How can physical activity help to maintain health and weight

How can physical activity help?


 The new 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that an active lifestyle can lower your risk of early death from a variety of causes. There is strong evidence that regular physical activity can also lower your risk of:





    benefits of exercise and physical may help to improve health
  • Heart disease

    •
  • Stroke

    •
  • High blood pressure

    •
  • Unhealthy cholesterol levels

    •
  • Type 2 diabetes

    •
  • Metabolic syndrome

    •
  • Colon cancer

    •
  • Breast cancer

    •
  • Falls

    •
  • Depression



Regular activity can help prevent unhealthy weight gain and also help with weight loss when combined with lower calorie intake. If you are overweight or obese, losing weight can lower your risk for many diseases. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea (breathing problems while sleeping), and some cancers.

Regular physical activity can also improve your cardiorespiratory (heart, lungs, and blood vessels) and muscular fitness. For older adults, activity can improve mental function.

Physical activity may also help:
  • Improve functional health for older adults

    •
  • Reduce waistline size

    •
  • Lower risk of hip fracture

    •
  • Lower risk of lung cancer

    •
  • Maintain weight after weight loss

    •
  • Increase bone density

    •
  • Improve sleep quality

    •
  • Lower risk of endometrial cancer

Health benefits are gained by doing the following each week:
  • 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity

           or
  • 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity

           or
  • A combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity

           and
  • Muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days

This physical activity should be in addition to your routine activities of daily living, such as cleaning or spending a few minutes walking from the parking lot to your office.

If you want to lose a substantial (more than 5 percent of body weight) amount of weight, you need a high amount of physical activity unless you also lower calorie intake. This is also the case if you are trying to keep the weight off. Many people need to do more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week to meet weight-control goals.

How you can increase your physical activity
If you normally...Try this instead!
Park as close as possible to the storePark farther away
Let the dog outbackTake the dog for a walk
Take the elevatorTake the stairs
Have lunch deliveredWalk to pick up lunch
Relax while the kids playGet involved in their activity