Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It improves your mood, helps you sleep better and boosts your energy levels.
Aim to be physically active on most days of the week – even just five or 10 minutes of activity can help. But remember that physical results vary based on consistency and workout intensity.
Strengthens Muscles & Bones
It’s well known that exercise strengthens muscles and helps prevent and control diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. It also can reduce your risk of depression and anxiety, and improve your mood and energy level. It’s also good for your lungs and bones.
Muscles and bones benefit in much the same way from regular exercise as the heart does, becoming larger and stronger than they would be without it. It’s important to include bone-strengthening exercise, such as tennis, weight lifting, walking or dancing, in your routine to keep bones healthy, especially as you age.
Everyone should try to do about 20 minutes of moderate-impact exercise most days of the week. One impact is jumping up and down or jogging. For a person who hasn’t exercised in a while, it’s best to start with shorter sessions and increase gradually. Any activity is better than nothing.
Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease
Physical inactivity is linked to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. However, regular exercise can improve these conditions as well as lower blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels. Experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity (such as walking at a brisk pace) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, along with two strength-training sessions a week.
Regular exercise helps reduce triglycerides and harmful LDL cholesterol while also boosting HDL or “good” cholesterol and decreasing the amount of visceral fat in the body. This one-two punch significantly reduces your risk for heart and blood vessel, or cardiovascular, diseases.
In a large study, researchers found that people who regularly got enough aerobic exercise — even just the recommended minimums — had a 34% lower risk of having another heart attack than those who did not get enough exercise. And, according to new research, you can reap similar benefits by incorporating short bursts of activity throughout the day.
Lowers Your Risk of Cancer
A growing body of research indicates that getting regular exercise can help you lower your cancer risk. For example, one study found that people with the highest levels of leisure-time physical activity had a 20% lower risk of 7 cancers: esophageal, gallbladder, liver, kidney, rectum, bladder and colon cancer (1, 2).
The researchers speculate that exercise plays a role in protecting against cancer by regulating hormones and reducing chronic inflammation. It also helps the immune system function more effectively to identify and destroy abnormal cells.
The researchers recommend getting 150 to 300 minutes (about 2-3 hours) of moderate or vigorous exercise each week. Moderate activities include walking, mowing the lawn and dancing, while vigorous exercise includes jogging or playing tennis. Breaking up your exercise throughout the day is fine, too. Taking quick walks or climbing stairs at work or home, for instance, may be easier on your schedule than a single long exercise session.
Helps Ease Arthritis Pain
The increased strength that comes with exercise helps lubricate painful joints, reduces stiffness and pain and fights fatigue. Movement is also necessary to promote healthy cartilage in arthritic joints and keep them flexible.
Aerobic exercise, such as walking, swimming, bicycling and using an elliptical machine, is recommended. Low-impact exercises like tai chi and yoga can also improve balance, ease joint stiffness, strengthen muscles and help you control your weight.
When starting an exercise program, it’s important to listen to your body and not push yourself too hard. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week. Even daily activities, such as mowing the lawn, gardening and walking the dog, count. A physical therapist can design an exercise program that is safe for you and your joints. The program can include range-of-motion exercises and strength training, such as lifting cans of soup or light dumbbells.
Boosts Your Immune System
The body’s natural immune system does a remarkable job of defending you against disease-causing germs. But sometimes it fails and you become sick.
A healthy diet, good sleep, limited alcohol use and regular exercise may help support a strong immune response. Although the exact way that these factors boost your immunity is still being studied, they likely work together to keep you healthier and protect against illness.
Aerobic exercise such as jogging, dancing and swimming increases your heart rate and the flow of blood through the body. It also helps to improve the flow of lymph which contains white blood cells and other important immune cells.
Some research suggests that the brief rise in temperature that occurs during and after exercise may prevent bacteria from growing, much like a fever does. But there is no evidence that a specific type of exercise or duration of exercise “boosts immunity.” The immune system is too complex to be boosted by any one thing.
