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Healthy Lifestyle - Exercise
  Healthy Lifestyle
  Exercise 

Exercise is important for maintaining a healthy body and a healthy mind.  Exercise is performed for many different reasons. These include:

  • strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system
  • honing athletic skills
  • weight loss or maintenance in the overweight 

Exercises are generally grouped into three types depending on the overall effect they have on the human body:

  • Aerobic exercises such as cycling, walking, running, hiking or playing tennis focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance
  • Anaerobic exercises such as weight training, functional training or sprinting increase short-term muscle strength
  • Flexibility exercises such as stretching improve the range of motion of muscles and joints

Benefits of Exercise:

Frequent and regular physical exercise:

  • boosts the immune system
  • helps prevent diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity
  • improves mental health and helps prevent depression

Exercise regularly and you will:

  • Increase your endurance
  • Have healthier muscles, joints and bones
  • Increase your metabolism
  • Have more energy
  • Experience a sense of well-being and be better able to cope with stress
  • Be better able to get to sleep and stay asleep

How much exercise is needed?

The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians recommends at a minimum 30 minutes of moderate physical activity – like walking – on most days of the week. A good test to see if your exercise is moderately active is to see if you can talk easily while you're exercising. If you can, you are exercising at a light to moderate level. Once your breathing makes it too hard to talk, you know you've increased the intensity of your workout!
 

What types of exercises are there?

Aerobic - Physical activity that is rhythmic, repetitive, challenges the circulatory system, and uses large muscles. The exercise program must significantly increase the blood flow to the muscles for an extended period of time, promoting cardiovascular fitness.  Aerobic exercise includes jogging, walking (fast), cycling, swimming, cross-training (gym equipment such as treadmills), dancing, rollerblading, skateboarding, basketball, hockey, karate, rowing, soccer, skiing, tennis, netball

Anaerobic (or weightlifting) - muscular effort, usually short bursts followed by rest, and then repeated a number of times.  This could include gym equipment, rowing, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats or even carrying the shopping! 

Flexibility - stretching exercises should be performed a minimum of three times a week. It is recommended that you stretch after your weight training or cardiovascular program. When you stretch, spend 10 to 30 seconds in the stretched position and repeat each stretch two or three times. Make sure you are not overly aggressive when you stretch. You should feel a comfortable stretch in each position. Hold the stretched position and relax the area being stretched. Never bounce or jerk the body part you are stretching.

The longer and more intensely you exercise, the greater the benefit.

More information:

Department of Health & Ageing - www.health.gov.au
Life Be In It - www.lifebeinit.org

Ask Your Pharmacist about:

  • Help with exercise programs

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