Fitness benefits

Increasing physical activity has been proven to improve both physical and mental health. Heart disease is a major killer in the west, and increasing physical activity has been shown to improve the health of the heart and reduce the chance of health implications. Improving ones fitness will strengthen the heart and make it more efficient, therefore reducing the stress it is under.

A list of possible benefits from increased fitness

Improved heart health
Improved mood
Better sleeping patterns
Increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol
Greater flexibility
Stronger bones
Better body composition

Improved weight management

A big factor at play is the reduction in body weight often experienced by those who go from a sedentary life style to a more active one. Most people do not perform enough physical activity, and this has resulted in many people in the west becoming over weight. There is another aspect to this however – diet. Improving ones diet and increasing physical activity can drastically improve body composition, with a reduction in body fat and an increase in lean tissue.

Another important point is the increase in muscle size from physical activity. Those who regularly exercise will use their muscles a lot more than somebody who performs minimal physical activity, and therefore will likely have larger and stronger muscles. Increased muscle mass does increase body weight, but also increases the metabolic rate. That is to say, your body weight may increase, but it is lean mass, and the extra muscle tissue uses up a greater amount of calories. A female trainee is not going to turn into the incredible hulk from fitness training, and the extra weight gained in muscle tissue will likely be outweighed by the reduction in body fat initially.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.