Regular physical activity is a factor that helps reduce an individual's blood pressure and improves cholesterol levels, two key components that correlate with heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes 32 The American Cancer Society encourages the public to "adopt a physically active lifestyle" by meeting the criteria in a variety of physical activities such as hiking, swimming, circuit training, resistance raining, lifting, etc. People who exercise regularly tend to live longer than those who do not , even if they are overweight and their exercise only includes brisk walks, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD.
They wrote: "This finding may help convince currently inactive persons that a modest physical activity program is 'worth it' for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control." Exercise training studies with overweight and obese youth have shown that they can reduce their body fatness by participating in physical activity that is at least moderate intensity on 3 to 5 days a week, for 30 to 60 minutes each time. We all know that regular physical activity can bring down blood sugar levels and thus lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also metabolic syndrome ( 2 ). Metabolic syndrome is an extremely dangerous condition where you can have a combination of too much abdominal fat, high BP, low good or HDL cholesterol, high triglyceride levels responsible for heart disease, and high blood sugar.
Some of the most commonly cited cohorts have been described in different studies over time as more data accumulate (see Appendix 2, available online at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). In this review, we searched the literature using the key words „physical activity,” „health,” „health status,” „fitness,” „exercise,” „chronic disease,” „mortality” and disease-specific terms (e.g., „cardiovascular disease,” „cancer,” „diabetes” and „osteoporosis”). Regular physical activity may help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes , heart disease , high blood pressure , and stroke If you have one of these health problems, physical activity may improve your condition. Mental health benefits have been found in people who do aerobic or a combination of aerobic and muscle- strengthening activities 3 to 5 days a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.
According to the physical activity guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise with two days of strength training per week yields the same health benefits as 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise with two days of strength training each week — as does a combination of moderate- and high-intensity exercise, plus two strength training workouts. It can also lower blood pressure; improve and manage levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood; improve your body's ability to manage blood sugar and insulin levels, which lowers your risk for type 2 diabetes ; help you maintain a healthy weight; and reduce levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in your body, a sign of inflammation.
Most NCDs primarily result from unhealthy lifestyles including the consumption of too much or unhealthy food 1 , 6 , 8 , 9 , too much alcohol 1 , 8 , 10 and excessive smoking habits 1 , 8 , 11 , combined with physical inactivity 1 , 2 , 8 , 12 More specifically, inactivity and unhealthy eating habits are associated with weight gain, overweight and obesity are the major underlying causes for modern diseases such as CHD or type 2 diabetes mellitus 13 - 15 Many cross-sectional and intervention studies have focused on the relationship between an unhealthy lifestyle, e.g. physical inactivity, unhealthy eating behaviour, smoking and alcohol consumption, and diseases in different study groups, e.g. high risk groups or different age groups 14 All in all, cross-sectional studies suggest that physical activity may be an important factor for improving the general health and preventing the development of among others the above mentioned NCDs 1 Because NCDs develop, not only by definition, over a long period of time and may have many causes, understanding the development of these diseases and their association with habitual factors such as physical activity is important for developing long-term prevention programs and guidelines.
Well-known health benefits include weight loss, stronger bones, improved blood pressure control, lower rates of heart disease and cancer as well as increased energy levels. The health benefits of a light physical activity level may include better blood cholesterol levels, reduced body fat , improved blood pressure, and improved metabolic health. 47 Moderately intense levels of physical activity (≥ 5.5 METs for at least 40 minutes per week) and of cardiovascular fitness (> 31 mL oxygen per kilogram per minute) have also been shown to be protective against the development of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged men, 48 with an even greater effect among those at high risk of diabetes.
Reduce the risk of disease: Excess weight can increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and the regular physical activity can counter these effects. Studies show substantially lower risk when people do 150 minutes of at least moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week. Although some health benefits seem to begin with as little as 60 minutes (1 hour) a week, research shows that a total amount of 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, consistently reduces the risk of many chronic diseases and other adverse health outcomes.
The paper urges health and aged care providers and governments to act to ensure people with dementia are able to remain physically active as regular exercise and physical activity can help improve things like coordination, balance, functional ability, cognition and create a better sense of wellbeing. Don't take our word for it: a 2010 review looked at more than 40 studies and found that regular physical activity not only helps people keep within a healthy weight range, but can cut their risk of developing two dozen physical and mental health problems. And perhaps one of the best new findings about exercise — especially if you, like many people, struggle to find the time to fit it into a busy day — is that all those benefits of physical activity can be had even if you only squeeze in a few minutes of exercise a day.
While these people do some amazing things, you do not have to go to such lengths to experience the benefits of regular physical activity If you are not physically active; adding just a few minutes of physical activity each day will result in some amazing benefits. Physical activity or exercise can improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The health benefits of physical activity include a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes , obesity, osteoporosis , certain types of cancers such as colon cancer and breast cancer , stress , anxiety , and depression It is beneficial in improving general well being, brain health, weight loss , and Parkinson's disease.
A higher level of physical activity appears to be required, that is a higher intensity per training session or even several sessions per week are needed, for achieving health benefits 29 Presumably, not only physical activity level but also weight and fitness status, and their association, play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus 30. Many medical conditions can be improved through physical exercise, including Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, heart disease , diabetes , constipation, high blood pressure and obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week, along with muscle-strengthening activities on 2 days or more a week.
Current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (or a combination of the two), and muscle-strengthening exercises two or more days a week. Regular physical activity can also lower elevated blood pressure and also get your rampant cholesterol levels back in control keeping your heart healthy. You can reap all the physical and mental health benefits of exercise with 30-minutes of moderate exercise five times a week.
Leon AS, Connett J, Jacobs DR Jr., et al. Leisure-time physical activity levels and risk of coronary heart disease and death. Although most research into the mechanisms of how physical activity and fitness improve health outcomes has dealt with the relation between cardiovascular disease and physical activity, researchers have also evaluated the primary mechanisms responsible for decreases in the risk and severity of individual disease states. 116 Regular aerobic activity has been found to improve vascular function in adults independent of changes in other risk factors 142 , 145 and has been said to result in a shear-stress-mediated improvement in endothelial function, 116 which confers a health benefit to a number of disease states.
For instance, routine physical activity has been shown to improve body composition (e.g., through reduced abdominal adiposity and improved weight control), 9 , 10 , 113 - 116 enhance lipid lipoprotein profiles (e.g., through reduced triglyceride levels, increased high-density lipoprotein HDL cholesterol levels and decreased low-density lipoprotein LDL-to-HDL ratios), 9 , 10 , 117 - 123 improve glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, 3 , 9 , 10 , 124 - 126 reduce blood pressure, 127 - 130 improve autonomic tone, 131 , 132 reduce systemic inflammation; 133 decrease blood coagulation, 134 , 135 improve coronary blood flow, 136 augment cardiac function 137 , 138 and enhance endothelial function. Improvements in indicators of health status can occur as a result of increasing physical activity levels in the absence of changes in aerobic fitness. In summary, observational studies provide compelling evidence that regular physical activity and a high fitness level are associated with a reduced risk of premature death from any cause and from cardiovascular disease in particular among asymptomatic men and women.
Both men and women who reported increased levels of physical activity and fitness were found to have reductions in relative risk (by about 20%-35% 27 , 28 ) of death (see Appendix 2, available at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). For example, in a study involving healthy middle-aged men and women followed up for 8 years, the lowest quintiles of physical fitness, as measured on an exercise treadmill, were associated with an increased risk of death from any cause compared with the top quintile for fitness (relative risk among men 3.4, 95% confidence interval CI 2.0 to 5.8, and among women 4.7, 95% CI 2.2 to 9.8). 7. They are programmes designed especially for people with various medical conditions (such as asthma, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, anxiety, depression or obesity) who may benefit from increasing their physical activity levels. On the contrary, physical activity is good for most people with heart disease provided they follow guidelines given by exercise specialists or health professionals.
If you are regularly physically active then you have a lower risk than inactive people of developing type 2 diabetes The greater the amount of physical activity that you do, the lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. To gain health benefits, government experts in the UK suggest that you should do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. These classifications of physical activity consider the intentional exercise and basic activities done on a daily basis and give the public a greater understanding by what fitness levels suffice as future disease prevention.
Physical fitness has proven to result in positive effects on the body's blood pressure because staying active and exercising regularly builds up a stronger heart. For additional and more extensive health benefits, adults should increase their aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity. For substantial health benefits, adults should participate in at least 150 minutes (two hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.
When done regularly and for extended periods of time, aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells. People who regularly engage in at least moderate intensity aerobic activity have a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than do inactive people. Significant reductions in risk of cardiovascular disease occur at activity levels equivalent to 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity.
People who do moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than do inactive people. The benefits of physical activity also outweigh the risk of injury and sudden heart attacks, two concerns that prevent many people from becoming physically active. Most health benefits occur with at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking.
The benefits of physical activity occur in generally healthy people, in people at risk of developing chronic diseases, and in people with current chronic conditions or disabilities. As I report in the TIME cover story , The Exercise Cure,” only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of strength and cardiovascular physical activity per week, more than half of all baby boomers report doing no exercise whatsoever, and 80.2 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive. Regular physical activity can help improve your overall quality of life, reduce your risk for several diseases and give you at least some of these benefits:
Men and women of all ages from all over the world, from various socioeconomic groups and ethnicities are healthier when they achieve the public health recommendation of at least 150 minutes a week (or 2.5 hours a week) of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as brisk walking. Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity , cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels ( 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ). This helps lower your risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol , coronary artery disease , and heart attack Regular exercise can also lower your blood pressure and triglyceride levels.
There is an abundance of evidence that shows regular exercise helps with body weight management, and can lower blood pressure, reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, increase insulin sensitivity, and increase your likelihood of continuing to exercise — all indicators of better heart health. Research shows that regular physical activity can help reduce your risk for several diseases and health conditions and improve your overall quality of life. Leon AS, Connett J, Jacobs DR Jr, Rauramaa R. Leisure-time physical activity levels and risk of coronary heart disease and death: the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial.
Research has shown that people who are physically active 7 hours per week reduce their risk of dying early from heart disease or cancer by 40 percent. Research has shown that 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise and strength training per day 3 to 5 times per week are optimal for maximum mental acuity benefits. Aim to do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week to help reduce your risk of heart disease.
The good news is that inactive people that start to do moderate physical activity feel the biggest health benefits - your health risks will decrease as soon as you start to move! Doing just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, can help to reduce your risk of heart disease. Research has shown that doing aerobic or a mix of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities 3 to 5 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes can give you these mental health benefits.
Studies suggest that moderate physical activity may not be sufficient to lose weight, but being very active i.e., physical activities with energy expenditure of about 2500 kcal/week were very effective in weight control in the long run. For example, walk briskly (moderate physical activity) five days a week for at least 30 minutes each time. The results of the reviewed studies indicate that physical activity seems to be an important factor that can have beneficial effects for the reviewed noncommunicable diseases weight gain and obesity, CHD and type 2 diabetes mellitus, the risk factors weight gain and obesity and the age-related diseases dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Interestingly, activities with low intensity, such as walking, are negatively related to the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease 32 These results indicate that regular physical activity may be an important and potent factor preventing cognitive decline and dementia in healthy older people. We searched the electronic databases Pubmed, BASE and OVID for articles published between January 1980 and May 2012 using the following search terms (without and” or or” and with longitudinal as well as long-term as a keyword to reduce the selection to such studies alone): longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult” (3708 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, weight gain” (180 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, obesity” (483 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, CHD / coronary heart disease” (224 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, t2dm / type 2 diabetes mellitus” (87 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, dementia” (103 articles); and longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, Alzheimer's disease” (60 articles) (Figure 1 Selection criteria and number of excluded and included papers / studies.). To determine the importance of physical activity for the above described common health problems 8 , only studies investigating the effect of physical activity on weight gain and obesity, CHD, type 2 diabetes mellitus and dementia and Alzheimer's disease were included in this review.
150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) each week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (such as brisk walking or tennis). Exercise combats health conditions and diseases - Exercise can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer by up to 50% and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%. Frequent physical activity lowers the risk of heart disease and reduces blood pressure.
Regular exercise provides a myriad of health benefits, including improvements in blood pressure and blood sugar management, reduced amounts of lipids in the blood, better bone and joint health, and long-term preservation of neuro-cognitive function. As the levels of stress in a person's body subsides, his blood pressure and his risk for heart disease decline. Regular exercise and physical activity are important for people of all ages to maintain proper physical and mental health.
The Harvard School of Public Health found that just 20 minutes of regular exercise a day can improve sexual response in women. Physical activity or physical exercise, according to Dr. Buteyko and his medical colleagues, is the most natural and, for relatively healthy people, most efficient method to increase cell oxygen levels. If a person with over 20 second CP (Control Pause or body-oxygen test results) devotes every day 1 hour to rigorous physical activity with nose breathing only, they can finally get stabilized, over a period of some days, at the level of about 25 seconds of body O2. Usually such people naturally get about 30 min of light exercise throughout the day (e.g., walking here and there).
This Chart (Table) shows a link between the duration of daily physical activity and maximum expected body-oxygen levels for experienced students who do some breath work (e.g., about 1 hour of breathing exercises per day). Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, Kaplan GA, Cohen RD, Salonen R, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. Exercising more—a total of 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week—will help you lose weight and give you even more health benefits.
A sedentary lifestyle contributes to weight gain and eventually, obesity Inactivity tends to decrease the sense of overall well-being and can increase the risk of developing certain health problems and diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Research shows that regular exercise lowers your propensity to suffer from diabetes and metabolic syndrome after just 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. The 2014 Active Healthy Kids Australia's Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Young People states that, as a nation we need to make sure that we continually encourage our children and young people to actively participate in organised sport as it provides them with an outlet to be active and to acquire a host of physical, cognitive and social-emotional skills and benefits.
Williams PT. Physical fitness and activity as separate heart disease risk factors: a meta-analysis. Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. In the next issue, we will review how to evaluate the health-related physical fitness and activity levels of patients and will provide exercise recommendations for health.
There appears to be a graded linear relation between the volume of physical activity and health status, such that the most physically active people are at the lowest risk. For instance, as mentioned earlier, moderately intense levels of exercise (≥ 5.5 METs for at least 40 minutes per week) and of cardiovascular fitness (> 31 mL oxygen per kilogram per minute) are effective preventive strategies against type 2 diabetes. 14 Early work by Paffenbarger and associates 106 revealed that regular physical activity (expending > 2000 kcal 8400 kJ per week) was associated with an average increase in life expectancy of 1 to 2 years by the age of 80 and that the benefits were linear even at lower levels of energy expenditure.
Numerous longitudinal studies have examined the effects of exercise training on bone health in children, adolescents, and young, middle-aged and older adults (see relevant reviews 83 - 86 and Appendix 2, available at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). Although the numbers of studies and total participants examined are relatively small compared with those in the cardiovascular literature, there is compelling evidence that routine physical activity, especially weight-bearing and impact exercise, prevents bone loss associated with aging. Furthermore, a dose- response relation appears to exist, such that people who have the highest levels of physical activity and fitness are at lowest risk of premature death (as discussed later). 28 issue, we will review how to evaluate the health-related physical fitness and activity levels of patients and will provide exercise recommendations for health.
In general, if you gradually build up to do regular moderate-intensity physical activity, the potential benefits to your health will greatly outweigh the small risks involved. (Weight-bearing physical activity means physical activity where your feet and legs bear your body's weight, such as brisk walking, aerobics, dancing, running, etc.) Inactive people have almost double the risk of having a heart attack compared with those who are regularly physically active.
Your risk of developing coronary heart disease, such as angina or a heart attack , is much reduced if you are regularly physically active. However, there are still benefits to be gained for anyone who increases their physical activity levels, even if they are already doing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days. The health benefits of doing regular physical activity have been shown in many studies.
If your body mass index (BMI) was in the obese category and you have lost a lot of weight, or if you are in this situation and you are trying to lose weight, you should ideally build up to 60-90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days to help manage your weight. If you are at risk of putting on weight, you should ideally build up to 45-60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days to help to manage your weight. Because exercise helps use up oxygen, it causes your body to burn stored fat and helps you maintain a normal weight For instance, if you walk 4 miles a day four times a week, you can burn about 1,600 calories or nearly half a pound a week.
In order to achieve some of these benefits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 30-60 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week. Studies have shown that physical activity can improve people's mental health and well-being. 26 27 Aerobic exercise, which improves cardiorespiratory fitness, involves movement that increases the heart rate to improve the body's oxygen consumption.
However, with automation and changes in lifestyles physical fitness is now considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy , to resist hypokinetic diseases , and to meet emergency situations. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150-minutes of moderate activity each week An easy way to remember this is 30 minutes at least 5 days a week, but three 10-minute periods of activity are as beneficial to your overall fitness as one 30-minute session. A study found that interactive video games - such those played on the Nintendo Wii - may raise heart rate and provide exercise intensity levels high enough to meet federal physical activity guidelines.
Exercise is the physical exertion of the body - making the body do a physical activity which results in a level of physical fitness and mental health. Physical activity engages the entire body, and a healthier cardiovascular system means the heart is better able to circulate blood to all parts of the body - even in those older years! You know the obvious benefits of working out - losing weight and lowering risk for disease among the most well-known, but there are plentiful day-to-day benefits to enjoy as a result of being active!
Regular physical activity or exercise reduces your chance of getting heart disease. If you're overweight, becoming more active can help you start to reduce body fat as your stamina and fitness levels improve. For example, health experts suggest that being more active can reduce your risk of developing a stroke or heart disease by 10%, and type 2 diabetes by 30-40%.
Regular physical activity can help prevent or manage many health conditions including high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Physical activity helps you live longer and prevent many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) profile, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and colon and breast cancers. Studies of generally healthy people clearly show that moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking, has a low risk of such adverse events.
Research studies on physical activity to prevent hip fracture show that participating in 120 to 300 minutes a week of physical activity that is of at least moderate intensity is associated with a reduced risk. Studies find this effect when young people participate in at least 3 days of vigorous aerobic activity a week. Regularly active adults have lower rates of heart disease and stroke, and have lower blood pressure, better blood lipid profiles, and fitness.
As the figure on page 11 shows, the most dramatic difference in risk is seen between those who are inactive (30 minutes a week) and those with low levels of activity (90 minutes or 1 hour and 30 minutes a week). It has been estimated that people who are physically active for approximately 7 hours a week have a 40 percent lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than 30 minutes a week. The health benefits of physical activity are generally independent of body weight.
However, other benefits, such as increased cardiorespiratory fitness, increased muscular strength, and decreased depressive symptoms and blood pressure, require only a few weeks or months of participation in physical activity. Studies clearly demonstrate that participating in regular physical activity provides many health benefits. All Americans should be regularly physically active to improve overall health and fitness and to prevent many adverse health outcomes.
"By getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least three days a week, you can make a positive impact on both your physical and emotional health," adds Don. Physical fitness is considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypo kinetic diseases, and to meet emergency situations. Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you haven't exercised for a long time, have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis, or you have any concerns.
The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. If things remain as they are today, one-third of all children born in the year 2000 or later may suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives, while many others are likely to face chronic health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and asthma. Physical activity doesn't have to be all about strict fitness exercises to reduce blood pressure or lose weight.
According to the Victorian Government's Better Health Channel, exercises that are good for osteoporosis include: resistance training (using free weights such as dumbbells and barbells, elastic-band resistance, body-weight resistance or weight-training machines); weight-bearing aerobics (including dancing!); and exercises that improve posture, balance and body strength, such as Tai Chi. Australia's Black Dog Institute reports that numerous studies have shown that people who exercise regularly (even when they engage in non-vigorous physical activity) experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who don't exercise regularly. According to Australia's National Public Health Partnership, physical activity reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, obesity and injury, with many studies supporting these findings.
They wrote: "This finding may help convince currently inactive persons that a modest physical activity program is 'worth it' for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control." Exercise training studies with overweight and obese youth have shown that they can reduce their body fatness by participating in physical activity that is at least moderate intensity on 3 to 5 days a week, for 30 to 60 minutes each time. We all know that regular physical activity can bring down blood sugar levels and thus lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also metabolic syndrome ( 2 ). Metabolic syndrome is an extremely dangerous condition where you can have a combination of too much abdominal fat, high BP, low good or HDL cholesterol, high triglyceride levels responsible for heart disease, and high blood sugar.
Some of the most commonly cited cohorts have been described in different studies over time as more data accumulate (see Appendix 2, available online at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). In this review, we searched the literature using the key words „physical activity,” „health,” „health status,” „fitness,” „exercise,” „chronic disease,” „mortality” and disease-specific terms (e.g., „cardiovascular disease,” „cancer,” „diabetes” and „osteoporosis”). Regular physical activity may help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes , heart disease , high blood pressure , and stroke If you have one of these health problems, physical activity may improve your condition. Mental health benefits have been found in people who do aerobic or a combination of aerobic and muscle- strengthening activities 3 to 5 days a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.
According to the physical activity guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise with two days of strength training per week yields the same health benefits as 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise with two days of strength training each week — as does a combination of moderate- and high-intensity exercise, plus two strength training workouts. It can also lower blood pressure; improve and manage levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood; improve your body's ability to manage blood sugar and insulin levels, which lowers your risk for type 2 diabetes ; help you maintain a healthy weight; and reduce levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in your body, a sign of inflammation.
Most NCDs primarily result from unhealthy lifestyles including the consumption of too much or unhealthy food 1 , 6 , 8 , 9 , too much alcohol 1 , 8 , 10 and excessive smoking habits 1 , 8 , 11 , combined with physical inactivity 1 , 2 , 8 , 12 More specifically, inactivity and unhealthy eating habits are associated with weight gain, overweight and obesity are the major underlying causes for modern diseases such as CHD or type 2 diabetes mellitus 13 - 15 Many cross-sectional and intervention studies have focused on the relationship between an unhealthy lifestyle, e.g. physical inactivity, unhealthy eating behaviour, smoking and alcohol consumption, and diseases in different study groups, e.g. high risk groups or different age groups 14 All in all, cross-sectional studies suggest that physical activity may be an important factor for improving the general health and preventing the development of among others the above mentioned NCDs 1 Because NCDs develop, not only by definition, over a long period of time and may have many causes, understanding the development of these diseases and their association with habitual factors such as physical activity is important for developing long-term prevention programs and guidelines.
Well-known health benefits include weight loss, stronger bones, improved blood pressure control, lower rates of heart disease and cancer as well as increased energy levels. The health benefits of a light physical activity level may include better blood cholesterol levels, reduced body fat , improved blood pressure, and improved metabolic health. 47 Moderately intense levels of physical activity (≥ 5.5 METs for at least 40 minutes per week) and of cardiovascular fitness (> 31 mL oxygen per kilogram per minute) have also been shown to be protective against the development of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged men, 48 with an even greater effect among those at high risk of diabetes.
Reduce the risk of disease: Excess weight can increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and the regular physical activity can counter these effects. Studies show substantially lower risk when people do 150 minutes of at least moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week. Although some health benefits seem to begin with as little as 60 minutes (1 hour) a week, research shows that a total amount of 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, consistently reduces the risk of many chronic diseases and other adverse health outcomes.
The paper urges health and aged care providers and governments to act to ensure people with dementia are able to remain physically active as regular exercise and physical activity can help improve things like coordination, balance, functional ability, cognition and create a better sense of wellbeing. Don't take our word for it: a 2010 review looked at more than 40 studies and found that regular physical activity not only helps people keep within a healthy weight range, but can cut their risk of developing two dozen physical and mental health problems. And perhaps one of the best new findings about exercise — especially if you, like many people, struggle to find the time to fit it into a busy day — is that all those benefits of physical activity can be had even if you only squeeze in a few minutes of exercise a day.
While these people do some amazing things, you do not have to go to such lengths to experience the benefits of regular physical activity If you are not physically active; adding just a few minutes of physical activity each day will result in some amazing benefits. Physical activity or exercise can improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The health benefits of physical activity include a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes , obesity, osteoporosis , certain types of cancers such as colon cancer and breast cancer , stress , anxiety , and depression It is beneficial in improving general well being, brain health, weight loss , and Parkinson's disease.
A higher level of physical activity appears to be required, that is a higher intensity per training session or even several sessions per week are needed, for achieving health benefits 29 Presumably, not only physical activity level but also weight and fitness status, and their association, play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus 30. Many medical conditions can be improved through physical exercise, including Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia, heart disease , diabetes , constipation, high blood pressure and obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week, along with muscle-strengthening activities on 2 days or more a week.
Current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (or a combination of the two), and muscle-strengthening exercises two or more days a week. Regular physical activity can also lower elevated blood pressure and also get your rampant cholesterol levels back in control keeping your heart healthy. You can reap all the physical and mental health benefits of exercise with 30-minutes of moderate exercise five times a week.
Leon AS, Connett J, Jacobs DR Jr., et al. Leisure-time physical activity levels and risk of coronary heart disease and death. Although most research into the mechanisms of how physical activity and fitness improve health outcomes has dealt with the relation between cardiovascular disease and physical activity, researchers have also evaluated the primary mechanisms responsible for decreases in the risk and severity of individual disease states. 116 Regular aerobic activity has been found to improve vascular function in adults independent of changes in other risk factors 142 , 145 and has been said to result in a shear-stress-mediated improvement in endothelial function, 116 which confers a health benefit to a number of disease states.
For instance, routine physical activity has been shown to improve body composition (e.g., through reduced abdominal adiposity and improved weight control), 9 , 10 , 113 - 116 enhance lipid lipoprotein profiles (e.g., through reduced triglyceride levels, increased high-density lipoprotein HDL cholesterol levels and decreased low-density lipoprotein LDL-to-HDL ratios), 9 , 10 , 117 - 123 improve glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, 3 , 9 , 10 , 124 - 126 reduce blood pressure, 127 - 130 improve autonomic tone, 131 , 132 reduce systemic inflammation; 133 decrease blood coagulation, 134 , 135 improve coronary blood flow, 136 augment cardiac function 137 , 138 and enhance endothelial function. Improvements in indicators of health status can occur as a result of increasing physical activity levels in the absence of changes in aerobic fitness. In summary, observational studies provide compelling evidence that regular physical activity and a high fitness level are associated with a reduced risk of premature death from any cause and from cardiovascular disease in particular among asymptomatic men and women.
Both men and women who reported increased levels of physical activity and fitness were found to have reductions in relative risk (by about 20%-35% 27 , 28 ) of death (see Appendix 2, available at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). For example, in a study involving healthy middle-aged men and women followed up for 8 years, the lowest quintiles of physical fitness, as measured on an exercise treadmill, were associated with an increased risk of death from any cause compared with the top quintile for fitness (relative risk among men 3.4, 95% confidence interval CI 2.0 to 5.8, and among women 4.7, 95% CI 2.2 to 9.8). 7. They are programmes designed especially for people with various medical conditions (such as asthma, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, anxiety, depression or obesity) who may benefit from increasing their physical activity levels. On the contrary, physical activity is good for most people with heart disease provided they follow guidelines given by exercise specialists or health professionals.
If you are regularly physically active then you have a lower risk than inactive people of developing type 2 diabetes The greater the amount of physical activity that you do, the lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. To gain health benefits, government experts in the UK suggest that you should do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. These classifications of physical activity consider the intentional exercise and basic activities done on a daily basis and give the public a greater understanding by what fitness levels suffice as future disease prevention.
Physical fitness has proven to result in positive effects on the body's blood pressure because staying active and exercising regularly builds up a stronger heart. For additional and more extensive health benefits, adults should increase their aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity. For substantial health benefits, adults should participate in at least 150 minutes (two hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.
When done regularly and for extended periods of time, aerobic activity strengthens the heart and improves the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all its cells. People who regularly engage in at least moderate intensity aerobic activity have a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than do inactive people. Significant reductions in risk of cardiovascular disease occur at activity levels equivalent to 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity.
People who do moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than do inactive people. The benefits of physical activity also outweigh the risk of injury and sudden heart attacks, two concerns that prevent many people from becoming physically active. Most health benefits occur with at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking.
The benefits of physical activity occur in generally healthy people, in people at risk of developing chronic diseases, and in people with current chronic conditions or disabilities. As I report in the TIME cover story , The Exercise Cure,” only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of strength and cardiovascular physical activity per week, more than half of all baby boomers report doing no exercise whatsoever, and 80.2 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive. Regular physical activity can help improve your overall quality of life, reduce your risk for several diseases and give you at least some of these benefits:
Men and women of all ages from all over the world, from various socioeconomic groups and ethnicities are healthier when they achieve the public health recommendation of at least 150 minutes a week (or 2.5 hours a week) of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, such as brisk walking. Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity , cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels ( 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ). This helps lower your risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol , coronary artery disease , and heart attack Regular exercise can also lower your blood pressure and triglyceride levels.
There is an abundance of evidence that shows regular exercise helps with body weight management, and can lower blood pressure, reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, increase insulin sensitivity, and increase your likelihood of continuing to exercise — all indicators of better heart health. Research shows that regular physical activity can help reduce your risk for several diseases and health conditions and improve your overall quality of life. Leon AS, Connett J, Jacobs DR Jr, Rauramaa R. Leisure-time physical activity levels and risk of coronary heart disease and death: the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial.
Research has shown that people who are physically active 7 hours per week reduce their risk of dying early from heart disease or cancer by 40 percent. Research has shown that 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise and strength training per day 3 to 5 times per week are optimal for maximum mental acuity benefits. Aim to do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week to help reduce your risk of heart disease.
The good news is that inactive people that start to do moderate physical activity feel the biggest health benefits - your health risks will decrease as soon as you start to move! Doing just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, can help to reduce your risk of heart disease. Research has shown that doing aerobic or a mix of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities 3 to 5 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes can give you these mental health benefits.
Studies suggest that moderate physical activity may not be sufficient to lose weight, but being very active i.e., physical activities with energy expenditure of about 2500 kcal/week were very effective in weight control in the long run. For example, walk briskly (moderate physical activity) five days a week for at least 30 minutes each time. The results of the reviewed studies indicate that physical activity seems to be an important factor that can have beneficial effects for the reviewed noncommunicable diseases weight gain and obesity, CHD and type 2 diabetes mellitus, the risk factors weight gain and obesity and the age-related diseases dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Interestingly, activities with low intensity, such as walking, are negatively related to the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease 32 These results indicate that regular physical activity may be an important and potent factor preventing cognitive decline and dementia in healthy older people. We searched the electronic databases Pubmed, BASE and OVID for articles published between January 1980 and May 2012 using the following search terms (without and” or or” and with longitudinal as well as long-term as a keyword to reduce the selection to such studies alone): longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult” (3708 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, weight gain” (180 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, obesity” (483 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, CHD / coronary heart disease” (224 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, t2dm / type 2 diabetes mellitus” (87 articles); longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, dementia” (103 articles); and longitudinal / long-term, physical activity, adult, Alzheimer's disease” (60 articles) (Figure 1 Selection criteria and number of excluded and included papers / studies.). To determine the importance of physical activity for the above described common health problems 8 , only studies investigating the effect of physical activity on weight gain and obesity, CHD, type 2 diabetes mellitus and dementia and Alzheimer's disease were included in this review.
150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) each week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (such as brisk walking or tennis). Exercise combats health conditions and diseases - Exercise can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer by up to 50% and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%. Frequent physical activity lowers the risk of heart disease and reduces blood pressure.
Regular exercise provides a myriad of health benefits, including improvements in blood pressure and blood sugar management, reduced amounts of lipids in the blood, better bone and joint health, and long-term preservation of neuro-cognitive function. As the levels of stress in a person's body subsides, his blood pressure and his risk for heart disease decline. Regular exercise and physical activity are important for people of all ages to maintain proper physical and mental health.
The Harvard School of Public Health found that just 20 minutes of regular exercise a day can improve sexual response in women. Physical activity or physical exercise, according to Dr. Buteyko and his medical colleagues, is the most natural and, for relatively healthy people, most efficient method to increase cell oxygen levels. If a person with over 20 second CP (Control Pause or body-oxygen test results) devotes every day 1 hour to rigorous physical activity with nose breathing only, they can finally get stabilized, over a period of some days, at the level of about 25 seconds of body O2. Usually such people naturally get about 30 min of light exercise throughout the day (e.g., walking here and there).
This Chart (Table) shows a link between the duration of daily physical activity and maximum expected body-oxygen levels for experienced students who do some breath work (e.g., about 1 hour of breathing exercises per day). Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, Kaplan GA, Cohen RD, Salonen R, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. Exercising more—a total of 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week—will help you lose weight and give you even more health benefits.
A sedentary lifestyle contributes to weight gain and eventually, obesity Inactivity tends to decrease the sense of overall well-being and can increase the risk of developing certain health problems and diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Research shows that regular exercise lowers your propensity to suffer from diabetes and metabolic syndrome after just 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. The 2014 Active Healthy Kids Australia's Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Young People states that, as a nation we need to make sure that we continually encourage our children and young people to actively participate in organised sport as it provides them with an outlet to be active and to acquire a host of physical, cognitive and social-emotional skills and benefits.
Williams PT. Physical fitness and activity as separate heart disease risk factors: a meta-analysis. Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. In the next issue, we will review how to evaluate the health-related physical fitness and activity levels of patients and will provide exercise recommendations for health.
There appears to be a graded linear relation between the volume of physical activity and health status, such that the most physically active people are at the lowest risk. For instance, as mentioned earlier, moderately intense levels of exercise (≥ 5.5 METs for at least 40 minutes per week) and of cardiovascular fitness (> 31 mL oxygen per kilogram per minute) are effective preventive strategies against type 2 diabetes. 14 Early work by Paffenbarger and associates 106 revealed that regular physical activity (expending > 2000 kcal 8400 kJ per week) was associated with an average increase in life expectancy of 1 to 2 years by the age of 80 and that the benefits were linear even at lower levels of energy expenditure.
Numerous longitudinal studies have examined the effects of exercise training on bone health in children, adolescents, and young, middle-aged and older adults (see relevant reviews 83 - 86 and Appendix 2, available at /cgi/content/full/174/6/801/DC1 ). Although the numbers of studies and total participants examined are relatively small compared with those in the cardiovascular literature, there is compelling evidence that routine physical activity, especially weight-bearing and impact exercise, prevents bone loss associated with aging. Furthermore, a dose- response relation appears to exist, such that people who have the highest levels of physical activity and fitness are at lowest risk of premature death (as discussed later). 28 issue, we will review how to evaluate the health-related physical fitness and activity levels of patients and will provide exercise recommendations for health.
In general, if you gradually build up to do regular moderate-intensity physical activity, the potential benefits to your health will greatly outweigh the small risks involved. (Weight-bearing physical activity means physical activity where your feet and legs bear your body's weight, such as brisk walking, aerobics, dancing, running, etc.) Inactive people have almost double the risk of having a heart attack compared with those who are regularly physically active.
Your risk of developing coronary heart disease, such as angina or a heart attack , is much reduced if you are regularly physically active. However, there are still benefits to be gained for anyone who increases their physical activity levels, even if they are already doing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days. The health benefits of doing regular physical activity have been shown in many studies.
If your body mass index (BMI) was in the obese category and you have lost a lot of weight, or if you are in this situation and you are trying to lose weight, you should ideally build up to 60-90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days to help manage your weight. If you are at risk of putting on weight, you should ideally build up to 45-60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days to help to manage your weight. Because exercise helps use up oxygen, it causes your body to burn stored fat and helps you maintain a normal weight For instance, if you walk 4 miles a day four times a week, you can burn about 1,600 calories or nearly half a pound a week.
In order to achieve some of these benefits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests at least 30-60 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week. Studies have shown that physical activity can improve people's mental health and well-being. 26 27 Aerobic exercise, which improves cardiorespiratory fitness, involves movement that increases the heart rate to improve the body's oxygen consumption.
However, with automation and changes in lifestyles physical fitness is now considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy , to resist hypokinetic diseases , and to meet emergency situations. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150-minutes of moderate activity each week An easy way to remember this is 30 minutes at least 5 days a week, but three 10-minute periods of activity are as beneficial to your overall fitness as one 30-minute session. A study found that interactive video games - such those played on the Nintendo Wii - may raise heart rate and provide exercise intensity levels high enough to meet federal physical activity guidelines.
Exercise is the physical exertion of the body - making the body do a physical activity which results in a level of physical fitness and mental health. Physical activity engages the entire body, and a healthier cardiovascular system means the heart is better able to circulate blood to all parts of the body - even in those older years! You know the obvious benefits of working out - losing weight and lowering risk for disease among the most well-known, but there are plentiful day-to-day benefits to enjoy as a result of being active!
Regular physical activity or exercise reduces your chance of getting heart disease. If you're overweight, becoming more active can help you start to reduce body fat as your stamina and fitness levels improve. For example, health experts suggest that being more active can reduce your risk of developing a stroke or heart disease by 10%, and type 2 diabetes by 30-40%.
Regular physical activity can help prevent or manage many health conditions including high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Physical activity helps you live longer and prevent many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) profile, stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and colon and breast cancers. Studies of generally healthy people clearly show that moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking, has a low risk of such adverse events.
Research studies on physical activity to prevent hip fracture show that participating in 120 to 300 minutes a week of physical activity that is of at least moderate intensity is associated with a reduced risk. Studies find this effect when young people participate in at least 3 days of vigorous aerobic activity a week. Regularly active adults have lower rates of heart disease and stroke, and have lower blood pressure, better blood lipid profiles, and fitness.
As the figure on page 11 shows, the most dramatic difference in risk is seen between those who are inactive (30 minutes a week) and those with low levels of activity (90 minutes or 1 hour and 30 minutes a week). It has been estimated that people who are physically active for approximately 7 hours a week have a 40 percent lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than 30 minutes a week. The health benefits of physical activity are generally independent of body weight.
However, other benefits, such as increased cardiorespiratory fitness, increased muscular strength, and decreased depressive symptoms and blood pressure, require only a few weeks or months of participation in physical activity. Studies clearly demonstrate that participating in regular physical activity provides many health benefits. All Americans should be regularly physically active to improve overall health and fitness and to prevent many adverse health outcomes.
"By getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least three days a week, you can make a positive impact on both your physical and emotional health," adds Don. Physical fitness is considered a measure of the body's ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypo kinetic diseases, and to meet emergency situations. Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you haven't exercised for a long time, have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis, or you have any concerns.
The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. If things remain as they are today, one-third of all children born in the year 2000 or later may suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives, while many others are likely to face chronic health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and asthma. Physical activity doesn't have to be all about strict fitness exercises to reduce blood pressure or lose weight.
According to the Victorian Government's Better Health Channel, exercises that are good for osteoporosis include: resistance training (using free weights such as dumbbells and barbells, elastic-band resistance, body-weight resistance or weight-training machines); weight-bearing aerobics (including dancing!); and exercises that improve posture, balance and body strength, such as Tai Chi. Australia's Black Dog Institute reports that numerous studies have shown that people who exercise regularly (even when they engage in non-vigorous physical activity) experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who don't exercise regularly. According to Australia's National Public Health Partnership, physical activity reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, obesity and injury, with many studies supporting these findings.
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