Benefits of Physical
Activity
Health 1
Mental and Social Benefits
Exercise has a positive effect on your
mental, physical and emotional health
• Stress Relief
• Mood Enhancement
• Better Sleep
• Improved Self-Esteem
Stress Relief and Mood Enhancement
• It bumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps
to bump up the production of your brain's feel-good
neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this
function is often referred to as a runner's high, a
rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can
contribute to this same feeling.
• It's meditation in motion. After a fastpaced game of racquetball or several laps
in the pool, you'll often find that you've
forgotten the day's irritations and
concentrated only on your body's
movements.
http://www.mayoclinic.com
Stress Relief and Mood Enhancement
• As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions
through movement and physical activity, you may find
that this focus on a single task, and the resulting
energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and
clear in everything that you do.
• It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase
self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated
with mild depression and anxiety. Exercise also can
improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress,
depression and anxiety. All this can ease your stress
levels and give you a sense of command over your
body and your life.
http://www.mayoclinic.com
Sleep and Exercise
• Morning exercise can relieve stress and improve
mood. These effects can indirectly improve sleep, no
doubt.
• To get a more direct sleep-promoting benefit from
morning exercise, however, you can couple it with
exposure to outdoor light.
• Being exposed to natural light in the morning, whether
you're exercising or not, can improve your sleep at
night by reinforcing your body's sleep-wake cycle.
http://www.mayoclinic.com
Sleep and Exercise
• When it comes to having a direct effect on getting a
good night's sleep, it's vigorous exercise in the late
afternoon or early evening that appears most
beneficial.
• That's because it raises your body temperature above
normal a few hours before bed, allowing it to start
falling just as you're getting ready for bed.
• This decrease in body temperature appears to be a
trigger that helps ease you into sleep.
http://www.mayoclinic.com
Risks of Being Inactive
• Despite all of the benefits teens still
choose to be sedentary
– Sedentary: involving little physical activity
• Many health problems can occur from
being sedentary:
– Unhealthy weight gain and obesity
– Cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack
and stroke
– Type 2 diabetes
Risks of Being Inactive
– Asthma and other breathing problems
– Osteoporosis: condition where bones become
porous and fragile
– Osteoarthritis: caused by a breakdown of
cartilage and bone in the joints
– Psychological problems such as stress,
anxiety and depression
– Premature death
Teens should aim for 60 minutes a day of
physical activity
Weight Control
• Because exercise helps use oxygen, it causes your
body to burn stored fat and helps you maintain a
normal weight.
• For instance, if you walk four miles a day, four times a
week, you can burn about 1,600 calories, or nearly half
a pound a week.
• If you don't change your diet at all and
keep walking the same distance over six
months, you'll lose 12 pounds.
• Walk the same distance for a year and
you'll drop 24 pounds!
webmd.com
Stronger Muscles
• Most people know that exercise keeps muscles strong.
But did you know that strong muscles burn more
calories? Muscle mass is a metabolically active tissue. In
other words, the more muscle mass you have, the more
calories you burn even when you're not working out.
• Studies estimate that for each pound of muscle you add
to your body, you will burn an additional 35-50 calories
per day. So an extra five pounds of muscle will burn
about 175-250 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat
every 14-20 days.
• Because men have more muscle mass, they burn
calories faster and lose weight more easily than girls. So
girls need to work out daily to stay strong and in shape.
webmd.com
Better Skin
• Exercise also boosts circulation and the delivery of
nutrients to your skin, helping to detoxify the body by
removing toxins or poisons.
• As exercise boosts oxygen to the skin, it also helps
increase the natural production of collagen, the
connective tissue that plumps your skin. Your skin
color is also improved after exercise because of the
increase in blood flow.
Getting Started
As you make the daily exercise commitment, be
sure to include the following three types of
exercise:
• Range-of-motion, or stretching exercises
– These involve moving a limb as far as it will go without pain. You
can do this with basic stretches or through dance, yoga, tai chi,
and similar activities.
• Endurance or conditioning exercises
– Endurance exercises include walking, cycling, climbing stairs,
aerobics and swimming. These exercises strengthen muscles
and build coordination and endurance.
• Strengthening exercises
– Resistance exercises help build strong muscles. You can do
them with ankle and wrist weights, free weights, resistance
machines, resistance bands, or free weights (handheld weights).
Target Heart Rate
• Target Heart Rate: The ideal range of
aerobic activity.
• Target Heart Rate
• To figure out your heart rate during
exercise, take your pulse for six seconds
and multiply by 10.
Stages of the Workout
• Warm-Up: prepares the muscles
• Workout: F.I.T.T
– F: Frequency (at least 3 per week)
– I: Intensity (push hard, don’t overload)
– T: Type (Vary your activity)
– T: Time (Keep heart rate within target range
for 20 minutes)
• Cool Down: allows heart rate to slow and
body temperature to cool
• Hydrate