Exercise & Fitness complement each other. Physical exercise is any bodily activity
that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It
is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular
system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose
of enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and
helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular
disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health, helps prevent
depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self esteem, and can even augment
an individual's sex appeal or body image, which is also found to be linked with
higher levels of self esteem. Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and
physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed
countries. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug
- eluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.
Types of Exercises
Physical exercises are generally grouped into three types, depending on the overall
effect they have on the human body:
- Flexibility exercises
stretching, improve the range of motion of muscles and joints
- Aerobic exercises
cycling, swimming, walking, skipping rope, rowing, running, hiking or playing tennis,
focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance
- Anaerobic exercises
weight training, functional training, eccentric training or sprinting, increase
short-term muscle strength