UNLESS you watch your diet and exercise regularly, you’ll naturally put on more body fat as you get older. One main reason is lifestyle. People tend to be less physically active with age. Their muscle mass shrinks, and with it, the ability to efficiently burn calories. Metabolism declines as a result and it’s more difficult for the body to mobilize and burn fat for energy.
But by staying active, you will remain lean. On average, well-trained, middle-age runners have a body fat percentage of 11 for men and 18 for women.
Whereas, inactive people in the same age group average 27.1 percent for men and 34.4 percent for women. By keeping up your exercise program for as long as you can, you’ll postpone unwanted changes in your body composition. Some benefits of doing aerobic exercise are:
Prevent heart disease
Many studies have proved that aerobic exercise is an effective risk reducer for heart disease. An aerobically trained heart can pump more blood with each beat, during exercise and while at rest. Your heart rate slows too, so that when you climb a flight of stairs or play a set of tennis, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard. You can be more active without running out of breath. Your entire circulatory system changes, too. Aerobic exercise makes your capillaries increase in size and number so that more blood finds its way to the muscles and other tissues where it’s needed.
Clobber cholesterol problems
One important reason aerobics preserves heart health is its positive effect on cholesterol levels. One of the forms of cholesterol in your body is high density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL. Manufactured mostly in the liver and released into the bloodstream, it appears HDL cholesterol has a protective effect on the heart. It carries other cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver so it can be processed. HDL cholesterol removes harmful plaque-causing LDL (low density lipoprotein) from the inner walls of arteries feeding the heart. A high level of HDL cholesterol is good for the heart, yet a low level indicates a greater risk for heart disease. Aerobic exercise plays a big role in raising levels of HDL cholesterol. You can positively change your HDL levels with very little exercise, the equivalent of jogging 10 miles a week for nine months. However, if your exercise more intensely, HDL levels can go up even more. Other factors such as diet and family history also play a part in how your cholesterol balances out. But it’s clear that exercise is critical. So if you have a cholesterol problem, don’t just sit there, exercise.
Reduce high blood pressure
High blood pressure, technically known as hypertension, has often been called the “silent killer” because some people are unaware of it. This can damage your heart, blood vessels and kidneys potentially leading to death. One way to drive blood pressure down is with aerobic exercise. Most studies of hypertensive people show that a reduction can occur with as little as three exercise sessions a week for 30 to 60 minutes each time. You can chose to do walking, stationary cycling, doing treadmill, running or swimming.
Stay energized
One of the ways to feel more energetic is to expend more energy through aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise improves your circulation and your respiration–stimulating factors that give you a real lift physically. You’re able to do more, with more energy to boot.
Think better
With more oxygen traveling to your brain, you think better and clearer. In a study comparing regular exercisers to inactive people, the exercisers were more decisive and better able to size up a situation. Also, exercise involving complicated motor skills, affects mental agility, possibly by increasing the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain.
Brighten up a blue mood
Aerobic exercise banishes the blues. In fact, numerous studies have shown that aerobic exercise can be an effective part of treatment for depression and anxiety. The more you make exercise a habit, the better your mood stays and the lower your stress level becomes. But you must make a commitment to it. Researchers in Australia studied three groups of people: long-term exercisers, short-term exercisers and non-exercisers. The long-term exercisers had a more positive outlook on life and were less stressed out than those in the other two groups, based on the results of questionnaires filled out by the participants.
