IMPORTANCE OF EXERCISE AND FITNESS

 

Exercising regularly, every day if possible, is the single most important thing you can do for your health. In the short term, exercise helps to control appetite, boost mood, and improve sleep. In the long term, it reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, depression, and many cancers.

Whether you were once much more physically active or have never been one to exercise regularly, now is a great time to start an exercise and fitness regimen. Getting and staying in shape is just as important for seniors as it is for younger people.

Being healthy and fit in simple terms means taking good care of the body. We should remember that a healthy mind resides only in a healthy body. Good health of both mind and body helps one maintain the required energy level to achieve success in life. All of us must strive to achieve wholesome health.

Protecting your body from the intake of harmful substances, doing regular exercises, having proper food and sleep are some of the important instances that define a healthy lifestyle. Aldo being fit allows us to perform our activities without being lethargic, restless or tired.

A healthy and fit person is capable of living the life to the fullest, without any major medical or physical issues. Being healthy is not only related to the physical well-being of a person, it also involves the mental stability or the internal peace of a person.

Generally, a healthy diet consists of taking a proper and healthy food which includes eating green and fresh vegetables, fruits, having milk, eggs, minerals, proteins and vitamins essential for a human’s lifestyle. Practicing Yoga including regular exercises in your daily routine also help you maintain your desired fitness, blood sugar and immunity level

Why is exercising important for older people?

Getting your heart rate up and challenging your muscles benefits virtually every system in your body and improves your physical and mental health in myriad ways. Physical activity helps maintain a healthy blood pressure, keeps harmful plaque from building up in your arteries, reduces inflammation, improves blood sugar levels, strengthens bones, and helps stave off depression. In addition, a regular exercise program can make your sex life better, lead to better quality sleep, reduce your risk of some cancers, and is linked to longer life.

What are the best kinds of exercise?

While there are endless forms of exercise, experts categorize physical activity into four broad types based on what each calls upon your body to do and how the movement benefits you.

Aerobic exercise is marked by an increased heart rate. Although most aerobic exercises require you to move your whole body, the main focus is on your heart and lungs (Aerobic exercise is often called “cardio” because it challenges and benefits your cardiovascular system). Activities like walking, swimming, dancing and cycling, if done at sufficient intensity, get you breathing faster and your heart working harder. Aerobic exercises burn fat, improve your mood, reduce inflammation and lower blood sugar.

Strength training, sometimes called resistance training, should be performed two to three times a week. Squats, lunges, push-ups and the exercises performed on resistance machines or using weights or bands help maintain and even build muscle mass and strength. Strength training also helps prevent falls, keep bones strong, lower blood sugar levels, and improve balance. Do a combination of both isometric and isotonic exercises. Isometric exercises, such as doing planks and holding leg lifts, are done without movement. They are great for maintaining strength and improving stability. Isotonic exercises require you to bear weight throughout a range of motion. Bicep curls, bench presses and sit-ups are all forms of isotonic exercise.

Stretching exercises keep your muscles and tendons flexible, preserve your posture, and improve mobility, especially as you age. Stretching can be done every day.

Balance exercises call on the various systems that help you stay upright and oriented, such as those of the inner ear, vision and muscles and joints. Tai chi and yoga are great forms of balance exercises that can help you avoid falls and stay independent well into your senior years.

Major reasons that lead to the deterioration of health are as follows:

1.Daily stress – Students often feel stressed about school work, and exams. Professionals are also prone to stress with regard to their life and work. Such conditions lead to imbalanced mental health.

2.Depression – Prolonged stress about something leads to depression and becomes a health issue.

3.Intake of harmful substances like alcohol, preserved foods, etc, adversely affect the physical and mental health and fitness.

4.Lack of sleep – People tend to work late at night, constantly use their phones, etc and also foregot their destined sleep cycle. As suggested by medical experts, a defined time of sleep is mandatory for each individual. Lack of sleep results in an unfit lifestyle.

5.Junk foods – Intake of junk foods has replaced the proper nutritional diet that one should consume. Therefore unhealthy food habits directly create unhealthy wellbeing.

 

CHIRAH CHUKWUEBUKA ERASTUS

MEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY

200 LVL