by What are the most important laws of fitness of all time? : Physical activity for brain health offers immediate rewards that manifest immediately following moderate-to-vigorous exercise sessions of moderate intensity or greater. Benefits may include improved thinking abilities in children 6-13 and reduced short-term feelings of anxiety in adults. Exercise also can keep our cognitive, learning and judgment skills sharp with age while decreasing our risks of depression and anxiety as well as helping us sleep more soundly.
Manage your weight
Diet and exercise both play an essential part in weight management. Excess calories consumed exceed those burnt off and result in weight gain.
To maintain your weight
To maintain weight maintenance, work towards 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity such as dancing or yard work – you could do 30 minutes on five consecutive days, 22 minutes daily, etc – so long as they add up. This goal may need to be broken up over several sessions each week in order to reach it successfully.
People vary greatly in how much physical activity is necessary to reach and sustain healthy weight levels, with some needing significantly more activity to reach or keep a weight within normal ranges. You may require increased activity than others to reach and sustain an ideal bodyweight.
How to lose and keep off weight
Physical activity alone will not suffice; to reach and maintain a healthy weight, you must also adjust your eating patterns to cut back on calories consumed through food and beverage sources. Healthy diet combined with regular physical activity helps you achieve and sustain weight management.
Reducing health risks
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease and stroke are two leading causes of death in the US. Engaging in moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes every week can decrease your risk, with more vigorous exercises further decreasing it. Regular physical activity also has been shown to lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels.
Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome.
Physical activity can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome refers to any combination of too much fat around the waist, high blood pressure, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, elevated triglycerides or high blood sugar. With even as little as 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity reducing risk factors; additional amounts could further mitigate their effect.
Physical Activity for Infectious Diseases
Regular physical activity may help lower the risk of serious outcomes associated with infectious diseases like COVID-19, the flu and pneumonia. For example:
People who engage in little to no physical activity are at increased risk for COVID-19 illness compared to those who remain physically active, according to a review conducted by the CDC. Physical activity was associated with decreased hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 while inactivity increases risk.
Activity levels could lower your risk of influenza or pneumonia; according to one study, adults who met both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity guidelines had approximately half the chance of dying from flu or pneumonia as those who failed either requirement.
Some cancers
Being physically active lowers your risk for various cancers. Furthermore, regular physical activity helps survivors of cancer experience improved quality-of-life while increasing physical fitness levels.
Strengthen your bones and muscles
As we age, it’s essential that we take measures to safeguard our bones, joints and muscles to remain physically active and continue doing our daily activities. Protecting these areas will enable you to remain independent as possible and do daily tasks with greater ease.
Lifting weights is one effective form of muscle strengthening exercises. Muscle strengthening activities are especially essential for older adults as they experience reduced muscle mass and strength due to ageing. Gradually increasing both the weight and repetitions as part of muscle strengthening activities will provide even more benefits at any age.
Perform daily activities and prevent falls
Everyday activities like climbing stairs, grocery shopping or cleaning the house require functional limitations for daily functioning. Physically active middle-aged or older adults have less of a risk for functional limitations compared with inactive individuals.
Physical activities provide older adults with multiple benefits that improve physical function while decreasing the risk of falls or injuries associated with falling. Older adults should include aerobic, muscle strengthening and balance activities into their exercise regime – whether at home or as part of a structured community program.
Hip fracture is a potentially devastating health condition caused by falls. Breaking a hip can have long-term negative repercussions for older adults; physically active individuals have lower risks of hip fracture than inactive people.
Increase your chances of living longer
Studies estimate that 110,000 deaths could be prevented annually if U.S. adults ages 40 and above increased their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity even for 10 minutes each day, even just 10 extra minutes could make an impactful statement about health in America today.
Stepping more each day has also been shown to reduce the risk of premature death from all causes, with adults younger than 60 seeing their risk level off between 8,000 and 10,000 steps a day; for adults 60 or over it lowered from around 6000-8000 steps per day.
Control chronic health conditions & disabilities
Regular physical activity can help manage existing chronic conditions and disabilities more effectively, for instance by:
Reduce pain and improve function, mood and quality of life for adults living with arthritis.
Lowering blood sugar levels to reduce heart disease risk as well as nerve damage with type 2 diabetes; and providing support to everyday activities of living for people with disabilities are just among several of their many services to assist their independence and daily living needs.
Types of Fitness
There are a few main components of fitness, each essential for developing an effective exercise regime. HHS highlights these in their Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans as essential parts of fitness that should be included as part of regular workout sessions (note that other definitions may also include these components such as endurance, muscular endurance, power, speed, balance and agility – see above). Below you will find them included as examples: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans highlights them specifically).
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise forms the cornerstone of every fitness plan for good reason. Also referred to as cardiovascular or cardio exercise, aerobic workouts increase heart rate and breathing rate simultaneously – thus improving cardiorespiratory fitness according to the American Heart Association.
Aerobic exercise includes activities like brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming and aerobic fitness classes (like kickboxing ) along with tennis, dancing yard work tennis and jumping rope as defined by the Physical Activity Guidelines.
Strength Training
Strength training can be an essential means of increasing mobility and overall function as one ages, especially as muscle mass decreases with age. Strength exercises build bones and muscle while more muscularity protects you against falls or fractures associated with older age,” according to Robert Sallis MD of Kaiser Permanente Fontana in California and chairman of the Exercise is Medicine initiative with American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
ACSM defines strength or resistance training as any physical activity designed to increase muscular fitness by exercising against external resistance, such as lifting weights, using resistance bands or your body weight, carrying heavy loads or engaging in strenuous gardening activities (The Physical Activity Guidelines from HHS provide more details). Activities which fit this bill include lifting weights, using resistance bands or your own bodyweight or using physical resistance during strenuous gardening – per the Physical Activity Guidelines from HHS.
Flexibility and Mobility
According to the International Sports Sciences Association, both flexibility and mobility are integral parts of healthy movement; however, they should not be seen as synonyms.
Flexibility refers to the ability of tendons, muscles and ligaments to stretch while mobility refers to an individual’s ability to take any joint through its entire range-of-motion.
HHS Physical Activity Guidelines do not specify an hourly requirement for activities that help improve flexibility or mobility (such as stretching), nor are their health benefits known due to a lack of research on them; however, flexibility exercises are integral parts of physical fitness and should therefore be practiced regularly.
Guidelines recommend that older adults incorporate balance training into their regular fitness routine. Studies show that regular balance training exercises can significantly lower older adults’ risk of falls, which can have serious and debilitating repercussions including injuries that require medical treatment as well as lasting damage to health.
Rest and Recovery
Your body needs time and space for repair after exercise; creating rest and recovery days gives it the time it needs to heal from any muscle damage sustained during workouts. Exercising places strain on both the muscles and body; by healing this stress you become stronger (and fitter), but giving yourself adequate rest after each workout allows this recovery process to start working properly.
Recovery days may involve no physical activity at all or may include low-intensity, low-impact forms of exercise such as walking or gentle yoga. Dr. Sallis recommends engaging in some sort of physical activity each day – even something as simple as taking a 10-minute stroll outside is recommended by her.
Rest and recovery days don’t mean taking it easy; rather, the idea is simply not pushing yourself so hard that physical activity becomes burdensome or challenging.
Health Benefits of Exercise
Fitness improves health in ways that reduce risk for chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer over time. “Fitness can prevent almost every kind of disease,” according to Grayson Wickham DPT CSCS of Movement Vault Mobility and Movement Company in New York.
ACSM joined with the American Medical Association to establish Exercise is Medicine initiative in 2007. Their objective: making physical activity evaluation part of routine medical care while offering resources to people of all ability levels for exercising regularly. As its website notes, physical activity’s benefits remain undisputable compared to pharmaceutical drugs when it comes to preventing and treating various chronic diseases or medical conditions.
Below is a breakdown of those benefits:
Exercise boosts mood
According to research, regular physical activity has been found to provide an effective defense against depression and anxiety. Exercise also has shown to effectively manage symptoms associated with depression as well as treat it, according to another scientific article. Exercise may reduce inflammation that increases in those suffering depression; furthermore it could also promote beneficial changes within the brain itself, according to scientists.
Exercise Is Beneficial for Sleep
Exercise can be an excellent way to aid restful nightly slumber. Of 34 studies examined in a systematic review, 29 demonstrated how exercise improved sleep quality and was linked with longer bouts of restful restful slumber. Regular physical activity may help set your biological clock (so that alertness and sleepiness occur at optimal times), trigger chemical changes in the brain that promote restful slumber and ease presleep anxiety that might otherwise keep you up at night.
Note, however, that exercise done close to bedtime (within about an hour and two) may make sleeping harder for some individuals and should therefore be done earlier in the day.
Exercise promotes long-term health.
Exercise has been proven to benefit brain and bone health, preserve muscle mass (so you won’t become frail as you age), enhance sexual life, improve gastrointestinal function and lower the risk of many diseases including cancer and stroke. Studies involving over 116,000 adults indicated that getting at least 150-300 minutes of physical activity each week decreased death risk by 19 percent.
Fitness Can Help Manage Chronic Illness
Exercise helps the body function more effectively and manage other chronic health conditions more effectively. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), physical activity may help those suffering from osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease dementia or having had a stroke or cancer to reduce pain while improving insulin sensitivity/control/promote mobility/improve heart health/lower risk for other chronic illnesses as well as promote overall good mental health.
If you have chronic disease and wish to remain or increase physical activity, walking is generally a safe way to do this. “Most people do not require clearance from their physician before beginning walking; unless specifically told otherwise,” according to Sallis.
He believes physical activity should be seen as an essential baseline, and urges that everyone get clearance from their physician prior to beginning any form of physical activity.
However, if you experience shortness of breath or chest pain that is excessive and alarming, seek medical assistance immediately.
How Much Exercise Are You Requiring?
As per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, engaging in either 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity such as brisk walking or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity such as jogging or running per week is considered optimal to promoting good health. Mixing moderate with vigorous activities on multiple days throughout the week is also acceptable.
At least twice weekly, engage in muscle strengthening activity targeting all major muscle groups – legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest shoulders and arms according to guidelines.
HHS does not endorse flexibility or mobility exercises; however, older adults should incorporate balance training as part of their weekly physical activity routines.
Physical activity has been associated with even greater health benefits, particularly up to 300 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise (at which point incremental gains begin to level off). But keep in mind that these baseline fitness recommendations, though sufficient for long-term wellbeing, may not meet specific goals (for instance if training for a marathon).
However, excessive exercise may place additional stress on the body and even have adverse health impacts; further research needs to be conducted on this matter before an upper limit can be determined for exercise – evidence indicates this might be several times greater than what is recommended as weekly minimum exercises.
What to Eat Before, During, and After Exercise
Feeding your body with appropriate and healthy foods plays a significant role in fitness.
As soon as you wake up in the morning and get ready to exercise, Jackie Dikos, RDN a sports dietitian in Westfield Indiana who authored Finish Line Fueling advises listening to your body’s hunger signals, according to Finish Line Fueling author. If you had a heavy or late dinner the night before you may not require anything before heading into an intense workout; otherwise a small snack might do just fine.
Eating easy-to-digest carbohydrates like bananas or cereal before your workout or combining carbs and proteins (such as toast with nut butter) 30 minutes beforehand can provide fuel for the hard work ahead. If you recently ate, skipping this step may even be possible!
Shorter workouts don’t need mid-exercise fueling, while longer bouts of endurance exercise do. To fuel these exercises effectively, according to recommendations by the International Society of Sports Nutrition (30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates every hour after 60 minutes of physical activity is ideal). Sports drinks may provide convenient fuel during exercise.
After Your Workout A low to moderate intensity workout such as a 45-minute brisk walk may not require immediate refueling; Dikos suggests this is especially true if your next meal is forthcoming. But if you just completed an intense session or know you have another intense one coming later or tomorrow, or you know there will be another hard session ahead, your body may require fuel; for such instances Dikos recommends eating at least half a gram of carbs per pound of bodyweight plus 10-20 grams of protein to restore balance to restore equilibrium to recovery.
Tips for Getting Started and Staying Motivated to Exercise
Beginning (and sticking to) an exercise routine can be challenging, so here are some helpful suggestions:
Break It Up Fitness professionals have changed their perspective over time. According to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, all forms of physical activity count toward reaching your weekly activity target as long as their intensity meets certain thresholds – anything from taking a 5-minute stroll up the block, climbing your home’s staircase several times, or standing up from your desk and performing set of squats counts towards meeting these weekly targets! Recent data demonstrates there may be health benefits of engaging in even brief activity interventions: “More recent data shows there may be health benefits in accumulating activity over time – these short ‘exercise snacks’ add up,” states Sallis.
Increase Gradually Launching into an intense exercise regime all at once can cause both mental and physical exhaustion – not to mention risking injury – quickly. Sallis recommends starting where it feels comfortable (in terms of distance for walking/jogging and weights for strength training), gradually building it up over a period of weeks/months as you get stronger; getting involved in an exercise program such as apps or small group training or finding a personal trainer can assist this progression process.
Do Non-Exercise Exercise? Count it All as Exercise Do you count playing with your children in the backyard, cleaning house, doing yard work, dancing in your kitchen and taking out your dog as forms of physical activity? According to Sallis, all these everyday activities should count towards your movement quota and help you become healthier overall. Focus on them as opportunities to help get fitter while staying moving!
Schedule It Exercise is just as vital to overall wellbeing. While short bouts are great, longer sessions might become more necessary at some point – that’s where looking at your schedule, finding an optimal time in your day, and adding it as a non-negotiable meeting in your calendar will come in handy, says Smith-Ryan.
Consider High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) High intensity interval training (HIIT) can be an ideal form of workout for beginners who are either sedentary, overweight, or obese. “Our lab sees almost 100% compliance with interval training programs; HIIT makes buying into and sticking with fitness plans easy,” according to Smith-Ryan. HIIT offers shorter workout duration than traditional exercises (with similar benefits) for reduced time commitment and injuries overall, according to she explains. (Plus it can be done without equipment in your own home.) Even though HIIT training is high-intensity, you’ll move at an appropriate pace based on your fitness level and only engage in short bouts of more strenuous movements at any one time. Enlisting the aid of a personal trainer when structuring a HIIT workout can be immensely helpful.
Phone Your Friend To Stay Motivated The CDC says working out with a friend can increase motivation, expand your range of activities and keep you consistent over time.
What You Should Know About Home Gym Equipment
Exercise at home means forgoing the commute to a gym and waiting on someone else to complete using the machine you want – you get to work out whenever it fits into your schedule!
Smith-Ryan sees one positive result of the pandemic as more online resources for exercise programs that require no equipment whatsoever and can easily fit onto small spaces of floor space.
Starting out can be challenging but simple bodyweight exercises such as squats, lunges and pushups can help your resistance training efforts build muscle effectively. Consider investing in a yoga or exercise mat so that floor exercises are easier and then consider purchasing resistance bands or dumbbells to increase the intensity of strength training sessions.
What you choose will depend on your preferences, budget, and available space in your home. Resistance bands are affordable and easily stored; but know that you can enjoy an effective sweat session without spending a lot of money or purchasing lots of equipment.
The Takeaway
Fitness means more than exercising at a gym; it means being able to perform everyday tasks well, from climbing stairs and running around with your children in the backyard to lifting grocery bags. Staying active through strength training, home workouts or just walking can lower the risk of chronic diseases while helping manage existing ones more effectively, improving mood, focus and sleep in addition to strengthening immunity systems. Finding an exercise or activity regimen tailored specifically to you is the key to finding success!
14 of Your Most Asked Fitness Questions Are Answered, Complete List
Vitality’s Head of Physical Activity, Jonny Kibble, has all the answers to your fitness-related inquiries.
Launching any fitness regime usually begins with numerous questions.
No matter if it be training type, eating well before and after exercise or staying motivated.
Vitality’s resident fitness expert Jonny Kibble answers your most pressing fitness queries in an effort to kick-start a healthier journey for you.
How many times a week should I exercise?
How long is an ideal string? That all depends on you! Consider how many days realistically achievable and sustainable exercise would suit you and then set that as your target length of string.
Consider other lifestyle considerations – like spending time with family and friends or at work.
Method 3 allows for long-term exercise routine sustainability with visible results.
How long do I need to work out for?
Your current fitness levels, type of training and intensity all play a factor when determining how long an exercise session should last; generally speaking, more intense sessions usually last shorter.
The NHS advises engaging in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times each week as part of a healthy lifestyle regimen.
So when planning out your activities, keep this in mind.
If you only have 30 minutes, fitting in a quick HIIT workout or going for a run is an effective way to maximize the use of time that’s available to you. Or break it down into 10-minute chunks.
Workouts don’t need to be hour-long sessions – even 15-minute intense walks could count!
How do I warm-up and cool-down when I exercise?
Here, the goal is to slowly warm up your body by mobilising muscle groups and joints you will use during exercise.
Doing light movement like walking, skipping, or taking a leisurely jog may help.
Keep moving, keep your heart rate elevated and ensure your body feels prepared to exercise.
As part of your cool down routine, aim to decrease heart rate through slower cardio exercises and static stretching that target specific muscle groups used during your session.
These may include hamstring stretches, chest stretches against a wall and kneeling lunges to target hip flexors.
What time of day should I exercise?
Time of day when you feel most energetic is best for you.
Studies suggest that training late afternoon (between 4 and 6 pm ) may produce the best results due to fluctuations in hormones and temperature throughout the day.
Early risers might prefer to get in their exercise first thing in the morning, while night owls might find it simpler in the evening.
Experiment with different timings; you might find certain times work better depending on what time of year it is too.
How do I stay motivated?
Maintaining an exercise regime suitable to your current fitness levels is of utmost importance; otherwise there will be more of a mental blockage when getting going with exercises.
Mentally it may be easier for you to tackle a 10-minute stroll around your block rather than running an endurance race.
Pick something you can manage going forward.
Asking ourselves why we want to exercise is something many of us fail to do; yet this questioning of self is an effective way of maintaining long-term motivation for exercise.
Feeling more comfortable in their body or having enough physical fitness and healthiness to play longer with children are common goals among the population of today.
Fitness as a hobby?
Fitness can become enjoyable by choosing methods which combine fitness with social engagement. You could try group fitness classes as one such method that combines exercise with social interactions for added pleasure!
Joining a cycling or running club, football team or netball league are great ways to engage and have some fun while improving health and well-being.
What foods to eat before and after a workout?
Make sure that you consume a heavy meal 2-4 hours prior to beginning any form of training, or else it could make training uncomfortable and hamper performance.
Eating simple carbs approximately one hour prior to working out can be an excellent habit to adopt; consider eating some fresh or dried fruit, granola, or cereal bars before exercising for energy that you will have available during your session.
After working out, your body requires both fuel and rebuilding. Slow-releasing carbohydrates to restore any lost muscle glycogen (glycogen), along with protein for muscle rebuilding is the ideal combination to begin this process.
Carb-rich foods such as brown pasta, brown rice and potatoes should make up your base nutrition while meat such as fish or chicken along with beans and pulses provide ample proteins.
Why is fitness necessary and essential?
Due to our work lifestyles, modern life is increasingly sedentary. But our bodies were designed for movement and use, keeping them functioning well for longer.
Exercise can improve both our present and future quality of life by lengthening both our health span and lifespan (how long we remain independent as we age) as well as increasing life span (how long we ultimately live).
How does fitness influence mental health?
Exercise and fitness can provide great mental benefits.
Exercise has now been proven to be 1.5 times more effective than Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in relieving mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Exercise (when done in moderation and not excessively) has also been found to positively influence hormones, leading to an improvement in both mental health and mood.
Endorphins produced during physical exercise can help us feel happier, while stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol (stress-reducing hormones) can be burned off through physical exercise to alleviate physical stress.
Where/whom can I turn for advice?
Dependent upon what sort of advice and facilities are available to you, different strategies exist. A gym instructor or personal trainer at your local gym could offer assistance when seeking general strength/form/fitness guidance.
Experienced cyclists may prefer virtual options. Apps like Peloton, Garmin and FIIT provide great ways of improving cycling, running and general fitness.
Are fitness trackers worth my investment and which should I get?
Fitness trackers can assist in improving both health and fitness.
No matter your fitness goal or level, keeping track of steps or other data can provide accountability, measure progress and give valuable quantitative data about health and fitness.
Which device should I purchase? Choosing an effective device depends upon identifying what needs tracking, what’s most significant to you personally and your budget – then selecting an optimal option from there.
Should I make an exercise plan before beginning?
Your workouts will likely produce the greatest success when they’re well planned out and scheduled in. Planning allows you to designate rest days for recovery purposes as well as keeping you accountable as an overall exerciser.
Your progress can also be tracked week by week.
At certain points in our fitness journeys, taking an unplanned approach and just going with the flow can also bring rewards.
As such, training shouldn’t become too stressful; simply enjoy yourself and let go of any preoccupation with performance during this relaxing activity.
What type of training increases muscle mass?
Resistance training may be the ideal method of increasing muscle mass.
As an introduction to resistance training, starting by participating in some form at least 2-3 times each week would be ideal.
Beginners should focus on compound movements – like squats, deadlifts, rows and presses – which target multiple muscle groups at once.
Be certain to utilize correct form while gradually increasing weight or difficulty of an exercise variation over time for maximum muscle growth.
What do I do to help muscle soreness?
At some point or another, all of us experience soreness – this is only natural! Most often this occurs as the result of something called novel stimulus training – training differently or engaging in activities not normally encountered.
There are a few strategies you can employ in order to combat muscle soreness:
Foam rolling, stretching, ice baths and general movement should follow each session for best results. You will likely feel most sore 24-48 hours post workout (especially following long sedentary spells), so at this time focus on adequate protein consumption, rest and sleep for optimal recovery.
These elements will assist with rebuilding muscle fibres damaged during exercise.
