EXERCISE: What's in it for me?

Quite a lot! Exercise is a small investment that reaps big benefits.  Exercise can:

• Help you loose weight
• Tone your muscles
• Help you sleep
• Reduce stress
• Enhance your self-esteem
• Help reduce high blood pressure

The Basics of Heart Health Exercise

Here is the basic tenet of our exercise philosophy: Whatever you do is better than doing nothing at all. You need to understand that there are three types of exercise that will strengthen your body in different ways:

Aerobic Exercise 
This type of exercise is vital if you want to improve the functioning of your cardiovascular system, which includes your heart. Aerobic exercise also improves your endurance and strengthens your musculoskeletal system, the bony skeleton of your body and the muscles attached to it. Aerobic exercise makes use of rhythmic, repetitive exercises that use large muscle groups.

Weight-Bearing Exercise
As a woman, you especially need to incorporate weight –bearing exercises into your daily life. Aerobic exercise is marvelous for the cardiovascular system, but alone does not help prevent the loss of bone mineral, which, as you age, can result in osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercises are those that provide impact on the joints and, in doing so, stimulate the ends of your bones.

There are ways to build in weight-bearing exercise into your activity. One is by choosing aerobic activities that apply some force to the bones. Swimming provides aerobic exercise but, because your body is suspended weightless in the water, there is no force to your bones. Walking, jogging, aerobic dancing, and racquet sports qualify as both aerobic and weight-bearing activities.

Anaerobic Exercise (Strength Resistance Training)
Women especially should be aware of the need to keep the strength in their upper arms. Women tend to focus on their hips and thighs, but as we age, we need to build up our arms. This enables us carrying packages more easily, for example, and keeps the skin on our arms.

A good way to strengthen your upper body is to work out with weights. A simple exercise using dumbbells or other weights will accomplish your goal.

If you have heart disease, you must consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. As you start or increase your level of activity, if you experience any symptoms as chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or under fatigue, consult your doctor.

Before beginning activity, you should take a medical "inventory" of yourself. Recall any injuries or problems with your back, ankles arms or legs you may have suffered. Make certain that the activities you choose will not damage, but instead strengthen, these problem areas. Research shows that higher rates of injury are associated with weight-bearing activities like jogging and running. Those most likely to injure them selves are people who run for long distances, have a personal history of injury, or suddenly increase their exercise schedule.