Benefits of Physical Exercise

No other single factor has a greater affect upon the body than muscular activity. A certain amount of vigorous physical activity is essential to develop and maintain a desirable level of physical fitness.

Fitness is that condition of the body which determines how effectively a person can perform his daily work and play and meet certain unexpected physical demands upon his body.

Contributing to physical fitness are such factors as muscular strength and endurance, coordination, flexibility, and efficiency of the vital organs, particularly the heart and lungs.

The influence of muscular strength and endurance on physical fitness is readily understood. Sustained physical effort in work or play is impossible unless one has the strength to do the job and the endurance to continue it without becoming greatly fatigued.

The importance of coordination and flexibility is also understood when one realizes that the ability to move well and efficiently is a means of conserving energy. Coordination and flexibility make continued physical effort easier and less tiring.

You are aware of the role of the heart and lungs in supplying fresh oxygen to the cells and removing waste products from them. The capacity of the lungs and heart to carry on this task effectively during strenuous activity is known as cardio respiratory endurance. Without a high level of cardio respiratory endurance physical effort cannot be long sustained. Consequently, cardio respiratory endurance is directly related to physical fitness.

In modern society work that once required the physical labor of human beings is now done quickly and efficiently by machines. As a result, most people cannot depend upon work to give them the exercise necessary to experience the benefits of physical fitness.

A regular program of exercise increases body fitness and efficiency by working the body harder than it is accustomed to working. This does not mean that the work must be extremely violent or strenuous. It does mean, however, that the work must be more vigorous than that in which the body has engaged heretofore.

The increased vigor of the physical effort places greater demands on the body's systems. Gradually, as they are called upon to do more work, they become more efficient in the performance of their respective jobs.

Some of the benefits of physical exercise include:
1. Increasing muscular strength and endurance.
2. Developing muscular coordination.
3. Increasing flexibility.
4. Increasing the efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system.

Strength

One of the benefits of physical exercise to the body is an increase in strength. The strength of a muscle is increased only when the muscle does more work than it has been used to doing. If you work a muscle harder in a game of basketball or in weight lifting than before, it will become stronger.
A muscle grows in size as it becomes stronger. It also becomes more efficient, that is, more able to perform its work with ease and less expenditure of energy. A muscle cannot become so strong that it is "muscle bound." This is an old athletic superstition. It is impossible for a muscle to become so strong that it cannot move as rapidly as before. In fact, experiments show that the stronger muscle is also a faster muscle.
As a muscle grows stronger, it increases in muscular endurance. This means simply that it is able to do more work before it becomes fatigued. It is able to work longer because it is stronger. Moreover, regular and strenuous exercise of a muscle toughens the muscle so that it can better resist accidental injury. A larger muscle also burns more energy at rest than the equivalent weight in fat.

Tonus

Your muscles not only grow larger and stronger through exercise. A muscle, even when it is relaxed is slightly contracted. This partial contraction is called tonus. As a result of exercise muscle tonus improves. This benefit of physical exercise burns more calories at rest. If one fails to exercise regularly, the muscles become flabby and lose their power to extend and contract efficiently.
Tonus is especially important in maintaining a trim figure. There is a flat muscle that covers the abdomen called the rectus abdominis. As this muscle increases in tonus, it becomes firmer and holds the stomach flat, thereby creating a smaller waistline. It is frequently possible to achieve a smaller waist without weight reduction by simply exercising this muscle. Several of the exercises under Core Exercises work this muscle.

Body Building

You have seen that through exercise a muscle will increase in size as well as in strength and tonus. Therefore, the size of the arms, the legs, and of many parts of the body can be increased through exercise. The increase is faster if the muscle is worked to capacity.
Activities such as running increase the size and strength of muscles. However, the increase is fastest and most obvious when the muscle is forced to do the kind of pulling, lifting, or pushing that requires near maximum effort. Lifting weights is one of the most popular and efficient ways of increasing muscle size. Making weight loss one of the benefits of physical exercise.

Coordination

Besides strength and tonus, the development of muscular skill depends upon other factors. You know that in playing tennis, for example, a person must be able to use the right muscles at the right time. Coordination is developed through practice in the utilization of the proper muscles for the required skill. This is another of the benefits of physical exercise.
You have undoubtedly seen and admired many examples of coordination. The successful athlete is well-coordinated as a benefit of physical exercise; his muscles respond in an efficient manner. The graceful motions of the dancer are also dependent upon well-coordinated movements. But you need not turn to special skills to find the need for coordination. To sit, stand, and walk with grace and ease, one must develop proper muscular coordination. Good coordination contributes to poise.

Flexibility

Another factor in muscular performance is flexibility, or the range of movement in any specific joint. Stretching exercises can increase flexibility. In everyday living, the benefits of physical exercise include, greater flexibility, which increases the efficiency of such movements as reaching, twisting, and bending. In sports better performance results when better "form" is made possible by the increased range of movement.

Cardio Respiratory Endurance

The cells of the body must be provided with a continuous supply of oxygen and foodstuff, and they must be relieved of waste products. When the body is more active, the supply of nutrients and oxygen is increased and the return of blood to the heart is stepped up. The ability to work long and hard is dependent upon the efficiency of the systems that service the body cells, that is, the respiratory and circulatory systems.
You have seen that one of the benefits of physical exercise is to increase endurance by making muscles stronger and more efficient. In the same way it is generally beneficial to the circulatory and respiratory systems. An understanding of these systems will help you appreciate the relationship between exercise and cardio respiratory endurance.

Increasing the Supply of Oxygen.

When oxygen combines with the carbon and hydrogen in food, oxidation occurs, a process that releases energy. Oxidation is essential to life. Not only must oxygen be supplied to the cells, but waste products must be removed from them. Respiration is the process by means of which waste gases are exchanged for oxygen in the tissues. The process begins with breathing.
When you inhale, you force air into the lungs. Muscles raise the ribs. The diaphragm, the sheet of muscle which separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity, contracts. As a result, the chest cavity is enlarged, and the air pressure within it is reduced. The greater outside air pressure helps to force air into the lungs. When you exhale, the reverse reactions occur.
Vigorous exercise such as running forces deep breathing. As some resulting benefits of physical exercise, the strength and efficiency of the breathing muscles are increased. More oxygen is taken into the lungs, and more waste gases expelled. The system of blood vessels is put to maximum use. With more oxygen to be distributed, there must be more red corpuscles. A person who has kept his body in good condition by regular exercise will have available the red cells to carry oxygen when it is demanded.

Heart Efficiency

Another of the benefits of physical exercise is that it exercises the heart. The heart is the most active muscle in the body. It never stops working, for it must provide the parts of the body with a constant supply of blood. If this circulation stops for long, death is a certainty. The heart is constantly (1) receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs and sending venous blood to them and (2) receiving venous blood from other tissues of the body and sending oxygenated blood to them.
Being a muscle, the heart becomes stronger and larger as it is called upon to do more work. A larger heart is able to fill itself with more blood, while a stronger heart has the ability to force the blood throughout the body with greater ease. A heart which is stronger and larger does not have to contract as often as does a smaller and weaker heart. Because it expends less energy while doing more work, a large, strong heart is said to be more efficient.
Many people believe that exercise will cause heart trouble. This is not true. A normal heart cannot be damaged by exercise. As the result of fatigue in other parts of the body, strenuous exercise will be stopped before there is any injury to the heart.
To be sure, a diseased heart may be injured by excessive exercise. Occasionally one hears of someone suffering a heart attack while exercising. Such an incident serves to underline the importance of the periodic physical checkup. Clearly the heart of such a victim was inadequate to the demands made upon it, a fact that a physician might have discovered.

Recreation

One of the many benefits of phyisical exercise is its recreational value. A form of recreation is wholesome when it provides interesting, beneficial activity to fill your leisure time. Exercise is wholesome recreation. You have probably noticed that exercise is not only enjoyable, but refreshing. As a result of exercise, all of the body functions are stepped up, including the circulation of the blood. The net result is a general feeling of refreshment.

The information found in and throughout The 7 Habits of Weight loss (www.7habitsofweightloss.com) is not intended as a substitute for the advice or treatment that may have been prescribed by your physician.

Information found here should NOT be construed as definitive or binding medical advice and is NOT intended to diagnose, prescribe, nor endorse any brand of products or services. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new weight loss or exercise regimen or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.