Exercise and Health Benefits

Exercise is one of the important key to Wellness and Healthy living.

Becoming physically active is about incorporating exercise into our daily routine and increasing cardiovascular, fitness, strength, endurance and flexibility.

Regular, moderate-intensity physical activity can lower your risk of –

• Type 2 diabetes,
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Osteoporosis,
• Arthritis
• Certain type of cancers.

Other Health Benefits of Physical Activities

• Helps you handle stress.
• Helps your quality of sleep.
• Strengthens your heart, lungs, bones and muscles.
• Gives you more energy and strength.
• Helps control your weight and blood pressure.
• Helps you feel better about how you look.

Kind of physical activities to be included

Incorporating regular exercise into your daily schedule may seem difficult at first. But you can start slowly, and break your exercise time into chunks.

Even doing ten minutes at a time is fine. You can work your way up to doing the recommended amount of exercise.

The warm up and cool down should be part of every session of exercise program. It is important that you pick the right types of exercise for you. Most people benefit from a combination of them. The exercises that are very beneficial to health include —-

Aerobic activities: Brisk walking, Running, Jogging, Cycling, Boxing, Dancing, Stair climbing, Water aerobic exercises, Swimming, Tennis, Swimming, Stationary bicycle indoors are Aerobic activities. These speed heart rate and breathing while improving heart and lung fitness.

Resistance, Strength building and Weight bearing activities: Lifting weights, walking with child in arms are a few examples of Resistance, Strength building and Weight bearing activities. These help build and maintain bones and muscles.

Balance and Stretching activities: Dancing, gentle stretching, yoga, marital arts and Tai chi are Balance and Stretching activities which reduce risk of injuries by improving physical stability and flexibility.

Duration of Exercise / Activity

As per Indian Counsel of Medical Research, it is recommended to carry out at least 45 minutes of physical activity of moderate-intensity for at least 5 days in a week. This amount of physical activity may reduce the risk of some chronic diseases.

To lose weight, experts recommend that at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity be taken on most days of the week. In addition, one should follow a nutritious eating plan and consume fewer calories.

Children and teenagers need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Other Simple Ways of Being Active

Being more physical active in our daily routine and making little changes in our lifestyle can provide many benefits to overall health. Few Examples:

• Take stairs instead of escalators and elevators.
• Park your car a few blocks away from the market, temple, church or friend’s place and walk.
• Take a walk for 10 or 15 minutes during your lunch break.
• During breaks at work or TV programs, get up and stretch.
• Walk to neighbour’s home or co-worker’s desk instead of telephonic contact.
• Wash and iron your own clothes.
• Walk the baby, join in children’s game.

NOTE: It is advised to obtain expert advice before performing any exercise program.