The Benefits of a Regular Exercise Program

The Benefits of a Regular Exercise Program assignment

HWE 200: Introduction to Health and Wellness

•Describe the physical and mental health benefits of participating in a regular exercise program.

There are many reasons to participate in a regular exercise program. Starting with the physical aspect, physical exercise helps your body keep your blood pressure low. Your body produces chemicals that prevent and fight off disease. With physical activity your body can produce more to take the fight to those nasty diseases. Mental health benefits of regular exercise can be an antidepressant and a form of antianxiety medicine. Exercise and physical activity decrease the risk of developing CHD, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer (e.g., colon and breast cancers) (Garber, Blissmer, Deschenes, Franklin, Lamonte, Lee, Nieman & Swain, 2011).

•Identify the chronic physiological responses that occur from a regular exercise program.

Responses that occur due to vigorous activity include increased glucose and V˙O2max.

•Describe the importance of the warm up and cool down before and after exercise.

Warming up before exercising prevents injuries. By warming the muscles then stretching the muscles makes the muscles more pliable. It is like a piece of taffy, when you open a new package it is hard and stiff. Then after you hold it for a few mins the taffy with soften and be more apt to be able to stretch and fold how you want it to. Cool down exercises also prevents injuries in a way that when muscles are relaxing they don’t cramp. Cool down exercises gradually lowers the heart rate. It prevents fainting and dizzy spells.

•Determine the importance of including flexibility in an exercise program.

Flexability exercises are similar to warm ups in that it allows the muscles and joint to be more pliable. Flexability improves performance and also prevents injuries.

•Explain the benefits of resistance training.

Resistance training builds muscles and strength within the muscles. A person can have large muscles but lacks strength. There are serveal way to build strength such as body weight training, bands, machines and my favorite free weights.

•Analyze the health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.

Sedentary lifestyles are at risk for different types of issues. “Spending long periods of time in sedentary pursuits is associated with elevated risks of CHD mortality and depression, increased waist circumference, elevated blood pressure, depressed lipoprotein lipase activity, and worsened chronic disease biomarkers such as blood glucose, insulin, and lipoproteins”(Garber, Blissmer, Deschenes, Franklin, Lamonte, Lee, Nieman & Swain, 2011). In addition to the aforementioned cancer and diabetes are a risk that sedentary lifestyles can be at risk for. In the text book it is stated that there is “Convincing evidence indicates that a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of colon cancer (45), and growing evidence suggests that regular exercise can reduce the risk of breast and endometrial cancer in women (45)”( Powers & Dodd, 2017).

References

Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I., Nieman, D. C., & Swain, D. (2011). Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: Guidance for prescribing exercise (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(7), 1334-1359. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb

Powers, S. K., & Dodd, S. L. (2017). Total fitness & wellness, the Mastering Health edition. (7th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com