Benefits of Exercise

Appearance

As time passes, a person's subcutaneous fat stores tend to increase. Women may find that they begin to add inches to their abdomen, arms, hips and buttocks, while men have a tendency to develop love handles and pot bellies. These changes are not necessarily demonstrated on the scale. A woman may weigh 61 kilograms (135 pounds) when she is 25 and the same at 55. Skin fold caliper measurements of the subcutaneous fat is where the differences are definitively demonstrated. At age 25 the normal percentage of body fat is 25%. At age 55 this measurement increases to 30.5%.

These changes in the way in which fat is stored is associated with the aging process, therefore, a lean, fit body at any age has the appearance of being more youthful. A fit body is a shapely body The curves are in the right place, so that clothing looks and feels more attractive.

Well Being

There is a scientific link between our sense of well being and exercise. This exercise induced sense of well being is attributed to a psychochemical phenomenon in which morphine like chemicals known as endorphins and enkephalins are released in the brain. These chemicals improve our mood and help us to feel more energetic. A few minutes of exercise, rather than a snooze on the couch, goes a long way to replenishing our energy stores. An increase of energy results in an increase in productivity which in turn contributes to our sense of enjoyment and our quality of life.

A mind body awareness is developed with regular exercise which contributes to a greater sense of self. This conscious awareness of ones self leads to a greater respect for our health and a better sense of control over our lives. Self confidence and selfesteem increase. We begin to do things for ourselves, resisting the influence of others, because we are in better tune with our own wants, needs, and desires. In fact, bad habits like smoking and alcohol consumption, may fade in their addictive power as a result of participating in a regular exercise program.

Psychological tests show that people who exercise are more self confident and optimistic. They also demonstrate fewer aberrant mental symptoms, such as helplessness, anxiety, and withdrawal, and are better equipped to deal with stress. In fact, exercise has been reported to be more effective than psychotherapy or antidepressant drugs in treating mild depression.

Health

When people who are sedentary are compared to people who exercise regularly and are considered to be very fit, the sedentary group are 65% more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke or to develop cancer or diabetes. Participating in a regular exercise program reduced this risk of getting a serious illness to 10%.

These statistics are a very powerful argument for exercising regularly However, the role of exercise in maintaining an ideal weight has more general appeal than the scare tactics of future illness, until of course those illnesses raise their ugly heads.

Physiologists agree that a moderate fat increase is inevitable as you grow older. Do not despair however, because they also concur that exercise, combined with a sensible dietary intake, is the most effective method to control this aging phenomenon.

Dieting is not the answer. Ninety percent of people who try to lose weight through dieting alone fail. This is because the body perceives that a war is being waged against it and in all likelihood the body will win. Why? Because the body will respond to the threat of starvation by becoming more efficient at storing fat, which it perceives as being vital to its future survival.

About one third of the weight lost from all diets is lean tissue, not fat tissue. Dieting trains the body to slow the metabolism so that it does not efficiently break down fatty substances in the diet. So, although you may lose weight while you are on the diet, when you begin to eat normal well balanced meals again, you will not only gain the lost weight but you will find that more pounds are being added. This is known as the yo yo syndrome where an individual may lose 8 pounds initially, but over a period of time regain 10 pounds (4 to 5 kilograms). The body has become very efficient at storing fat for the next period of starvation hence the regained pounds are primarily fat.

The ideal weight control program includes a nutritionally balanced diet combined with an aerobic exercise program. This is easier to say than to implement. That is because the third component of an ideal weight control program is the psychological commitment to change. The odds are against you if you do not address the fact that your present lifestyle is probably inconsistent with your desire to control your weight, You must be prepared to make an emotional commitment to change your lifestyle or you will fail to meet your goal of obtaining the ideal weight and level of fitness for your particular body type.

Exercise alone is more effective than diet alone for fat reduction particularly when crash dieting is used rather than slow, progressive change in eating habits.