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 andobesity.[1][2] 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[4] and physical
exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult
obesity. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder"
drugalluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.
Classification
Physical exercises are generally grouped into three types, depending on
the overall effect they have on the human body:

Aerobic exercise is any physical activity that uses large muscle groups
and causes your body to use more oxygen than it would while
resting. The
goal
of
aerobic
exercise
is
to
increase cardiovascular endurance. Examples of aerobic exercise
include cycling, swimming, brisk walking, skipping rope, rowing, hiking,
playing tennis, continuous training, and long slow distance training.[7]
Anaerobic exercise is also called strength or Resistance training and
can firm, strengthen, and tone your muscles, as well as improve bone
strength, Balance, and Coordination. Examples of strength moves
are pushups, lunges, andbicep curls using dumbbells. Anaerobic
exercise also include weight training, functional training, eccentric
training,Interval
training, sprinting and high-intensity
interval
training increase short-term muscle strength.
Flexibility exercises stretch and lengthen your muscles. Activities such
as stretching help to improve joint joint flexibility and keep muscles
limber. The goal is to improve the range of motion which can reduce the
chance of injury.

Physical
exercise
can
also
include
on accuracy, agility, power, and speed.

training

that

focuses

Sometimes the terms 'dynamic' and 'static' are used. 'Dynamic' exercises
such as steady running, tend to produce a lowering of the diastolic blood
pressure during exercise, due to the improved blood flow. Conversely,
static exercise (such as weight-lifting) can cause the systolic pressure to
rise significantly (during the exercise).
Health effects
Physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can
contribute positively to maintaining a healthy weight, building and
maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility,
promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and
strengthening the immune system. Developing research has demonstrated
that many of the benefits of exercise are mediated through the role of
skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ. That is, contracting muscles
release multiple substances known as myokines which promote the growth
of new tissue, tissue repair, and multiple anti-inflammatory functions, which
in turn reduce the risk of developing various inflammatory diseases.[12]
Exercise reduces levels of cortisol,[13] which causes many health problems,
both physical and mental.[14] Conversely, exercise increases levels of saliva
nitrite, which can be converted to the nitric oxide, thereby, increasing
intensity and training load. Saliva testing for nitric oxide serves as a marker
for training status.[15]
Endurance exercise before meals lowers blood glucose more than the
same exercise after meals.[16] According to the World Health Organization,
lack of physical activity contributes to approximately 17% of heart disease
and diabetes, 12% of falls in the elderly, and 10% of breast cancer and
colon cancer.[17]
There is evidence that vigorous exercise (9095% of VO2 Max) induces a
greater degree of physiological cardiac hypertrophy than moderate
exercise (40 to 70% of VO2Max), but it is unknown whether this has any
effects on overall morbidity and/or mortality.[18]
Exercise in space: AstronautDaniel Tani, Expedition 16 flight engineer,
works out at the Unity node of the International Space Station using the
short bar of the Interim Resistive Exercise Device (IRED) to perform pullups to increase his upper body strength while in a microgravity environment

How much exercise should I do?

Experts recommend 30-60 minutes of exercise per day. The 60minute suggestion is based on the National Academy of Science's
ideal recommendation for people who are trying tolose weight. But
you'll get real health benefits (and burn lots of calories) even if you
don't work out that much -- especially if you haven't been exercising at
all

up

to

now.

While 30 minutes of physical activity is considered enough to lower

your risk of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure, even 10
minutes a day will do you good. Remember that you don't have to do
all your exercise in one session: A 30-minute aerobics workout in the
morning, a 20-minute walk after work, and 10 minutes of mopping the
floor after dinner can do the trick. (Don't forget to include
some strength training andstretching in your workouts, too.)

What types of exercise are better for weight loss?

Answer:
Choose endurance activities for weight loss such as jogging,
aerobics, bicycling, rowing, or swimming.
Exercise at a moderately intense level. You should be able to talk
without running out of breath during the activity.
Exercise for more than 40 minutes.

During the first 20 minutes, your body taps into your sugar reserves
(carbohydrates stored as blood glucose and muscle glycogen).

Between 20 to 40 minutes of exercise, the body continues to use up

your sugar reserves and starts to tap into your body fat.

After 40 minutes the body starts to burn even more fat.

Choose aquatic workouts or exercise in the cold. This causes the
body to burn more energy and melt fat more quickly. The body draws
on its fat reserves to stay warm.