A Beginner’s Guide to Exercise
People often understand exercise, physical activity, and physical fitness as one. However, these three terms actually describe different concepts. They may be closely related, but they aren’t to be treated as synonyms to each other.
A physical activity is any movement that is performed by the muscles and requires energy. Basically, it is whatever movement a person does. When these physical activities becomes planned, coordinated, intentional and repetitive, it becomes an exercise. Exercise has a final goal of enhancing or maintaining one’s physical fitness, as well as, the overall health and wellness. Physical fitness, on the other hand, is a measure of the ability to do physical activities and/or exercises that involves most of the bodily functions involved such as skeletomuscular, and cardio-respiratory.
Exercise can do a lot of remarkable things and there’s no need for a long explanation to understand how much exercise can benefit you in different ways.
It increases endorphin levels which boosts our mood, and increases mitochondria production as you become more active. Furthermore, you can get your sleeping back to normal. It’s also shows that exercise help reduce depression and anxiety as well as alleviate low self-esteem and social withdrawal because exercise help the increase of serotonin and brain-derived neurotrophic factors. And of course, regular exercise can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. It delivers oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently.
Whether it’s a 5-minute walk with your dog or riding a bike to the mall, you’ll improve your health and do something good that your body and mind will thank you for.
After knowing the benefits and you’re deciding to try it out, thoughts and questions start running into your head. What type of exercises should I do? What if I want to lose weight, what should I do? Should I do 50 push-ups and squats per day like my neighbor? There are various types of exercise, and these can be done individually or combined, depending on what you are aiming for. A few of the common types of exercise includes the following:
- Aerobic. Exercises such as swimming and running, which require continuous movement, are some of the examples included in aerobics. It is usually the core of many fitness programs.
- Balance. Muscles are strengthen and body coordination improves with help of exercises such as tai chi poses, core-strengthening exercises and pilates.
- Calisthenics. There’s no need for any gym equipment to execute exercises under this category in an aerobic pace. This includes sit-ups, squats, push-ups and lunges.
- High-Intensity Interval Training. Repetitions of short bursts of high-intensity exercises followed by low-intensity exercises or rest periods.
- Flexibility. This aids muscle recovery, maintains range of motion and also prevents injuries. Yoga and muscle-stretch movements are only a few examples in this category.
- Strength. Exercises like weight lifting, plyometrics and resistance training increases lean muscle mass and strength.
With a variety of exercise to choose from, find a few that could work for you and occasionally mix them up. Start slowly, then build up your fitness level and let your body rest. Keep in mind that eating a healthy diet and staying hydrated are key essentials, too. So, go forth and start today!