EXERCISE

Regular exercise is vital to help maintain good health. Exercise burns up extra calories in food and reduces the likelihood of these being converted into fat. Regular exercise makes you fit, gives a general sense of  well-being, improves appetite and sleep and makes the heart and circulation, lungs and respiration work more efficiently. Exercise carried out for about 20 minutes three times a week is beneficial for the body.  

Physical Fitness can be measured in various aspects such as your balance, stamina, strength and flexibility. It is often assessed by measuring heart rate after exercise. Fitness can also be measured in terms of the strength of specific muscles required to perform a task such as lifting weights. optimal Physical fitness requires both aerobic exercise and muscle - strengthening  exercises. 

There are three main types of exercises that can be included in your exercise program. These are-  flexibility, strengthening, and fitness.

• Flexibility exercises involves stretching, loosening up and bending. These exercise helps muscles and joints to perform their full range of movement with suppleness and ease and help to reduce stiffness and keep your joints flexible.

• Strengthening exercises include both flexibility and fitness exercises as well as the use of weights and specially designed equipments in a gym. These exercises help maintain or increase muscle strength, leading to firming up of the body and an improvement in posture. 

• Fitness exercises help increase your endurance and stamina. Vigorous activities (Aerobic activities) such as  brisk walking, jogging, cycling, dancing, swimming along with many sports like football, tennis, badminton etc. improve fitness. The improvement can be seen after a few weeks of regular, fairly, hard exercise i.e.  30 minutes of  aerobic activity every day. However, the level of fitness soon declines if the exercise regime is abandoned. 

It's never too late to start exercising. Even old people can get stronger, improve their moods and reduce the risk for serious illness by putting more activity in to their daily lives. If you are out of shape, always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise programme.