Choose an exercise that’s right for you

Here are a few suggestions:

• • A 30-minute walk five days a week is a simple, effective way to improve muscle endurance and strength. It’s good for bones and your cardiovascular system, boosts circulation, helps drain the legs of excess fluid, helps prevent varicose veins and is excellent for spinal discs which receive minerals and vitamins through the pumping action. It also helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer and premature death. Keeping a brisk pace at moderate to high intensity also boosts weight loss.

• • Running is an excellent way to strengthen your heart and ensure the efficient flow of blood and oxygen throughout your body (less risk of a heart attack). It’s an efficient way to lose or maintain weight (provided you eat healthily too), helps keep high cholesterol in check, improves your immune system and increases bone density (fending off osteoporosis). You can run almost anywhere; all you need is a good pair of running shoes. Set a specific goal (a 5k or even a marathon) and enjoy an immense sense of accomplishment!

• • Cycling is an easy way to exercise. All you need is a bike and half an hour a day. Every part of your body’s involved (arm-to-leg, feet-to-hands and body-to-eye coordination) with little risk of over exercise or strain. Regular cycling strengthens leg muscles, is great for the mobility of hip and knee joints, builds stamina, improves cardio-vascular fitness (heart health) and eats up kilojoules. Long after your ride, you’ll also have boosted your metabolic rate.

• • Swimming is a lifetime sport for exercising almost your entire body (heart, lungs and muscles) and there’s no pounding on your joints. It develops general strength, cardiovascular fitness and endurance, but it won’t help with bone density (you need a weight bearing exercise for that) and you won’t lose much weight without a hard-won and proper technique. Swimming is great for people who want to exercise when injured, are pregnant or overweight, and is helpful for those with arthritis and other joint diseases.

• • Squash is unique, it’s fast, competitive and provides an excellent workout. The fast pace of squash boosts your heart rate, stamina, flexibility, speed, mobility and endurance. Your legs, arms, shoulders, back and abdomen get an excellent workout and you’ll lose weight (one hour of squash can burn up to 3.6 kilojoules). To play, you’ll need proper squash shoes, a squash racquet and ball.

Sources
http://running.about.com/
www.adultbicycling.com/
www.dailymail.co.uk
www.forbes.com
www.mayoclinic.com
www.saga.co.uk