The Benefits of Exercising

Why not live a sedentary lifestyle?

Living a sedentary lifestyle is more dangerous to your health than smoking. Research conducted by Tai-Hing et al. (2004)^[1] revealed that 20% of all deaths of people over the age of 34 were attributed to a lack of physical activity. They concluded that a lack of physical activity increased the risk of dying of cancer by 45% for men and 28% for women, and the risk of dying from respiratory ailments by 92% for men and 75% for women. The risk of dying from heart disease was 52% higher for men and 28% higher for women.

Why are we less active?

The telephone and internet allow us to order almost anything from the comfort of our home and have it delivered to the door and if we do venture out then we will probably go by car or public transport. Technology has automated the workplace so fewer people are doing manual work. For entertainment we play games on computers or watch television and we do not even need to wrestle with the pages of our newspaper or book as they can now be read on a computer. We have become less active primarily due to advancement in technology and research suggests that many adults spend more than seven hours a day sitting down.

What is the impact of this sedentary lifestyle?

Cherian (2012)^[2] states that there is a lot of research conducted on the effects of sedentary lifestyle on an individual across the globe. The findings of these researches include: obesity, increased risk of heart disease – diabetes - cancer and osteoporosis, loss of muscle tone, sleeping difficulties, headaches, and faster aging process.

Controlling visceral fat is important because increased levels have been associated with insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic syndromes. Visceral fat is located around the organs inside the belly and is deeper in the body than subcutaneous fat, which lies under the skin. Kruas et al. (2005)^[3] found that participants in their research who did not exercise had an 8.6% increase in visceral fat after eight months, while those participants who exercised at the highest amount saw a 8.1% decrease in visceral fat

What is the difference between physical activity and exercise?

David Bassett, Jr., PhD, a professor in the department of exercise, sport, and leisure studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville defines Physical activity as movement that involves contraction of your muscles (housework, gardening, walking, climbing stairs) and exercise as a planned, purposeful physical activity performed with the intention of acquiring fitness or other health benefits.

What are the benefits from regular physical activity?

NHS (2012)^[4] says it is medically proven that people who do regular physical activity have:

up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
up to a 50% lower risk of colon cancer
up to a 20% lower risk of breast cancer
a 30% lower risk of early death
up to an 83% lower risk of osteoarthritis
up to a 68% lower risk of hip fracture
a 30% lower risk of falls (among older adults)
up to a 30% lower risk of depression
up to a 30% lower risk of dementia

What are the benefits of regular exercise?

The physical benefits of regular exercise are stronger bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments and enhanced components of fitness (endurance, speed, strength, balance, coordination and flexibility). The mental benefits from exercise are it helps you to deal with stress and tension, improves self-confidence and increases your motivation.

What is the recommended amount of physical activity?

NHS (2012a)^[5] recommend that adults should try to be active daily and do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity such as cycling or fast walking every week, and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).

The following Department of Health fact sheets provide physical activity guidance for:

Children and young people (5-18 years)
Adults (19-64 years)
Older Adults (65+ years)

What does a basic fitness program comprise of?

Visit the general fitness training program page to get an insight into a simple weekly training program that will help develop your general level of fitness.

Referenced Material

TAI-HING, L. et al. (2004) Leisure time physical activity and mortality in Hong Kong: case-control study of all adult deaths in 1998, Annals of Epidemiology, 14 (6), p. 391-398
CHERIAN, R. (2012) Health Effects of a Sedentary Lifestyle [WWW] Available from: http://www.lifemojo.com/lifestyle/health-effects-of-a-sedentary-lifestyle-44282279 [Accessed20/7/2012]
KRUAS, W. et al. (2005) Inactivity, exercise, and visceral fat. STRRIDE: a randomized, controlled study of exercise intensity and amount, Journal of Applied Physiology, 99 (4) p. 1613-1618
NHS (2012) Benefits of Exercise [WWW] Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/whybeactive.aspx [Accessed20/7/2012]
NHS (2012a) Physical activity guidelines for adults [WWW] Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults.aspx [Accessed20/7/2012]

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

MACKENZIE, B. (1999) The Benefits of Exercising [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fitness.htm [Accessed

Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page: