Healing Aids... - Exercise - Ailments / Situations Where Used

The bottom line is that exercise makes you live longer. Recent studies suggest that for every one hour you exercise, your life extends by two hours -- a pretty sound investment. A 17,000 person Harvard Alumni Study showed that even moderate amounts of exercise decreased mortality rates by 25 to 30%. It is hard to argue with these numbers. However, the numbers do not reveal the whole story.

As well as increasing longevity, exercise is just good old-fashioned fun. Exercise is enjoyable. It actually increases energy, it promotes a positive mood and a good self-esteem, and it relieves stress. Furthermore, exercise increases your capacity to circulate blood throughout your body at a faster rate, allowing you perform activities for longer periods of time and at increased work levels.

Cardiovascular disease is probably the most important consequence of sedentary living. Exercise reduces every single major modifiable risk factor of cardiovascular disease, including smoking. Many people quit smoking when beginning a new exercise regime, and while exercising, tend not to be in environments where they are exposed to second hand smoke. After all, smoking and exercise do not mix well. However, even if quitting does not take place when beginning an exercise program, exercise develops a sense of mastery and self-confidence that helps control smoking, among other bad habits. The risk factors of cardiovascular disease that are reduced by regular exercise include high blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, inactivity, diabetes, obesity, and stress. In all, experts agree that being physically fit reduces your chance of having a heart attack or stroke by eight times.

Sedentary men are at a greater risk of colon, rectal, and prostate cancer. Sedentary women are at a greater risk of cancers of the breast, uterus and cervix. Being inactive is strongly linked to being overweight, which also puts undue strain on your back, legs, and joints, leading to further health complications.

Exercise is the only way to keep muscles strong, helping them build strength, flexibility, and endurance. Disuse results in a process called "atrophy", where muscle fibres shrink, becoming weak and unhealthy. Contrary to popular belief, exercise actually prevents muscle and joint injury, as extra muscular support protects your body, almost like armour.

It is this very same protection that helps prevent musculoskeletal damage such as low back pain, as well as protecting you from a "slipped" intervertebral disk. Furthermore, regular muscular activity promotes muscle flexibility, which allows for a greater range of motion without risk of injury. Being physically active also keeps bones strong, reducing the risk of developing osteoporosis, a disease to which women are particularly vulnerable. A study in Toronto on 60 year-old women demonstrated that even moderate exercise helped to improve their bone density.