It's Wise To Exercise
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday March 16, 2004
REGULAR workouts provide a host of psychological and physical benefits that are priceless.
Keeping physically active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The following are just some of the recent findings which document the countless pay-offs of exercise.
Ageing
Exercise can stave off many physical and cognitive problems associated with ageing, including disease and loss of strength. An eight-year study of adults, reported in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, describes exercise as a key factor in ``ageing successfully". A Tufts University (USA) review of 17 studies concluded that strength training by older adults improved balance and flexibility and increased muscle and bone mass.
Arthritis
Physical therapists at the Keeler Air Base Medical Centre in the US have found exercise can alleviate the pain of arthritis by reducing stiffness and increasing flexibility and muscle strength. Other benefits observed included enhanced cardiovascular fitness and endurance and decreased anxiety and depression.
Cancer
Several studies show people who are overweight or unfit face a higher risk of cancer. One, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, indicates individuals with the highest body mass indexes (BMI's) run the highest risk of death from many types of cancer including cancer of the oesophagus, kidneys, pancreas, colon and prostate. Other studies demonstrate that a healthy diet and regular exercise reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Heart disease
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine recently published a report on research which suggests exercise and weight loss can help prevent heart disease. The research concluded the subjects who exercised the most and controlled their weight had the lowest rate of death from cardiovascular disease, regardless of how much they ate.
Mental decline
Exercise has a visible effect on the brain. Researchers at the University of Illinois who took brain scans of older adults found ``dramatic differences" in the brains of exercisers and non-exercisers, prompting them to hypothesise that regular exercise can slow the rate of brain tissue loss, thereby protecting memory, as a person ages.
Sleep
Aerobic exercise reduces insomnia, according to a study published in Sleep magazine. Subjects who worked out for 3.5 to four hours a week in the mornings had the easiest time falling asleep; those who exercised in the evening, however, saw less improvement in their sleeping.
Stroke
More than two dozen international studies have confirmed that the more physically fit a person is, the lower their risk of stroke.
An analysis of the studies, published in Stroke, an American Heart Association journal, calculated that highly active people had a 27per cent lower risk of suffering, or dying from, a stroke than those who got little or no exercise.
This article supplied by The Forum Sports and Aquatic Centre at The University of Newcastle, adapted from ``Club Business International", International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, February 2004. Website: www.newcastle.edu.au/sport. Phone 49217001.
© 2004 Newcastle Herald