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Striving for fitness with the correct exercise program may actually add
years to life.
Recent studies have shown
that fitness through regular exercise can help prevent disease, can lower
high blood pressure, help control cholesterol, may prevent diabetes,
maintain or increase mobility, and even help you live longer.
Fitness and Exercise Can Prevent
Disease
By Judith Brandy
Fitness and exercise slow the onset of disease.
This is a proven fact and yet more Americans than ever are suffering from
obesity and Type Two diabetes thought to be at epidemic levels in the
United States. If you are overweight, and especially if you are obese, or
if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, then take your doctor's advice and begin a regular fitness and personalized exercise program.
You’ll be very glad you did.
One of the bi-products of fitness and exercise, as any doctor will tell
you, is that working out and consistent exercise helps manage your blood
sugar. A diabetic who takes drugs daily may realize that less medication
is needed with a habitual fitness and exercise program. Many diabetics who
stay with fitness and exercise programs may find that they are able to
reduce or quit the medication and manage their diabetes in a totally
natural way.
High triglycerides are also rapidly becoming a norm for most Americans.
High triglycerides are linked to heart disease, including strokes and
heart attacks. A wonderful, easy-to accomplish and totally natural way to
decrease your level of triglycerides is to begin and stick with a fitness
and exercise program combined with a sensible diet. Elevated triglycerides
are also connected to high blood sugar, and it is very common in
diabetics. Fitness and exercise effectively minimizes two potential health
risks at the same time.
Many people have despaired at the way obesity has become part of the
American psyche questioning its causes. Some reasons are obvious.
Sedentary lifestyles are now much more common and can include working in
front of computers, watching television, staying indoors, playing virtual
reality games and the like. In addition, many Americans eat diets high in
fat and carbohydrates. Whatever the source, fitness and exercise can be a
major part of the cure for this predicament. Increasing physical activity,
raising the heart rate, and just getting active can help a person loose
weight, control triglyceride levels and improve or stave off diabetes. It
should not be ignored.
Parents should restrict time spent by children with video games or
watching television and encourage them to engage in fitness and exercise.
Children did this naturally in past generations, but now there are too
many distractions to keep them inside. Playing games like baseball,
basketball and jump rope outdoors can help alleviate this situation in a
way that is fun and revitalizing for all involved. Children who learn the
benefits of fitness and exercise at an early age will continue working out
in adulthood. They will lead healthier lifestyles and tend to live longer,
healthier and happier lives.
Fitness and Exercise Gains Popularity
Fitness and exercise is gaining in popularity for many reasons. Since the
advertisement and educational commercials about obesity and its deadly
effects on Americans in recent years as well as a rash of Type 2 diabetes
on the upswing, people have begun seeing the benefit of engaging in
fitness and exercise to improve their conditions. Parents are once again
encouraging their youngsters to get up and away from the television and
work out, and the baby boomers, pursuing fitness and exercise as they age,
are taking to it with commitment in order to enjoy their lives well into
the advanced years. Regardless of the reasons, many Americans take fitness
and exercise very seriously now whereas a bare ten years ago it was on the
fringes of societal consciousness.
Americans exercise in a wide variety of ways engaging in fitness and
exercise activities which reflect the diversity of both the population and
their interests. Many people go to gyms or athletic clubs. Others
participate in sports events that they enjoy. Fitness and exercise
activities can include bowling, racquet sports like squash, golf, summer
softball leagues, horseshoes, hiking, horseback riding, and many other fun
things to do. Fitness and exercise activities in American have many faces.
One of the most popular fitness and exercise activities is walking. Many
people of all ages enjoy taking a brisk walk every day. This simple
fitness and exercise activity can be done by almost anyone. So many
Americans are walking these days that magazines are published devoted to
the activity. Generally Americans are not as organized as their European
cousins when in comes to walking. In Germany, one of the most popular
weekend fitness and exercise activities is the volksmarch, or the people’s
march. When a volksmarch occurs, people of all ages come together to take
a day long or walk through a town or the countryside, stopping to share a
meal and good conversation along the way. They combine fitness and
exercise with social activity and everyone has a great time.
Americans may not be ready for the volksmarch yet, but they find many
other fitness and exercise options to their liking. Golf is more popular
now than any time in history. Tennis is making a comeback and even martial
arts are fitness and exercise choices for many. For Americans the
important thing about fitness and exercise is to do something and make
sure that that is something they will enjoy so that they stick with it.
Fitness and exercise is now more mainstream, and with it's continued
growth, it will lead to a longer and healthier life, and give a great deal
of fun to the participants along the way.
Fitness,
Exercise
About the author
Judith Brandy is a writer, breast cancer survivor and science fiction fan
with a slightly skewed, amused perspective of the world. Read some of her
other articles at:
http://www.writingbuzz.com.
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