What's the Point of Exercising?

Exercise speeds up your metabolism. When you do aerobics and strength exercises, you build muscle tissue. Since muscle tissue uses more calories than fat, it means your body will start burning more calories throughout the day. More importantly, exercise is one of the best ways to prevent:

• Heart Disease
• High Blood Pressure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Colon and Breast Cancer

A fit body also becomes efficient at ridding the body of toxins, including the chemical byproducts of your response to everyday situations. (Stress hormones released into the bloodstream put a strain on every cell in the body. Unchecked stress can lead to depression, headaches, and assorted muscle aches and pains.) Working muscles produce an enormous amount of heat, helping to burn off toxins and expel them through perspiration. This is another reason to drink plenty of water during exercise. Water helps regulate temperature. During a medium-intensity workout, you can sweat off almost one liter/quart of water.

So the next time someone says you're looking "sweaty" after exercise, thank them, because you know you've done your body a good turn.

Going for Heart Strength

Aerobic exercise puts demands on your heart for oxygen, making it and your lungs stronger. (Aerobic means "in the presence of oxygen.") Aerobic exercise burns fat, and makes you feel good. There's also some evidence it can "limber up" your arteries, and it benefits your bones – living tissue which requires plenty of oxygen. (As blood vessels become rigid, blood pressure can rise.) A more efficient circulation system makes it easier for you to carry on your everyday activities.

Aerobic exercises should be done 3 to 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes. Running, power walking, stair climbing, cycling and racquet sports are all aerobic activities.

Building Muscle and Bones

A well-toned body not only looks attractive, it's good for your health. Try to alternate aerobics with strength training (i.e. muscle-building) exercises to build flexibility and muscular strength. Do aerobics one day, strength the next. Both are important to over-all health.

Why build muscles? It's simple: The more muscle you add to your frame, the more efficient your body becomes at burning fat. Everyone loses about five pounds of muscle per decade, and gains 15 pounds of fat. Your thin friends might look at the scale and feel pleased by what they see, but scale weight is no indication of fitness. That's because muscle weighs more than fat. So don't go by the scale when assessing your relative fitness. Let your energy level and the way your clothes fit be your guide as you incorporate muscle-building exercises into your weight-loss program.

Lifting weights or free weights, or using toning rings, helps build muscle. If you've been inactive, you may find it easier to begin by toning your muscles. Then, when your muscles are stronger and more limber, you can incorporate aerobics.

The added benefit of weight-bearing exercise (and that includes any exercise that requires you to carry your own weight, not just weight lifting) is that it increases bone density, which guards against osteoporosis, or bone-thinning disease. It may seem a far-off possibility when you're young, but building big, strong bones early on in life is your best strategy for preventing this crippling disease. Bone increases in density until age 35, after which it begins to lose calcium faster than it can replace it. So while you cannot escape normal bone loss due to aging, if you start with more bone, you will have more bone left.

But Exercise Makes Me So Tired!

Almost half of the people who start exercising after being sedentary for a long time will lose the battle because of the initial fatigue they feel. Why do they feel so worn out, they wonder, if exercise is supposed to give you energy? Better quit, and so they do.

The body requires time to rebuild the number of energy factories in its cells, which go into decline when an individual stops being physically active. Some fatigue is normal. For example, perhaps you notice you want to go to bed an hour or two earlier than normal. That's OK. Be patient. If you stick with your exercise program, your body will eventually increase its number of "power plants" and increase the number of capillaries that transport oxygen to those energy-burning sites. However, it may take a month to notice a boost in energy, and two months before increased stamina is part of your life.

To minimize fatigue, don't rush into exercise. Start slowly, and pick up the pace after a few weeks when you feel more able. And try to get your normal amount of sleep. Don't trim an hour off to go running.

Comparing Calorie Burners

Housework will keep you on your feet, but it does little for the health of your heart.

Activity	Calories Expended in 30 Minutes
	120 lbs.	180 lbs.
Ice Skating	150	201
Jumping Rope	297	402
Making Beds	90	135
Playing with the kids	120	159
Racquetball	255	345
Shopping	108	162
Shoveling Snow	240	300
Squash	255	345
Swimming	264	378
Tennis (singles)	180	249
Walking (4.5 mph)	165	270
Weight Training	201	270