Exercise and Your Health, How Much Does it really Help?


You always hear people say, "You need to exercise regularly to
maintain your health", but just how much does exercise really do
for your health overall? Are the health benefits of exercise really
worth the effort it takes to exercise regularly? Can't you just eat
better and still maintain your health just the same? Can anyone
tell me what the real health benefits of exercise are or is it all
just speculation based on heresy?
Alright then, here are some really good reasons to consider for
making exercise part of your healthy
lifestyle:
Americans spend more than $600 billion dollars per year for
health care.

That equals almost $3,000 for every single person in
the whole population of the country. Sadly, this financial
commitment has shown no signs of any decrease, nor has it produced
fully acceptable results with regard to treating a wide variety of
chronic health problems.
Attempts have been made to identify the factors which have been
major contributions to the epidemic of medical problems in our
society today and a number of probable reasons for why so many
people are so seemingly unhealthy have been named as; poor eating
habits, a sedentary lifestyle, stress, poor health
habits (i.e.

smoking).
At the same time, studies have been done to see what, if
anything can be done to lower either the number or the severity of
the medical problems affecting the public. These studies have shown
some convincing evidence that exercise has substantial medical
benefits for people of all ages. Two of the most publicized efforts
to investigate the possible link between exercise and disease were
longitudinal studies, each of which used more than 10,000
subjects.


Some years ago, in a study of 17,000 Harvard graduates, Ralph
Paffenbarger, M.D., found that men who expended 300 calories per
day, the equivalent of walking briskly for 45 minutes, reduced
their death rates from all causes by 28% and lived an average of
two years longer than their sedentary former classmates.
A more recent study conducted by Steven Blair, P.

E.D., of the
Institute of Aerobics Research in Dallas documented the fact that a
relatively moderate amount of exercise has a significant effect on
the mortality rate of both men and women. The data was adjusted for
age differences between subjects in an eight year study of 13,344
individuals and the conclusion was that the higher the
fitness level, the lower the death
rate.

An analysis of the data yielded by both studies suggests one
conclusion.exercise is medicine!
Accepting the idea that regular exercise can play an important
role in reducing your risk of incurring a medical problem and
reducing your overall health care costs is a critical step. While
listing all of the medical problems and conditions that can be at
least partially treated and controlled by exercise would be very
extensive, here are a few of the most significant health concerns
and the manner in which exercise is thought to help in each
case.
Allergies: exercise is one of the body's most efficient ways to
control nasal congestion.


Angina: regular aerobic exercise dilates vessels, increasing blood
flow, thereby improving your body's ability to extract oxygen from
the bloodstream.
Anxiety: exercise triggers the release of mood-altering
chemicals in the brain.
Arthritis: by making the skeletal joints move, exercise induces
the manufacture of synovial fluid and helps to distribute it over
the cartilage and to force it to circulate throughout the joint
space.
Back pain: exercise helps to strengthen the abdominal muscles
and the lower back muscles.


Cholesterol: exercise will raise your HDL (the good cholesterol)
in the blood and lower your LDL levels, the bad cholesterol.
Diabetes: exercise helps lower excess blood sugar levels and
improves your circulation
.
Heart disease: exercise, by lowering your body fat, lowering your
LDL levels, decreasing your blood pressure, lowering your heart
rate and increasing heart and lung efficiency, lowers your risk of
heart problems.
Knee problems: exercise helps strengthen the muscles, tendons
and ligaments of the knee making it more able to withstand
stress.


Menstrual problems and PMS: exercise helps to control the
hormonal imbalances often associated with PMS by increasing the
release of beta-endorphins.
Osteoporosis: exercise promotes bone density, lowering the risk
of suffering a bone fracture.
Overweight problems: exercise suppresses your appetite,
increases your metabolic rate, burns fat and increases lean muscle
mass.
So, are the benefits of regular exercise really worth the
effort? Should you make exercise a part of your lifestyle?
Absolutely! As you can see, in many ways, your life may depend on
it.


About The Author:
Jim O'Neill gives you tons of valuable
information on the subjects of
weight loss,
fitness, and nutrition to make
it easy for you to live a healthy lifestyle. Sign up now for his
free newsletter at: .mrgymhealth.com

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