Saturday 20 August 2011

About Excercise




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 and obesity. 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 the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides

Benefits Of excercise



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.

Exercise reduces levels of cortisol,[citation needed] which causes many health problems, both physical and mental.

Frequent and regular aerobic exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and depression.

Endurance exercise before meals lowers blood glucose more than the same exercise after meals.[ 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.

There is some evidence that vigorous exercise (90–95% of VO2 Max) is more beneficial than moderate exercise (40 to 70% of VO2 Max). Some studies have shown that vigorous exercise executed by healthy individuals can increase opioid peptides (a.k.a. endorphins, naturally occurring opioids that in conjunction with other neurotransmitters are responsible for exercise-induced euphoria and have been shown to be addictive), increase testosterone and growth hormone, effects that are not as fully realized with moderate exercise.

 More recent research  indicates that anandamide may play a greater role than endorphins in "runner's high". However, training at this[which?] intensity for long periods of time, or without proper warmup beforehand and cooldown afterwards, can lead to an increased risk of injury and overtraining.

Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise work to increase the mechanical efficiency of the heart by increasing cardiac volume (aerobic exercise), or myocardial thickness (strength training). Such changes are generally beneficial and healthy if they occur in response to exercise.

Not everyone benefits equally from exercise. There is tremendous variation in individual response to training; where most people will see a moderate increase in endurance from aerobic exercise, some individuals will as much as double their oxygen uptake, while others can never augment endurance.

However, muscle hypertrophy from resistance training is primarily determined by diet and testosterone. This genetic variation in improvement from training is one of the key physiological differences between elite athletes and the larger population. Studies have shown that exercising in middle age leads to better physical ability later in life.

Exercise-induced anaphylaxis


Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) is a syndrome in which the symptoms of anaphylaxis occur related to exercise.

In some incidents, individuals experienced anaphylaxis only after combination exposure to a triggering agent and increased physical activity shortly after the ingestion of the triggering agent.

In these individuals, either the exercise or ingestion of the triggering agent alone does not cause anaphylaxis. Triggers include foods (commonly celery, wheat, soy protein, cheese, and shellfish) and medication (aspirin and other NSAIDs).

In other incidents, individuals experienced anaphylaxis with exercise and no triggering agent.

Exercise intolerance



This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Exercise intolerance is a condition where the patient is unable to do physical exercise at the level or for the duration that would be expected of someone in his or her general physical condition, or experiences unusually severe post-exercise pain, fatigue, or other negative effects. Exercise intolerance is not a disease or syndrome in and of itself, but a symptom.

Since there are many possible specific reasons why exercise could be inhibited, this is a rather slippery term. For instance, the patient may experience unusual breathlessness (dyspnea), muscle pain (myalgia), or increasing muscle weakness while exercising, or may, after exercise, experience severe headache, nausea, dizziness or extreme fatigue. In most cases, the specific reason that exercise is not tolerated is of considerable significance when trying to isolate the cause down to a specific disease.

Exercise intensity



Exercise intensity refers to how much work is being done when exercising. The intensity has an effect on what fuel the body uses and what kind of adaptations the body makes after exercise (i.e., the training effect).

 Intensity is the amount of physical power, expressed as a percentage of maximum, the body uses in performing an activity. For example, it defines how hard the body has to work to walk a mile in 20 minutes

Exercise induced nausea


Exercise induced nausea is a feeling of sickness or vomiting which can occur shortly after exercise has stopped as well as during exercise itself. It may be a symptom of either over exertion during exercise, or from too abruptly ending an exercise session.

 People engaged in high intensity exercise such as aerobics and bicycling have reported suffering from exercise induced nausea. A study of 20 volunteers conducted at Nagoya University, Japan associated a higher degree of exercise induced nausea after eating.

It has been suggested that exercise induced nausea could be caused by increased endorphin levels, which are released while exercising. Endorphins have been associated with nausea and vomiting, so this theory is plausible, but unsupported by evidence.

Another possible cause of exercise induced nausea is water logging, another word for overhydration. Drinking too much water before, during, and/or after exercise (or at any time) can cause nausea, diarrhea, confusion, and muscle tremors. If the overhydration is significant enough, it can be fatal.

Excessive water consumption reduces or dilutes electrolyte levels in the body. It is encouraged to control your level of water intake when working out, and also to eat salty snacks when you have consumed too much water (sodium and potassium are electrolytes)

Exercise hypertension



Exercise hypertension is an excessive rise in blood pressure during exercise. Many of those with exercise hypertension have spikes in systolic pressure to 250 mmHg or greater.

A rise in systolic blood pressure to over 200 mmHg when exercising at 100 W is pathological, and a rise in pressure over 220 mmHg needs to be controlled by the appropriate drugs.

Similarly, in healthy individuals the response of the diastolic pressure to 'dynamic' exercise (e.g. walking, running) of moderate intensity is to remain constant or to fall slightly (due to the improved blood flow), but in some individuals a rise of 10 mmHg or greater is found.

Recent work at Johns Hopkins involving a group of athletes aged 55 to 75 with mild hypertension has found a correlation of those with exercise hypertension to a reduced ability of the major blood vessels to change in size in response to increased blood flow (probably due to impaired function of the endothelial cells in the vessel walls). This is to be differentiated from stiffness of the blood-vessel walls, which was not found to be correlated with the effect

Nutrition and recovery





Proper nutrition is as important to health as exercise. When exercising, it becomes even more important to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macronutrients whilst providing ample micronutrients, in order to aid the body with the recovery process following strenuous exercise.

Proper rest and recovery are also as important to health as exercise; otherwise the body exists in a permanently injured state and will not improve or adapt adequately to the exercise.[citation needed] It is necessary to refill the glycogen stores in the skeletal muscles and liver.

Nutrition and recovery can be compromised by psychological compulsions (eating disorders such as exercise bulimia, anorexia, and other bulimias), misinformation, a lack of organization, or a lack of motivation.
Delayed onset muscle soreness can occur after any kind of exercise, particularly if the body is in an unconditioned state relative to that exercise.

Exercise trends



Main article: Exercise trends

Worldwide there has been a large shift towards less physically demanding work.

 This has been accompanied by increasing use of mechanized transportation, a greater prevalence of labor saving technology in the home, and less active recreational pursuits

Excessive exercise



Exercise is a stressor and the stresses of exercise have a catabolic effect on the body—contractile proteins within muscles are consumed for energy, carbohydrates and fats are similarly consumed and connective tissues are stressed and can form micro-tears[citation needed].

However, given adequate nutrition and sufficient rest to avoid overtraining, the body's reaction to this stimulus is to adapt and replete tissues at a higher level than that existing before exercising[citation needed]. The results are all the training effects of regular exercise: increased muscular strength, endurance, bone density, and connective tissue toughness[citation needed].

Too much exercise can be harmful. Without proper rest, the chance of stroke or other circulation problems increases, and muscle tissue may develop slowly. Extremely intense, long-term cardiovascular exercise, as can be seen in athletes who train for multiple marathons, has been associated with scarring of the heart and heart rhythm abnormalities

Inappropriate exercise can do more harm than good, with the definition of "inappropriate" varying according to the individual. For many activities, especially running and cycling, there are significant injuries that occur with poorly regimented exercise schedules. Injuries from accidents also remain a major concern, whereas the effects of increased exposure to air pollution seem only a minor concern.

In extreme instances, over-exercising induces serious performance loss. Unaccustomed overexertion of muscles leads to rhabdomyolysis (damage to muscle) most often seen in new army recruits.

 Another danger is overtraining, in which the intensity or volume of training exceeds the body's capacity to recover between bouts.

Stopping excessive exercise suddenly can also create a change in mood. Feelings of depression and agitation can occur when withdrawal from the natural endorphins produced by exercise occurs. Exercise should be controlled by each body's inherent limitations.

While one set of joints and muscles may have the tolerance to withstand multiple marathons, another body may be damaged by 20 minutes of light jogging. This must be determined for each individual.
Too much exercise can also cause a female to miss her period, a symptom known as amenorrhea

Muscle and fat tissue



One misconception is that muscle tissue will turn into fat tissue once a person stops exercising. This is not literally true—fat tissue and muscle tissue are fundamentally different—but the common expression that "muscle will turn to fat" is truthful in the sense that catabolism of muscle fibers for energy can result in excess glucose being stored as fat.

 Moreover, the composition of a body part can change toward less muscle and more fat, so that a cross-section of the upper-arm for example, will have a greater area corresponding to fat and a smaller area corresponding to muscle.

This is not muscle "turning into fat" however—it is simply a combination of muscle atrophy and increased fat storage in different tissues of the same body part.

 The muscle is being replaced by fat. Another element of increased fatty deposits is that of diet, as most trainees will not significantly reduce their diet in order to compensate for the lack of exercise/activity

Common misconceptions



Many myths have arisen surrounding exercise, some of which have a basis in reality, and some which are completely false. Myths include:

That excessive exercise can cause immediate death.[citation needed] Death by exercise has some small basis in fact. Water intoxication can result from prolific sweating (producing electrolyte losses) combined with consumption of large amounts of plain water and insufficient replenishment of electrolytes, especially salt and potassium (e.g. when running a marathon). It is also possible to die from a heart attack or similar affliction if overly intense exercise is performed by someone who is not at an appropriate level of fitness for that particular activity or has an undiagnosed rare condition like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

A doctor should always be consulted before any radical changes are made to a person's current exercise routine. Rhabdomyolysis is also a risk. Other common dangers may occur from extreme overheating or aggravation of a physical defect, such as a thrombosis or aneurysm.

That weightlifting makes you short or stops growth. One confirmed danger is that heavy weight training in adolescents (ages 11–16) can damage the epiphyseal plate of long bones and can stunt joints..[citation needed] It is still commonly suggested that adolescents refrain from any kind of "strenuous" weight-lifting. However, weight training is a healthy form of exercise for adolescents and can be perfectly safe if performed under the supervision of a trained professional

Compendium of Physical Activities



The Compendium of Physical Activities was developed for use in epidemiologic studies to standardize the assignment of MET intensities in physical activity questionnaires.

The Compendium of is list of physical activities and the associated energy cost of each activity. The original Compendium was published in 1993, the first update in 2000, and the most recent update in 2011. More information can be found at the Compendium of Physical Activities website:

https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/

MET (Metabolic Equivalent): The ratio of the work metabolic rate to the resting metabolic rate. One MET is defined as 1 kcal/kg/hour and is roughly equivalent to the energy cost of sitting quietly. A MET also is defined as oxygen uptake in ml/kg/min with one MET equal to the oxygen cost of sitting quietly, equivalent to 3.5 ml/kg/min.

Public health measures

Signs that encourage the use of stairs, as well as community campaigns, have been shown to be effective in increasing exercise in a population.

 The city of Bogotá, Colombia, for example, blocks off 113 kilometers (70 miles) of roads on Sundays and holidays to make it easier for its citizens to get exercise. These pedestrian zones are part of an effort to combat chronic diseases, including obesity

Effects on sleep



A 2010 review of published scientific research suggested that exercise generally improves sleep for most people, and helps sleep disorders such as insomnia. The optimum time to exercise may be 4 to 8 hours before bedtime, though exercise at any time of day is beneficial, with the possible exception of heavy exercise taken shortly before bedtime, which may disturb sleep. There is, in any case, insufficient evidence to draw detailed conclusions about the relationship between exercise and sleep.[

Effects on depression



A number of factors may contribute to depression including being overweight, low self esteem, stress, and anxiety. Endorphins act as a natural pain reliever and antidepressant in the body.

Endorphins have long been regarded as responsible for what is known as "runner's high", a euphoric feeling a person receives from intense physical exertion. However, recent research  indicates that anandamide may possibly play a greater role than endorphins in "runner's high". When a person exercises, levels of both circulating serotonin and endorphins are increased.

These levels are known to stay elevated even several days after exercise is discontinued, possibly contributing to improvement in mood, increased self-esteem, and weight management. Exercise alone is a potential prevention method and/or treatment for mild forms of depression

Effects on brain function



A 2008 review of cognitive enrichment therapies (strategies to slow or reverse cognitive decline) concluded that "physical activity, and aerobic exercise in particular, enhances older adults' cognitive function".
In mice, exercise improves cognitive functioning via improvement of hippocampus-dependent spatial learning, and enhancement of synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis.

 In addition, physical activity has been shown to be neuroprotective in many neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases.

For instance, it reduces the risk of developing dementia. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that frequent exercise may reverse alcohol-induced brain damage.

There are several possibilities for why exercise is beneficial for the brain. Examples are as follows:
increasing the blood and oxygen flow to the brain

increasing growth factors that help create new nerve cells and promote synaptic plasticity
increasing chemicals in the brain that help cognition, such as dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine, and serotonin

Physical activity is thought to have other beneficial effects related to cognition as it increases levels of nerve growth factors, which support the survival and growth of a number of neuronal cells

Effect on the immune system


Although there have been hundreds of studies on exercise and the immune system, there is little direct evidence on its connection to illness. Epidemiological evidence suggests that moderate exercise has a beneficial effect on the human immune system; an effect which is modeled in a J curve. 
Moderate exercise has been associated with a 29% decreased incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), but studies of marathon runners found that their prolonged high-intensity exercise was associated with an increased risk of infection occurrence. However, another study did not find the effect. 
Immune cell functions are impaired following acute sessions of prolonged, high-intensity exercise, and some studies have found that athletes are at a higher risk for infections. The immune systems of athletes and nonathletes are generally similar. Athletes may have slightly elevated natural killer cell count and cytolytic action, but these are unlikely to be clinically significant.
Vitamin C supplementation has been associated with lower URTIs in marathon runners.
Biomarkers of inflammation such as C-reactive protein, which are associated with chronic diseases, are reduced in active individuals relative to sedentary individuals, and the positive effects of exercise may be due to its anti-inflammatory effects. The depression in the immune system following acute bouts of exercise may be one of the mechanisms for this anti-inflammatory effect

Benefits Of excercise Briefly


Effect on the cardiovascular system


The beneficial effect of exercise on the cardiovascular system is well documented.
There is a direct relation between physical inactivity and cardiovascular mortality, and physical inactivity is an independent risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease.

There is a dose-response relation between the amount of exercise performed from approximately 700 to 2000 kcal of energy expenditure per week and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality in middle-aged and elderly populations.

The greatest potential for reduced mortality is in the sedentary who become moderately active. Most beneficial effects of physical activity on cardiovascular disease mortality can be attained through moderate-intensity activity (40% to 60% of maximal oxygen uptake, depending on age). ... persons who modify their behavior after myocardial infarction to include regular exercise have improved rates of survival. ... Persons who remain sedentary have the highest risk for all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality

Benefits Of excercise


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.

Exercise reduces levels of cortisol,[citation needed] which causes many health problems, both physical and mental.

Frequent and regular aerobic exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and depression. Endurance exercise before meals lowers blood glucose more than the same exercise after meals.[ 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.

There is some evidence that vigorous exercise (90–95% of VO2 Max) is more beneficial than moderate exercise (40 to 70% of VO2 Max). Some studies have shown that vigorous exercise executed by healthy individuals can increase opioid peptides (a.k.a. endorphins, naturally occurring opioids that in conjunction with other neurotransmitters are responsible for exercise-induced euphoria and have been shown to be addictive), increase testosterone and growth hormone, effects that are not as fully realized with moderate exercise. More recent research  indicates that anandamide may play a greater role than endorphins in "runner's high". However, training at this[which?] intensity for long periods of time, or without proper warmup beforehand and cooldown afterwards, can lead to an increased risk of injury and overtraining.[citation needed]
Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise work to increase the mechanical efficiency of the heart by increasing cardiac volume (aerobic exercise), or myocardial thickness (strength training). Such changes are generally beneficial and healthy if they occur in response to exercise.

Not everyone benefits equally from exercise. There is tremendous variation in individual response to training; where most people will see a moderate increase in endurance from aerobic exercise, some individuals will as much as double their oxygen uptake, while others can never augment endurance. However, muscle hypertrophy from resistance training is primarily determined by diet and testosterone. This genetic variation in improvement from training is one of the key physiological differences between elite athletes and the larger population. Studies have shown that exercising in middle age leads to better physical ability later in life.

Classification of excercise


Types of exercise


Physical exercises are generally grouped into three types, depending on the overall effect they have on the human body:

  • Flexibility exercises, such as stretching, improve the range of motion of muscles and joints.
  • Aerobic exercises, such as cycling, swimming, walking, skipping rope, rowing, running, hiking or playing tennis, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance.
  • Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training, functional training, eccentric training or sprinting, increase short-term muscle strength.

Categories of physical exercise



  • Strength training
  • Agility training
  • Eccentric Training

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).
Categories of general physical skills


Physical exercise is used to improve physical skills.
Physical skills fall into the following general categories, per CrossFit:

  • Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance
  • Stamina
  • Strength
  • Flexibility
  • Power
  • Speed
  • Coordination
  • Agility
  • Balance
  • Accuracy

About


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 and obesity. 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 the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides