Exercise: Why Fitness Matters
Being fit improves your health. Fitness reduces your risk for health problems. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some types of cancer. Being fit can help prevent or relieve problems including tiredness, stress, depression, back problems . . . the list goes on. Regular exercise is also key to losing excess weight and keeping it off.
A Lifetime of Fitness
Fitness offers many benefits. It can help you:
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Decrease your risk of health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and some types of cancer.
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Manage your weight.
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Sleep better and relieve stress.
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Boost your energy.
But you need to continue exercising to keep these benefits. So your main goal is to make fitness a lifetime commitment. Build a fitness plan that you can stick with. Choose activities you like. Go slowly, especially when just starting out. Work up to being active 30 minutes on most days.
Why Be Fit?
People who are physically fit:
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Publication Source:
Amisola RV, Adolescent Medicine, 14(1), Physical activity, exercise, and sedentary activity: relationship to the causes and treatment of obesity, Feb 1, 2003, pp 23-35
Online Source:
American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4563
Online Medical Reviewer:
Travers, Matt
Date Last Reviewed:
1/15/2007
Date Last Modified:
7/9/2002