Benefits to exercise

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Benefits to exercise

Love it or hate it, the benefits to exercise include an improvement in cholesterol levels.

active people What are the benefits of exercise?

It can:

Increase HDL (good) cholesterol by 4-18%
Reduce triglycerides by 4-37%
Reduce LDL cholesterol
Help you lose weight if you need to
Tone your muscles
Reduce your blood pressure
Improve cardiovascular health
Improve mental health

People who exercising regularly are generally:

fitter
less tired
more relaxed
in control of their weight

and often

have more energy
sleep better
have better heart and lung function

People who exercise generally find that the benefits to exercise help keep them motivated.

How much exercise?

People know there are benefits to exercise, but are often unaware of how much to do.

An exercise routine is ideal, containing at least 30 mins per day on 5-7 days per week. The exercise should be "moderate" in intensity.

What does 'moderate intensity' mean?

Moderate intensity exercise is as it sounds: 'moderate' i.e. somewhere in between vigorous and low intensity. It should increase both your heart and breathing rate.

You should still be able to comfortably talk, without panting too much. Examples include:

Brisk walk
Light jog
Gardening
Swimming
Light aerobics
Bike riding
Lawn mowing
Raking
Household chores such as using the vacuum
Water aerobics
Ballroom dancing
Line dancing

In terms of walking, some people define moderate intensity as 100 steps per minute. Others declare it as reaching around 55-70% of your maximum heart rate.

walking

A good way to think of it is around an intensity of 5, on a scale between 1-10 where 10 is absolute full intensity exercise (such as sprinting!) and 1 is resting.

Are there any danger to exercising?

It is important to speak to your Doctor or health care professional before you start exercising, if you have not done so in a long time. This is especially important if you have any significant health problems, such as having high cholesterol.

I haven't exercised in a long time...help!

Start slowly. If you haven't exercised in a long time, it’s obviously very silly to start jogging 10 laps of the oval.
Build up gradually. This might mean starting at a rate of 10 mins per day, then increasing by 5 minutes each week. One of the key benefits to exercise is an increased fitness level, so starting small and building up over time is an absolute key.
Do something you enjoy. If you hate bike riding, then don’t do it! Find something that you don’t mind doing, so that it doesn’t feel like such a chore.

I don't have time for exercise

If someone were to present you with $1000 cash every time you were able to do 30 mins of exercise, how easily could you set aside time to exercise?

exercise bike

I find that most people actually do have time for exercise, but it isn't part of their routine yet. Do you have time to eat dinner? most people do, because it's naturally embedded in their habits.

Make exercise a habit, at the expense of television viewing or some other sedentary behaviour. Better still, why not combine the two aforementioned examples? there's no reason you couldn't watch the six o'clock news whilst riding a stationary bike!

Remember that exercise doesn't have to be done in 1 solid 30 minute "chunk". You can break it up however you like, say 10 mins three times daily, as long as you get a total of at least 30 mins.

Its too cold, too hot, too sunny, raining or snowing outside so I can't exercise

aerobics

Rubbish. Go and join a gym or invest in exercise equipment for your house. Don't you watch infomercials?! Exercise equipment can now apparently be folded down to a matchbox size and be conveniently stored under your bed.

Alternately, dust off those 1980’s Denise Austin videos and pull on those legwarmers! Nothing is more stylish or fun. My favourite is the "hips, thighs and buttocks" video!!

The benefits to exercise are worth overcoming the hurdle of bad weather!

Four quick tips

Change your exercise routine regularly to stop boredom. If we are bored with something, we won't do it, we'll do anything else instead. I can't tell you the amount of times I cleaned the house from top to bottom, in order to avoid writing a boring report. Don’t let the same thing happen with your exercise routine!
Exercise with a friend. We can make cheap or false bargains with ourselves "It's too early, I don't want to get out of bed to walk, so I'll do an extra long walk tomorrow!!" but we can't let down other people. Would you call up your friend to say that you can't be bothered walking that morning? It’s much harder saying this to a friend as opposed to yourself.
Choose a form of exercise that you enjoy. If you hate jogging, don't structure your entire exercise routine on jogging each day. How long will that last? Think outside the square...jazz dancing is a form of exercise, so is aerobics, squash, basketball, skipping, trampolining, tap dancing, line dancing and swimming. Think of something new and fun you might like to try perhaps, and make exercise an exciting adventure.
Boost your exercise by doing "incidental activity"...we've all heard this one before. Park the car further away from the shops, take the bus to work, take the stairs not the lift...etc. Here's a couple of extra I’ve added: walk to the tv to turn it off instead of using the remote, tap your feet whilst watching tv or playing the computer (yes, you could do this right now!).

The benefits to exercise should be clear by now.

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