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Exercise - Highlights

Description

An in-depth report on the benefits and types of exercise.

Highlights:

Tips for Exercising:

Drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after a workout.
Do warm-up exercises for 5 - 10 minutes at the beginning of an exercise session. Strengthening exercises, quiet calisthenics, and walking are ideal.
Do not eat for 2 hours before vigorous exercise.
When exercising, listen to your body's warning symptoms

New Research:

A study of middle-aged men found that increasing physical activity at age fifty will result in a reduction in mortality rates similar to that of quitting smoking. After 10 years of increased physical activity, these men had the same mortality rate for their age group as men who were highly physically active throughout entire adult their lives.
A study of over 4,300 twins found that physical activity can a genetic predisposition for high body mass index and large waist circumference.

Benefits of exercise:

The benefits of exercise include:

Decreased risk of stroke, heart disease, colon cancer, breast cancer, dementia, and more.
Decreased body fat
Improved movement of joints and muscles
Improved oxygen delivery throughout the body
Improved sense of well-being
Improved strength and endurance

Motivation:

Lack of motivation is one reason many people stop exercising. Tips for avoiding burnout include:

Think of exercise as a menu rather than a diet. Choose a number of different physical activities that are personally enjoyable such as sports, dancing, or biking.
Develop an interest or hobby that requires physical activity.
Adopt simple routines such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, walking instead of driving to the local newsstand, or canoeing instead of zooming along in a powerboat.
Try cross training (alternating between several types of exercises).
Exercise with friends.

Consider getting a dog. One study found that dog owners walk almost twice as much as those who do not own a dog. Regular walking is a good way to improve health.

Resources

http://fitness.gov -- The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
www.ncppa.org -- National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity
www.acefitness.org -- American Council on Exercise
www.arthritis.org -- The Arthritis Foundation offers tips on exercising with arthritis
www.justmove.org -- Just Move (American Heart Association)
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan -- We Can! (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

References

Abbott RD, White LR, Ross GW, et al. Walking and Dementia in Physically Capable Elderly Men. JAMA. 2004;292:1447-1453.

American Diabetes Association (ADA). Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes -- 2008. Diabetes Care. 2008;31:S12-S54.

Brown WJ, Burton NW, Rowan PJ. Updating the evidence on physical activity and health in women. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(5):404-411.

Brown SG, Rhodes RE. Relationships among dog ownership and leisure-time walking in Western Canadian adults. Am J Prev Med. 2006 Feb;30(2):131-6.

Brown WJ, Burton NW, Rowan PJ. Updating the evidence on physical activity and health in women. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(5):404-411.

Byberg L, Melhus H, Gedeborg R, et al. Total mortality after changes in leisure time physical activity in 50 year old men: 35 year follow-up of population based cohort Brit Med J. 2009;338:b688.

Calton BA, Lacey JV Jr, Schatzkin A, Schairer C, Colbert LH, Albanes D, Leitzmann MF. Physical activity and the risk of colon cancer among women: A prospective cohort study (United States). Int J Cancer. 2006 Feb 17; [Epub ahead of print]

Di Loreto C, Fanelli C, Lucidi P, et al. Make your diabetic patients walk: long-term impact of different amounts of physical activity on type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2005 Jun;28(6):1295-302.

Gaziano JM, Manson JE, Ridker PM. Primary and Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease. In: Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2007:chap 45.

Johnson TRB, Gregory KD, Niebyl JR. Preconception and Prenatal Care: Part of the Continuum. In: Gabbe SG, Niebyl JR, Simpson JL, et al. (eds.) Gabbe: Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone; 2007.

Kruk J. Lifetime physical activity and the risk of breast cancer: a case-control study. Cancer Detect Prev. 2007;31(1):18- 28.

Larson EB, Wang L, Bowen JD, et al. Exercise is associated with reduced risk for incident dementia among persons 65 years of age and older. Ann Intern Med. 2006 Jan 17;144(2):73-81.

Meyerhardt JA, Heseltine D, Niedzwiecki D, et al. Impact of physical activity on cancer recurrence and survival in patients with stage III colon cancer: findings from CALGB 89803. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Aug 1;24(22):3535-41.

Mikkelsson LO, Nupponen H, Kaprio J, Kautiainen H, Mikkelsson M, Kujala UM. Adolescent flexibility, endurance strength, and physical activity as predictors of adult tension neck, low back pain, and knee injury: A 25 year follow up study. Br J Sports Med. 2006 Feb;40(2):107-13.

Molokhia EA, Perkins A. Preventing cancer. Prim Care. 2008;35(4):609-23.

Mustelin L, Silventoinen K, PietilÃ¤inen K, Rissanen A, Kaprio J. Physical activity reduces the influence of genetic effects on BMI and waist circumference: a study in young adult twins. Int J Obes (Lond). 2009;33(1):29-36.

National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma- summary report 2007. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Nov;120(5 Suppl):S94-138.

Taylor, A.H., Ussher, M., & Faulkner, G. The acute effects of exercise on cigarette cravings, withdrawal symptoms, affect and smoking behaviour: a systematic review. Addiction. 2007;102:534-543.

Tehard B, Friedenreich CM, Oppert JM, et al. Effect of physical activity on women at increased risk of breast cancer: results from the E3N cohort study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Jan;15(1):57-64.

Reviewed last on: 5/4/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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