Health Benefits of Exercise

Health Benefits of Exercise

By Irini Kotroni

Reading Time: 12 minutes A)Having enough energy seems to be an element that many of us have lost in our

ever increasing pace of life. How many times do you feel too tired to do anything, least of all exercise? Energy can be regained, we were born with it and it?s still there in our brains, ready to be accessed. A huge health benefit of exercise is that it helps you gain more energy.

B)So come on all of you couch potatoes or computer devotees, put down the remote

control or switch off whatever electronic machine you are using and put on a good pair of trainers or walking shoes.

C)Careful now, the first steps are always the hardest, hold on to a door or piece of

furniture, now take a deep breath and get out in the fresh air and walk gently but steadily for 30 minutes. Very well then, if you live in an area that doesn?t permit you to walk, drive your car to a gym or beauty spot and begin your exercise program that is going to stand you in good stead for life. Just 30 minutes a day will help you to regain fitness and promote energy; any further exercise will help in weight loss. Don?t overdo it, gently, gently and within a month you will feel fitter, slimmer and your self esteem will be on the rise. Go on, I dare you to go for it.

D)Why bother, you may ask? Exercise helps the body maintain fitness to be able to

cope better with whatever life throws at you. Happiness, sadness, loss, illness, family, friends and colleagues contribute to our every day mood swings. Exercise promotes suppleness(柔韧不度), strength and stamina, all of which are required to cope with the fast moving pace of modern life. The media is constantly telling us that regular exercise will pay dividends(红利) to your life style with feeling fitter, breathing more easily, sleeping better and having more energy.

E)How does it do this as this is rather a wide spectrum of gains to live up to?

Exercise helps to focus the mind and assists in creating a feeling of well-being with messages constantly being sent from body to the brain and back to the body to function. A major health benefit is to promote a feeling of well-being throughout the body. Sit back for a simplified version to help you understand why this is. Amongst the many messages constantly being transmitted by our central nervous system is one that permits a small amount of endorphins(内啡肽) into the body. These are present when a person experiences an adrenalin(肾上腺素) rush, usually associated with exhilaration, fear, pain, danger and stress. Endorphins are

a natural analgesic produced by the body. Think of what happens when taking a

white knuckle fair ride, the car you are in slowly climbs to the peak of what seems like eternity, your tongue becomes dry, your eyes widen and then you are plunging downwards and you laugh or scream with relief and this is when the endorphins are released into your body and you feel great. Exercise can achieve this without having to find your nearest theme park. Runners experience an endorphin rush

which kicks in when they are putting their bodies under extra pressure, usually to finish that crucial last mile. The endorphins kick in, suppress the pain and allow the runner to reach the finishing line. Obviously this is when intense and prolonged exercise takes place, but for a person who just wants to exercise, a certain amount of endorphins are released into the body with messages being sent to the brain to create serotonin(血清素), which is a happy factor chemical thus giving a feeling of well-being.

F)Exercise is a wonderful and often a medically recommended therapy for those

who are prone to or suffer from depression. It is simple, basic and extremely good advice; go to the gym or just go for a walk. It doesn?t matter if you don?t speak or make contact with anyone, just do it. Get those endorphins into your bloodstream straight away and feel the benefit of serotonin, the body?s own happy drug, beginning to work. Don?t expect instant miracles, just get into a routine of doing it on a daily basis, the results are slow but they will come.

G)Whatever type of exercise is chosen it cannot be emphasized enough in taking it

gently to begin with, otherwise you end up either at your doctors or on a sports injuries consultation couch. How much exercise is always debatable? The more you exercise the better it is for you and therefore some people can do more. The best advice is to build up the amount of exercise gradually and the phrase …no pai n, no gain? should not be considered. Be very careful about causing pain to the body.

Push yourself too hard and you will put your body through trauma. If you want to go beyond the pain barrier, then check this out with a fitness instructor or trainer or your doctor.

H)We all want to live as long as possible. Exercise increases your chances of living

longer —cardio vascular and aerobic exercise helps heart and lungs; weight bearing aerobic exercise strengthens and increases bone density as well as stretching muscles. As well as increasing your quality of life you will have more energy to enjoy life. Exercise can help reduce high blood pressure (hypertension), try meditation, yoga and tai chi exercises as well as cardiac vascular exercises.

Exercise can help to reduce high cholesterol. There are many studies still being carried out, however one finding has been that weight loss for overweight people may help bring cholesterol levels down — it?s worth a try. Exercise helps boost the immune system, thus lowering risk of infection. Be aware that too much exercise can cause stress to the body so it is believed that more moderate exercise can help the immune system to function more efficiently and thus deal with any form of illness or infection more effectively. Exercise can help control type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes). The muscles use more glucose during exercise thus reducing the amount of glucose stored in the body. Advancing age puts the body more at risk with type 2 diabetes; extra weight, less mobility all add up and it is important to have an exercise routine to keep mobile and maintain weight control. Exercise has always played a major role in nearly all weight reduction and weight management plans. Include exercise in any weight loss program and watch

a new sleeker “you” emerge as your metabolic rate begins to work more

effectively. Strength training will help increase body mass whilst reducing fat

tissue.

I)Less mobile people can still exercise; there are plenty of seated exercises that can

be accomplished. This applies to injured sports persons, if your upper body is damaged, you can still work the lower body and vice versa.

J)Finally should you choose to manage your own program, begin with walking for

30 minutes per day. Walk 15 minutes from your home and then walk back again,

gradually increase over a month until you can manage 60 minutes per day without any breathing or walking difficulties or carry on a conversation without difficulty whilst you are exercising —this is always the “acid test”.

(1214 words)

Your reading time:_______ Exercises

I. Each of the following ten statements contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by choosing the corresponding letter.

___ 1. Exercise helps generate a feeling of well-being by sending messages from body to the brain and back to the body.

___ 2. The notion of “no pain, no gain” doesn?t alwa ys work because excessive exercise is harmful to us.

___ 3. Social relations such as family, friends and workmates can exert emotional strain on human beings.

___ 4. For less mobile people, such as injured athletes, plenty of seated exercises can be recommended.

___ 5. By increasing our life span and quality of life, exercise enables us to have more energy to enjoy life.

___ 6. Energy is something we were born with and can be regained through exercise. ___ 7. When a person experiences joy, fear, pain, danger and stress, endorphins will be produced by the body.

___ 8. Just 30 minutes exercise a day will greatly improve your health.

___ 9. For people who suffer from depression, exercise is the therapy strongly recommended by medical professionals.

___ 10. Moderate exercise is beneficial in coping with any form of illness or infection more effectively because it helps the immune system to function more efficiently.