Studies have
suggested that walking at a brisk pace for three or more hours a week can reduce
your risk for coronary heart disease by 65 percent.
Only about 22
percent of adults engage in regular, sustained physical activity for at least
30 minutes five times a week, and only 15 percent exercise both regularly and
vigorously.
No matter how poor
your current level of fitness, you can start an exercise routine and become
fitter and healthier. Even 90-year-old women who use walkers have been shown in
studies to benefit from light weight training.
Simply adding
movement into your daily routine can increase your level of fitness. For
example, if you park in the last row of the parking lot and walk briskly five
minutes each way between your office and your car, walk up and down the stairs
at your office during your 10-minute afternoon coffee break, and walk the dog
for 10 minutes when you get home, you've racked up 30 minutes of exercise for
the day.
Fitness consists of
four components: your body's ability to use oxygen as a source of energy, which
translates into cardiovascular fitness; muscular strength and endurance;
flexibility; and body composition.
To address all the
components of fitness, an exercise program needs to include aerobic exercise,
which is continuous repetitive movement of large muscle groups that raises your
heart rate; weight lifting or strength training; and flexibility exercises or
stretching.
Women with heart disease or arthritis actually experience improved daily function from involvement in various modes of physical activity.
Walking at a brisk
pace (a 15-minute mile or 4 mph) burns almost as many calories as jogging for
the same distance. The benefit of jogging is that it takes less time to cover
the same distance and it benefits the bones; however, it may be too strenuous
for some.
It takes about 12
weeks after starting an exercise program to see measurable changes in your body.
However, before 12 weeks, you will notice an increase in your strength and
endurance.
