Fitness Tip of the Day: Friday's Facts and Findings- Exercise Prevents Disease

In past blog posts I've given you the recommended guidelines for cardiovascular, muscular and flexibility training, but I didn't list all the benefits of doing these types of exercises.

Here is an article that explains many reasons to exercise.  Exercise Prevents Disease.  Do you watch The Biggest Loser? (yes I admit, I watch it, even though I don't necessarily agree with the extreme measures and quick weight loss) At the beginning of the season, they always have a doctor telling the contestants what diseases they have or will potentially get if they continue to live their lives the way they have been.  Then toward the end of the season, after they have lost weight, they rerun these tests.  A good deal of the time, contestants are either able to cut the dose of medications they are on or go off of them all together.  These meds are usually for diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol.

If you don't have any of these diseases, and you begin exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet, you can help prevent getting these diseases all together.  My husband is a great example of this.  His blood sugar was at nearing the Diabetes II side, so he started exercising and eating better thereby losing about 25 pounds.  While he still monitors his blood sugar, he is no longer in the pre-diabetic range and does not have to be on meds.  Other aspects of his health improved quite a bit too. While genetics does play a role in some of these diseases, exercise and healthy eating can also lessen the severity or the help the onset start later rather that sooner in life.

This article from Idea Fit goes into more detail:  Exercise Prevents Disease

Also on this subject--taken from my personal training text.  The many Benefits of Cardiorespiratory Fitness (American College of Sports Medicine, 2006a)

      Reduction in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors

• Reduced resting blood pressure
• Increased HDL (good) cholesterol
• Decreased triglycerides
• Reduced body fat and intra-abdominal fat
• Reduced insulin needs, and improved glucose tolerance
• Reduced blood platelet adhesiveness and aggregation

     Improvement in cardiovascular and respiratory function

• Increased VO2 max (maximal oxygen uptake)
• Increased stroke volume
• Stronger heart
• Decreased heart rate (HR) and blood pressure at submaximal workloads
• Increased capillary density in skeletal muscle
• Increased anaerobic threshold
• Increased stamina, endurance, energy

    Other benefits

• Decreased anxiety and depression
• Enhanced feelings of well-being
• Enhanced performance of work and sports activities
• Enhanced function and independent living in older persons
• Improved sleep
• Improved immune function
• Increased quality of life
• Decreased morbidity and mortality

...and that's just cardiovascular exercise!!!

From the same text, The Benefits of Muscular Fitness:

• Increased physical work capacity (increased functional ability) resulting in improved ability to perform activities of daily living
• Increased bone density
• Increased fat-free mass resulting in decreased sarcopenia (age-related muscle mass loss) and potentially resulting in increased metabolism
• Increased strength of connective tissue
• Decreased risk of injury
• Increased motor performance
• Enhanced feelings of well-being and self-confidence
• Improved quality of life

I listed these when I posted the stretch video--but worth reading again since this is the workout we skip the most.  

    The Benefits of Flexibility Training

• Decreased risk of injury
• Decreased chronic muscle tension
• Decreased low-back pain
• Improved posture
• Increased motor performance
• Decreased stress
• Relief of muscle soreness
• Increased mind/body connection
• Improved ability to perform activities of daily living (increased functional ability)

All these benefits from exercise!   I say take it a step further and add a healthier eating plan into your life as well :)