Exercise is beneficial at any age. Regular physical activity can also cut your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers in half. It can also reduce the risk of osteoporosis, which causes bones to become brittle and easy to break and alleviate lower back pain and mitigate stiffness and pain from osteoarthritis.
Exercise is good for the mind too. People who introduce some regular physical activity into their routine are in a better mood, sleep better, have lower levels of stress and anxiety, and perceive positive changes in their concept. For some people with depression, physical activity can be as effective as taking treatment or taking medication.
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How Much Exercise Is Enough?
- The recommended healthy physical activity is 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five days a week.
- Average refers to enough to stimulate the heart and lungs to get stronger. Breathe faster and at a higher heart rate, and you will feel warm, too.
- Children should do at least 60 minutes a day of this type of activity.
- To avoid gaining weight, you may need to do 40 to 60 minutes five days a week, and if you want to continue losing weight after you’ve already lost something, you should aim for 60 to 90 minutes.
What kind of exercise?
- The type of exercise to choose will depend on the current physical form and state of health and the ones that are intended to be achieved.
- For example, if you are trying to lose weight, the ideal would be to do moderate aerobic exercise such as walking, running, or cycling.
- And the more you do, the more calories you burn and the more weight you lose.
- The key to getting the most benefits from exercise is regularity.
- The best way to do this is to exercise as part of your daily routine, for example, walking or cycling to work.
- Try not to see exercise as a burden and choose something you enjoy, be it walking, playing soccer, or dancing.
A balanced approach to different types of exercise
Different types of exercise are beneficial to your health in different ways.
The best way to ensure overall fitness is to incorporate each of these elements into your exercise routine.
Aerobic exercise
- Aerobic exercise is an activity that uses oxygen, increases your heart rate, and leaves you slightly out of breath.
- Help keep the heart, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles healthy.
- Combined with a balanced diet, aerobic exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy weight.
- Some of the most aerobically efficient activities are walking or biking.
- It would help if you tried to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes five times a week.
- Adapt the intensity of the exercise based on your goal.
- If you have not exercised in a long time or have a medical condition, you should talk to your GP before starting.
- When you feel unwell while exercising, you should stop and visit your GP as soon as possible.
- If your only aim is to keep your heart healthy and reduce your risk of disease, you only need to increase your heart rate slightly.
Strength training
- A balanced exercise program should include strength training, which helps keep muscles from contracting and gives the body a more toned appearance.
- Also, muscle burns more calories than inactive tissue, so building muscle will help you maintain a weight healthy.
- Strength training involves moving your muscles against some form of resistance, which is why you will also hear it called resistance training.
- You can use elastic bands, free weights (such as weights), weight lifting machines, or your body weight.
- Try to do some strength training two to three times a week.
- Find a weight that allows you to do a set of eight to ten exercises.
- A general workout should include two or three exercises for the upper body and two or three for the lower body, plus abdominal exercises.
Flexibility exercises
- Muscles that are not stretched regularly are at risk of becoming shorter and less elastic.
- It reduces the range of motion in the joint and increases the risk of injury from tears and strains.
- Try to include some flexibility exercises in your exercise plan two or three times a week.
- These should stretch all of the major muscles in your upper and lower body.
- Yoga, Pilates, and Tai Chi include many exercises that focus on flexibility and range of motion.
- They consist of stretching and relaxing the body in different postures and maintaining the poses with the help of conscious breathing.
- They can help increase flexibility and strength and promote relaxation and improve circulation, balance, and posture.
Exercising Safely
- To exercise safely, gradually get into a routine.
- Start with moderate exercise for short periods and increase the intensity and duration as you get fitter.
- Warm-up before exercising to increase blood flow to the muscles and reduce the risk of injury.
- A warm-up usually involves some low-intensity exercise for five to ten minutes, followed by activities to stretch the muscles.
- It should also cool down at the end of the session by gradually reducing the intensity and re-stretching the muscles.
- It is important to keep your body hydrated, so drink enough water before, during, and after exercise to replace the fluids you lose when sweating.
- This will vary depending on the person and the climate they are in.
- You may feel some pain after strenuous exercise, but it is best to stop if you do feel it while exercising.
- Visit your GP to check that you are all right.
- You should also consult with your GP before starting a new exercise program if you have heart disease, hypertension, joint pain, diabetes, are recovering from an illness, or pregnant.
Key points you have to know when exercising:
- Try to get at least 30 minutes of activity at least five days a week.
- Moderate aerobic activity is enough for your health to benefit.
- You may need to exercise more if you want to get in shape.
- You may need to exercise up to 90 minutes a day to maintain weight loss.
- You should also include strength and flexibility training two to three times a week.
