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Exercise - Introduction

Description

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

Introduction:

To enjoy a long and healthy life, everyone should make lifestyle choices that include a healthy diet, regular exercise, and maintaining normal weight. The combination of inactivity and eating the wrong foods is the second most common preventable cause of death in the United States (smoking is the first).

Most research on the benefits of exercise focuses on heart protection. Studies clearly show that exercise helps the heart. In addition, studies are reporting that even people at higher risk for heart disease may gain important protection from exercising.

Evidence suggests that our genes evolved to favor exercise. In other words, during prehistoric times, if a person couldn't move quickly and wasn't strong, that person died. Those who were fit survived to reproduce and pass on their "fitter" genes. Some researchers believe that with our current inactive lifestyle, these genes produce a number of bad effects, which can lead to many chronic illnesses.

The benefits of exercise include:

Decreased risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease, high blood pressure, and stroke
Decreased risk of colon and breast cancers
Decreased risk of diabetes
Decreased risk of osteoporosis
Decreased risk of depression and dementia
Decreased body fat
Improved metabolic processes -- the way the body breaks down and builds necessary substances
Improved movement of joints and muscles
Improved oxygen delivery throughout the body
Improved sense of well-being
Improved strength and endurance

In addition, exercise can help change other dangerous lifestyle habits. A 2007 review of existing studies found that moderate exercise, for as little as 5 minutes at a time, can help combat the nicotine withdrawal symptoms people experience when they try to stop smoking.

No one is too young or too old to exercise. The United States Surgeon General recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, nearly every day. However, vigorous exercise carries risks that people should discuss with a doctor. You should always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any of the following risk factors:

A symptom you have never told your doctor about
Arthritis of the hips or knees
Blood clots
Chest pain
Chronic lung disease
Diabetes
Eye injury or recent eye surgery
Family history of a cardiovascular disease
Foot or ankle sores that won't heal
Heart disease
Heart palpitations
Hernia
High blood pressure
History of smoking
Infections
Joint swelling
Obesity
Pain or trouble walking after a fall
Shortness of breath

Fifty percent of all people who begin a vigorous training program drop out within a year. The key to reaching and maintaining physical fitness is to find activities that are exciting, challenging, and satisfying.

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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