Physical Activity and Nutrition

What Everyone Should Know

Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. While it can be hard to find the time, it's important to fit in at least 30 minutes of activity every day. More is even better, but any amount is better than none. Click here for how-to tips.

Exercise improves your health and can help you live longer. Physical activity lowers your chances of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, depression, arthritis, and osteoporosis.

Every good physical activity program includes three elements:

Tips:

• • Choose activities you enjoy. Many things count as exercise, like walking, gardening, and dancing.
• • Make exercise a habit by setting aside the same time for it each day--try going to the gym each day at lunchtime or taking a walk regularly after dinner.
• • Stay motivated by exercising with someone.

For Parents and Grandparents:

• • Play active games with your kids regularly, and go on family walks and bike rides when the weather allows.
• • Encourage children to play outside and to take part in organized activities, like soccer, gymnastics, and dancing.
• • Walk with your kids to school in the morning. It's great exercise for everyone.

(from www.yourdiseaserisk.harvard.edu)

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise is activity that increases lung efficiency, improves cardiovascular health, and uses large muscle groups in a continuous motion for a prolonged time period.

Examples include:

• • Brisk Walking
  
• • Bicycling
  
• • Jogging
  
• • Stair-climbing
  
• • Dancing
  
• • Skating and Rollerblading
  
• • Swimming
  
• • Cross-country skiing
  

The Surgeon General recommends that every American perform 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days of the week. Although 30 continuous minutes is desirable, one can still obtain health benefits by accumulating the 30 minutes in at least 10 minute intervals throughout the day. The intensity level of this exercise should be rigorous enough to raise the body's temperature, increase the heart rate and cause deep breathing.

Resistance Training

Resistance training is important for muscle strength and muscle endurance. Resistance training is the only proven form of exercise that can actually increase both muscle mass and bone density, thus combating common age-related processes such as muscle wasting and osteoporosis. Examples include:

• • Pushups (chest, shoulders, and triceps)
  
• • Sit-ups and leg lifts (abdominal)
  
• • Squats and lunges (hamstrings, and quadriceps of the legs)
  
• • Chin-ups or pull ups (biceps, and back muscles)

You can also create resistance by using free weights, resistance bands, or exercise machines.

Flexibility Exercises

Flexibility exercises are important for developing and maintaining joint range of motion.

Examples include:

• • Achilles tendon (back of ankle) stretch
• • calf stretch
• • Hamstring (back of thigh) stretch
• • Quadriceps stretch (front of thigh)
• • Lower back stretch
• • Upper arm stretch

Stretching exercises should be done at least three times per week. Each stretch should be held for approximately 20 seconds without bouncing. They can be included in the warm-up and cool-down periods of any work out. Yoga and Tai Chi are examples of structured stretching exercises, which may also be used as relaxation techniques.