Exercise has long been touted as the cure for most everything that ails you. While its health benefits might have been slightly exaggerated, there can be no doubt that regular physical activity will certainly improve your general health and overall sense of well-being.
For a start, numerous studies have shown that regular exercise significantly reduces your risk of heart attack or stroke. However, what most people don’t realize is that the greatest heart protection occurs when one simply changes from being sedentary to being moderately active. An example would be just walking briskly in your neighborhood for half an hour three days a week. More intense exercise provides only minimally greater benefit and the old adage of “no pain, no gain” no longer really applies when it comes to your heart. You don’t have to be a super athlete to benefit.
Of probable relevance in discussing exercise is the fact that many other related factors also come into play. Active people are much less likely to smoke, their blood pressures are lower and they are thinner and eat more healthily than their sedentary peers. Studies have also shown that they tend to be better educated, and education is one of the strongest predictors of good health and a longer life.
Moderate exercise such as walking can also reduce the risk of develop¬ing diabetes in people who are overweight and who lead a sedentary lifestyle. In a large study in which participants were randomly assigned ei¬ther to an exercise and diet program or to a preventive diabetes drug, far fewer of those that managed to maintain a regular walking program went on to develop diabetes.
Exercise has also been shown to stave off the development of osteoporosis. People who walk, run or lift light weights on a regular basis not only have stronger bones but are also less likely to fall, probably because they are stronger and have developed a better sense of balance. Since falls can lead to fractures in older people with osteoporosis, exercise will indirectly prevent broken bones as well.
Exercise benefits go beyond the prevention of heart disease.
And the benefits don’t stop there. The same sort of studies that were done for heart disease are now finding that people who ex¬ercise regularly not only have fewer heart attacks and strokes but also have a much lower incidence of certain types of cancer such as breast, colon and prostate.
Lastly, exercise not only contributes to the health benefits noted above, it also helps you to look and feel better, become stronger and more flexible, have more energy, and reduces stress and tension.
The time to start is now!
For two helpful web sites on the subject of exercise and your health you may go to www.cardiosmart.org and www.americanheart.org.
Article contributed by cardiologist, Basil Margolis MD, FACC, FRCP, Director of the Preventive Cardiology Program at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. Dr. Margolis is a member of the Men’s Health & Wellness Center’s Medical Advisory Board.
