"This Really Is Good Stuff!"
copyright 2002 by Greg Landry, M.S.
Several months ago I was talking with one
of my consulting clients about exercise.
She is 36 years old and had never exercised
with any consistency.
She viewed exercise as something you were
forced to do as punishment in high school
P.E. and something you had to do if you
wanted to lose weight. She did not view
it as a health-giving part of daily life.
I encouraged her to exercise daily for
two months and then we'd take it from
there. Of course, she gradually built up
the intensity and duration of her exercise
sessions.
We spoke again after her two months of
exercise. Her comment was, "this really is
good stuff." She had grown to love exercise
because of how it made her feel and because
she no longer looked at it as punishment
or a necessary evil for weight loss. Weight
loss becomes a wonderful by-product of
regular exercise.
your body was made to be active on a
regular basis. All sorts of good things
happen when you are..
- Decreases your risk for developing
cardiovascular diseases such as heart
attacks and strokes.
- Decreases your risk for developing many
types of cancers.
- Gives you a more positive outlook on life.
- Decreases your blood pressure.
- Increases the oxidation (breakdown and use)
of fat.
- Increases HDL (good) cholesterol.
- Makes the heart a more efficient pump by
increasing stroke volume.
- Increases hemoglobin concentration in your
blood. Hemoglobin is part of the red
blood cell that carries oxygen from the
lungs to the rest of the body.
- Decreases the tendency of the blood to clot
in the blood vessels. This is important
because small clots traveling in the blood
are often the cause of heart attacks and
strokes.
- Elevates your metabolism so that you burn
more calories everyday.
- Increases your aerobic capacity (fitness
level). This gives you the ability to go
through your day with less relative energy
expenditure. This enables a "fit" person
to have more energy at the end of the day
and to get more accomplished during the day
with less fatigue.
- Maintains, tones, and strengthens your muscles.
Exercise also increases your muscular
endurance.
- Increases the strength of the bones.
- Causes the development of new blood vessels
in the heart and other muscles.
- Decreases blood levels of triglycerides (fat).
- Improves control of blood sugar.
- Exercise increases mental acuity for several
hours enabling you to think more clearly
and be more creative.
- Improves sleep patterns.
- Increases the efficiency of the digestive
system which may reduce the incidence of
colon cancer.
- Increases the thickness of cartilage in joints
which has a protective effect on the joints.
- Decreases a woman's risk of developing
endometriosis by 50%.
- Increases the amount of blood that flows to the
skin making it look and feel healthier.
- Exercise, in addition to all the physiological
and anatomical benefits, just makes you feel
GREAT!
So, try looking at your exercise from a
different angle. Look at it as a wonderful
opportunity to make yourself healthier and
and more energized. Get movin'!
Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry,
offers FREE weight loss success stories and his
"Fast, Healthy Weight Loss" newsletter at his site:
Fitness
copyright 2002 by Greg Landry, M.S.
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