Exercise and a Healthy Lifestyle

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, along with nutrition (a balanced diet) and adequate hydration (drinking water).

Most people would think of exercise as an important part of achieving a healthy weight. The immediate response is often a gym membership or starting running. If not properly instructed, planned, and maintained, both can lead to injury, frustration, and perhaps even abandonment.

Exercise doesn’t have to involve going to the gym every day; it can and should be part of everyday life, and it is better to be varied so that boredom doesn’t creep in.

What do you enjoy doing now? What would fit with your lifestyle? What did you used to enjoy doing that has lapsed? What activities do your friends and family enjoy?

Any movement really has to be better than being sat in front of the TV with a large bag of crisps!

Yes, exercise does burn calories, but more importantly, it keeps on burning calories over the next 24 hours or so as your metabolic rate increases, i.e., your body becomes more efficient at burning the fuel you are taking in the form of food.

Weight-bearing exercise, such as walking or running, improves bone strength and is particularly important in warding off osteoporosis, a thinning of the bones usually seen in older people.

Exercise helps improve muscle strength and gives the body better form and definition, often making you feel better about yourself even if you haven’t lost weight. If muscles are becoming bigger via strength exercises, it is also important to stretch, and warm-up and cool-down sessions are needed with all activities to prevent injury.

Exercise helps improve mood and mental health for a number of reasons. First, great hormones, the so-called endorphins, are secreted when you exercise. These have an effect similar to morphine and can help battle stress and depression. Endorphin release also helps control appetite and increases sex drive. The amount of endorphin released varies from one individual to another.

The benefits of exercise are greatly seen in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease i.e. high blood pressure, heart attacks diabetes and stroke.

How much Exercise?

Well, unless you’re an endurance athlete, the best amount of exercise for improving your wellness is actually around 30 minutes, preferably every day. And that is moderate exercise e.g. a brisk walk, doing the hoovering! Anything that makes you slightly breathless. Also the 30 minutes is accumulative i.e. it all adds up during the day and doesn’t need to be done all at once. So walking to the shops, taking the stairs instead of the escalator really do help.