When it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, exercise ranks high on the list of importance.

The way you choose to move your body can have an impact on your overall health and wellbeing. Exercise is an important step in both living a healthy lifestyle and preventing future disease or complications.

Here’s why exercise is important.

1. It keeps you fit.

Exercise helps you to have a strong body, which reduces your chances of having weight-related diseases.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are a few of the common complications that can arise from being overweight or failing to regularly engage in physical activity. More serious, life-threatening issues, like heart attacks and heart complications, can also result from a lack of physical activity.

Working out regularly has been shown to reduce your risk of having a heart-related illness. Regular exercise lowers your blood pressure and helps to maintain a healthy weight, reducing your risk for many diseases.

2. It can be like meditation.

If you choose to run, cycle, or swim as your fitness activity of choice, you may find that it is actually a stress release. It can allow you to enter an almost meditation-like state. While exercising, you are focused on the present, which helps you to relieve your stress while you are working out your muscles. It also gives you the opportunity to think through some of the concerns that might be clogging up your subconscious.

Many athletes use this time as a meditation session. Whether your stresses stem from work or your personal life, you might be able to clear your mind by the end of your workout.

3. It’s a healthy hobby that you can enjoy anywhere.

Whether you’re vacationing on a cruise ship or visiting the mountains, you can exercise almost anywhere you go. No gym or fancy equipment is necessary.
Another great thing about exercise is that it’s free. Exercise in its purest form, whether it be a walk, run or some sit-ups in your living room — costs nothing. Of course, you always have the option to take your fitness to the next level with a personal trainer or monthly gym membership if you want.

Whether it’s to help relieve stress or a way to keep your heart healthy and strong, there is no shortage of reasons for why exercise is important.

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Ultimate Medical Academy.

Most people tend to focus on one type of exercise or activity and think they’re doing enough. Research has shown that it’s important to get all four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce boredom and risk of injury.

Endurance

Endurance activities, often referred to as aerobic, increase your breathing and heart rates. These activities help keep you healthy, improve your fitness, and help you perform the tasks you need to do every day. Endurance exercises improve the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. They also can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in older adults such as diabetes, colon and breast cancers, heart disease, and others. Physical activities that build endurance include:

• Brisk walking or jogging
• Yard work (mowing, raking)
• Dancing
• Swimming
• Biking
• Climbing stairs or hills
• Playing tennis or basketball

Increase your endurance or “staying power” to help keep up with your grandchildren during a trip to the park, dance to your favorite songs at a family wedding, and rake the yard and bag up leaves. Build up to at least 150 minutes of activity a week that makes you breathe hard. Try to be active throughout your day to reach this goal and avoid sitting for long periods of time.

Safety tips

• Do a little light activity, such as easy walking, before and after your endurance activities to warm up and cool down.
• Listen to your body: endurance activities should not cause dizziness, chest pain or pressure, or a feeling like heartburn.
• Be sure to drink liquids when doing any activity that makes you sweat. If your doctor has told you to limit your fluids, be sure to check before increasing the amount of fluid you drink while exercising.
• If you are going to be outdoors, be aware of your surroundings.
• Dress in layers so you can add or remove clothes as needed for hot and cold weather.
• To prevent injuries, use safety equipment, such as a helmet when bicycling.

Quick Tip: Test Your Exercise Intensity

When you’re being active, just try talking: if you’re breathing hard but can still have a conversation easily, it’s moderate-intensity activity. If you can only say a few words before you have to take a breath, it’s vigorous-intensity activity.

Strength

Your muscular strength can make a big difference. Strong muscles help you stay independent and make everyday activities feel easier, like getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries. Keeping your muscles strong can help with your balance and prevent falls and fall-related injuries. You are less likely to fall when your leg and hip muscles are strong. Some people call using weight to improve your muscle strength “strength training” or “resistance training.”

Strength exercises include lifting weights, even your own body weight, and using a resistance band.

Lifting weights

Try to do strength exercises for all of your major muscle groups at least 2 days per week, but don’t exercise the same muscle group on any 2 days in a row. If you’re just starting, you might need to use 1- or 2-pound weights, or no weight at all. Your body needs to get used to strength exercises. You can use common objects from your home, such as bottled water or soup cans. Or, you can use the strength-training equipment at a fitness center or gym. Use light weights the first week, then gradually add more. Starting out with weights that are too heavy can cause injuries. Use proper form for safety. To prevent injury, don’t jerk or thrust weights into position. Use smooth, steady movements. Avoid “locking” your arm and leg joints in a tightly straightened position.

Using a resistance band

Resistance bands are stretchy elastic bands that come in several strengths, from light to heavy. You can use them in some strength exercises instead of weights. If you are a beginner, try exercising without the band or use a light band until you are comfortable. Add a band or move on to a stronger band when you can do two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions easily. Hold on to the band tightly (some bands have handles) or wrap it around your hand or foot to keep it from slipping and causing possible injury. Do the exercises in a slow, controlled manner, and don’t let the band snap back.

Safety tips

• Don’t hold your breath during strength exercises and breathe regularly.
• Breathe out as you lift or push, and breathe in as you relax.
• Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about doing a particular exercise.

Balance

Balance exercises help prevent falls, a common problem in older adults that can have serious consequences. Many lower-body strength exercises also will improve your balance. Exercises to improve your balance include Tai Chi, a “moving meditation” that involves shifting the body slowly, gently, and precisely, while breathing deeply.

Examples of balance exercises

• Try standing on one foot, then the other. If at first you need support, hold on to something sturdy. Work your way up to doing this movement without support. Get up from a chair without using your hands or arms.
• Try the heel-to-toe walk. As you walk, put the heel of one foot just in front of the toes of your other foot. Your heel and toes should touch or almost touch.

Safety Tips

• Have a sturdy chair or a person nearby to hold on to if you feel unsteady.
• Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about a particular exercise.

Marian’s Story

“Each morning, I join a group at the local senior center. We practice tai chi for about an hour. We start with a gentle warm-up and breathing exercises. Our instructor leads us step-by-step through certain movements. We then end with cooling down exercises. This class helps keep my arthritis under control. It has also reduced my fear of falling.”

Flexibility

Stretching can improve your flexibility. Moving more freely will make it easier for you to reach down to tie your shoes or look over your shoulder when you back your car out of the driveway.

Examples of flexibility exercises

• Try the calf stretch exercise. Stand facing a wall slightly farther than arm’s length from the wall, feet shoulder-width apart. Step forward with the right leg and bend the right knee. Keeping both feet flat on the floor, bend the left knee slightly until you feel a stretch in your left calf muscle. Hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds, and then return to the starting position. Repeat with the left leg.
• Try the ankle stretch exercise. Sit securely toward the edge of a sturdy, armless chair. Stretch your legs out in front of you. With your heels on the floor, bend your ankles to point the toes toward you. Hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds. Bend your ankles to point toes away from you and hold for 10 to 30 seconds.

Safety tips

• Stretch when your muscles are warmed up.
• Stretch after endurance or strength exercises.
• Don’t stretch so far that it hurts.
• Always remember to breathe normally while holding a stretch.
• Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about a particular exercise.

No matter your age, you can find activities that meet your fitness level and needs!

Want to feel better, have more energy and even add years to your life? Just exercise.

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex or physical ability.

Need more convincing to get moving? Check out these seven ways exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you.

1. Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.

Regular trips to the gym are great, but don’t worry if you can’t find a large chunk of time to exercise every day. Any amount of activity is better than none at all. To reap the benefits of exercise, just get more active throughout your day — take the stairs instead of the elevator or rev up your household chores. Consistency is key.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight is, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol, and it decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including:

• Stroke
• Metabolic syndrome
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Many types of cancer
• Arthritis
• Falls

It can also help improve cognitive function and helps lower the risk of death from all causes.

3. Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A gym session or brisk walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier, more relaxed and less anxious.

You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

4. Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to snooze? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster, get better sleep and deepen your sleep. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to go to sleep.

6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can improve energy levels and increase your confidence about your physical appearance, which may boost your sex life.

But there’s even more to it than that. Regular physical activity may enhance arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don’t exercise.

7. Exercise can be fun … and social!

Exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.

So take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. Bored? Try something new, or do something with friends or family.

The bottom line on exercise

Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and have fun. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• At least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread this exercise throughout the week. Examples include running, walking or swimming. Even small amounts of physical activity are helpful, and accumulated activity throughout the day adds up to provide health benefits.
• Strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Examples include lifting free weights, using weight machines or doing body-weight training.

Spread your activities throughout the week. If you want to lose weight, meet specific fitness goals or get even more benefits, you may need to ramp up your moderate aerobic activity to 300 minutes or more a week.

Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any concerns about your fitness, haven’t exercised for a long time, have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis.

I received an email from an Army Soldier who was having a difficult time running a few months ago. His breathing patterns were so erratic that he was basically hyperventilating while running his two mile PFT run. Once he started breathing properly as well as exhaling fully, he was able to perform better in the run – not only did he run faster, but he had more energy to finish.

The Soldier stated:

“It finally clicked! Not only was I able to breathe and finish while running, but I was able to run faster without getting tired or cramped at all!”

Learning to breathe during exercise has benefits such as preventing dizziness during activity, improving athletic performance, and increasing fat burning.

What is Proper Breathing While Running? Advertisement

Many experts will say that to fully oxygenate the muscles and clear the body of carbon dioxide you should breathe a 3:2 inhale-to-exhale ratio; full inhales and full exhales. This means you INHALE on the LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT foot strikes and EXHALE fully on the RIGHT, LEFT foot strikes. This pattern is not that hard to turn into a habit, but it may require you to slow your pace down for a few runs to master the technique. You will notice a lower heart rate as you are able to get more oxygen in and more importantly push all the carbon dioxide out of your body. You may notice that you naturally drop to a 2:1 ratio when you are really pushing it to the finish. That is OK. But realize it is difficult to maintain a pace that requires you to breathe at a 2:1 ratio. The CO2 in your body will increase if your breathing patterns are short and hurried. This will increase your heart rate and lactic acid production, and decrease your endurance in any cardiovascular event (running, swimming, biking, etc.)

What About Breathing and PT / Lifting? 

Proper breathing during exercises where you exert yourself – such as lifting, pushing, or pulling – is much easier to remember and control than the 3:2 ratio during running long distance. To put it simply: always exhale on exertion. For example, when you are pushing a bench press off your chest, you exhale on the push and inhale as you bring it slowly to your chest. When you are doing a pullup, you exhale on the pulling up motion and inhale on the way down. Breathing during exertion is important in preventing internal injury such as hernia, blood vessel strain, and high blood pressure. Because weight lifting and PT can be potentially harmful when done incorrectly, it is advised to get clearance from a doctor before performing too much – too soon. To decrease that pressure, focus on breathing deep all the time – during workouts and in your daily activities.

How Does More Oxygen Help Burn More Fat?

Oxygen Water = Fat burn.  (from “Want to Lose Weight?” article) Basically, the body needs water and increased oxygen to burn fat as an energy source. The water intake should be anywhere from a half gallon for women and up to one gallon a day for men, and the increased oxygen consumption will assist with the other part of the equation. See the “Water Plus Oxygen Equals Weight Loss” article if you are concerned about drinking too much.

As you add more water and oxygen to your system, your body will be able to use the retained water for excretion, prompting almost immediate weight loss of retained water and toxins. This is not the same as sitting in a sauna and sweating which actually dehydrates you. Adding water will rehydrate you and enable the body to burn more fat (as long as you increase your oxygen intake by doing some form of exercise). Walking, swimming, biking, jogging, calisthenics, and even yard work can help with working your cardiovascular system.

Try the deep breathing rhythm during running and see for yourself how you will run at a lower heart rate and have more energy for a strong finish.

Exercise is a great way to keep the body and mind healthy. However, people sometimes make mistakes while trying to get in shape without even realizing it. If you’re looking to begin your fitness journey, or you’re already active, you may be making some common exercise blunders.

Read on for four essential tricks to getting the most out of your workout routine!

#1 Weights Before Cardio

Weights can be tiring. The thought of lifting, especially on leg machines, and then running may seem a little counterintuitive. However, if you really want to lose weight and build muscle, your body needs to burn stored excess fat for energy. This can prove difficult if you start your workout with cardio—because you most likely have some glycogen in your system (the energy from the food you eat, particularly carbs).

By doing weight training first, you will burn off glycogen while toning and strengthening your muscles. Once you’re a little tired from weight training, that’s when you want to hit the treadmill.

Pro Tip: You’re going to be hungry after burning off all this glycogen and stored fat—consider prepping a meal before you hit the gym, so it’s ready when you get home! If you’re not into meal prep, bring a snack with you, such as a protein bar, to replace some of the energy you’ve lost.

#2 Get Your Exercise Outside of the Gym

Going to the gym is an important part of staying fit—but it’s not the only way. There will be days when you can’t make it to the gym, and that’s okay! Remember, the ways you move your body in daily life can be just as healthy as the workout you get in the gym, and there are some ways you can elevate the intensity of your daily physical activity:

• Try walking or biking instead of driving if you’re headed somewhere close—work, the grocery store, or a friend’s house. Whenever you can get your body in motion, take advantage of it!
• Look up a workout video on YouTube and burn your calories at home. If you don’t have time to go to the gym but you still want an intense workout—check out a HIIT workout or power yoga video. These can burn hundreds of calories in one workout, and all you need is a computer.
• Strengthen your core at work, on the couch, or even in bed. This may sound farfetched, but it works. The transversus abdominus are the deepest abdominal muscles in your body. They lie underneath every other muscle group in your abdomen, and they are a key factor in achieving a flat tummy. One of the easiest exercises you can do to help tone these muscles is by simply sucking in your stomach as far as you can (think of trying to touch your belly to your spine). This can be done anytime, anywhere, and might make you feel better while you’re binging Netflix.

Pro Tip: If you’re biking to work, try using a bit of antiperspirant on your neck and back. This, accompanied with a towel and lightweight clothing, will keep you looking fresh during your ride. Don’t let sweat keep you from taking advantage of this easy way to fit in physical activity.

#3 Swap Your Regular Water Bottle for CBD

You may be thinking: CBD water? I’ve never heard of that.

Most CBD typically comes in edible product form such as liquid, capsule, or gummy form. However, a new brand of CBD-infused water is on the market—and it has some potential benefits for fitness lovers. CBD water is infused with electrolytes for effective rehydration, which is important when you’re sweating a lot at the gym. It’s also packed with vitamin B12 (which plays a role in metabolism regulation and food breakdown).

CBD is also a known anti-inflammatory and can be used to soothe sore and injured muscles post workout. If you’re looking for a new alternative to sports drinks with more physical and mental benefits, give this a try.

Pro Tip: CBD water comes in both pre- and post-workout varieties. If you’re looking for energy and mood improvement before your workout, then opt for the black cherry flavor. If you need muscle recovery and rehydration, try the cucumber kiwi variety.

#4 Remember to Warm Up and Cool Down

Warmups and cool downs should become an essential part of your fitness routine if you want to keep your body healthy and injury-free. Particularly when it comes to cardio, warmups and cool downs not only prep and soothe the muscles, but also regulate heart rate and help the body acclimate to your exercise routine.

Warming up before cardio (or an intense weightlifting session) will stretch the muscles and prepare your body for the more intense exercise to come. If you don’t perform a proper warm up, you run the risk of pulling a muscle—and your muscles will hurt more post-workout. Warming up also allows the heart rate to build gradually, rather than a sudden spike which can be damaging on the circulatory system.

Cooling down is just as important but for slightly different reasons. The cool down is particularly important to prevent lightheadedness and nausea when wrapping up intense exercise. If you don’t allow your body to gradually return to normal, your elevated heart rate and body temperature could make you feel sick or even faint.

Pro Tip: Your warmup and cool down times should coincide with the length and intensity of your workout. Don’t fill it in with 30 seconds of stretching or jogging. Devote a full 5 to 10 minutes to both your warmup and cool down.

Treat Your Body with Care

Sometimes, people exercise a bit too hard. They want to look their best, so they push themselves to the limit, which can be dangerous. When it comes to exercise, form and function should be the priority. Losing weight and gaining muscle is great, but it should never come at the expense of your health.

Stay hydrated, take care of your muscles, and remember why you’re doing this—to feel good!