new pair of jeans.”
• positive health benefits: acknowledging the positive health benefits such as strength and stamina increases the chance of successful long-term weight management.
• smaller, more frequent meals: help to maintain blood sugar levels and keep people from feelings of starvation which often leads to bingeing.
• gradual changes: dramatic changes in lifestyle, exercise and eating are rarely as successful as making gradual changes. Taking small steps helps to manage weight for the long run.

 Diabetes

Weight loss and exercise are your first defense for preventing and for treating diabetes. In a recent study people at high risk for diabetes cut their risk by thirty percent “simply by losing ten pounds and keeping it off,” according to Rena Wing, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh.

 Stress Management

Stress induces an ancient natural response in the body of fight or flight. In most of modern day’s stressful situations you can’t do either, so the extra tension is not released. Exercise is the answer. A short walk will ease the tension. Even standing up and stretching or doing knee bends helps. Regular exercise, at least twenty minutes three times a week, assists the body in dealing with the normal stresses of life. Twenty minutes of aerobic exercise releases the brain’s chemicals that reduce stress and depression.

Heart

Even moderately intense physical activity such as brisk walking is beneficial for the heart when done regularly for a total of thirty minutes or longer on most days. And people who begin to include regular exercise in their life after a heart attack have a better chance of survival.

Arthritis

The Arthritis Foundation recommends water and land-based exercise for the nearly 43 million Americans who suffer from the pain, swelling and limited movement associated with arthritis. The benefits of proper exercise for arthritis sufferers are building and preserving muscle strength, keeping joints flexible, and helping to protect joints from further damage.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, can be prevented and treated. Like muscle, bone is living tissue that becomes stronger through exercise. Weight-bearing exercises that force you to work against gravity are most effective. These exercises include walking, hiking, jogging, stair-climbing, weight training, tennis and dancing. Additionally exercise increases muscle strength, coordination and balance and leads to better overall health. While exercise is good for someone with osteoporosis, it should not put any sudden or excessive strain on the bones.

If you are exercising, keep up the good work! If you haven't been exercising give it a try. As McCord says, "It's not too late, unless you're dead!”