Exercise and the Healthy Lifestyle

Exercise is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle! The term "use it or lose it" is so true! The importance of exercise is greater today than ever before! All of our present technology can lead to a relatively sedate lifstyle which can result in many different problems such as obesity, atrophy, depression and more.

Regardless of which forms of exercise you choose, all exercise can be broken down to three vital components. Aerobic, Anaerobic and Flexibility. Simply put they are Cardio, Strength/Power and Stretching. Doing a combination of the three ensures the optimal use of our muscles, organs and injury /illness prevention and is necessary for overall fitness.

Aerobic exercise improves our cardio-vascular system and increase our endurance. It helps our heart, veins, lungs and, as a result, our entire body by increasing blood flow and oxygen volume to every cell. As a result it improves our mood, increases our daily energy level and helps our sleep patterns. Examples of Aerobic exercises are running, riding a bike, walking, jumping rope, swimming etc...

Anaerobic exercise helps with our muscle tone, bone density and overall strength. It helps us look good, feel good and helps with weight control. By reducing our fat to muscle ratio we burn more calories both when exercising or resting! Muscle requires and uses more calories than fat does. Also, by putting stress on our skeletal frame it cause our bones to maintain density and helps stave off ostioporosis. Examples of Anaerobic exercise are weight lifting, isometrics, sprinting, power yoga etc...

Exercise that works on flexability reduces the incidence of injury. It also helps to manage and slow the debilitating effects of arthritis. It balances our strength training by lengthening our muscles, tendons and ligaments. Anaerobic exercise tends to shorten the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Exercises that focus on flexability also increase our range of motion. Examples of exercise that increase flexability are stretching, yoga, swimming, calestetics etc...

As you can see some exercises incorporate more than just one of the three components of fitness. Also sports and daily activities can improve our fitness level as well! Things like climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator or walking instead of driving can all contibute to a better level of fitness!

Generally speaking we should try to incorporate at least 20 minutes of each fitness component daily. Try it for one month and you will notice a marked improvement in how you look and feel! Remember to start slowly and avoid injury. When it comes to increasing your fitness level "slow and steady wins the race"! Also, always consult your doctor before starting any diet or exercise plan to be sure it is safe for your individual situation!

The bible says, "24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives sthe prize? So trun that you may obtain it. 25 Every uathlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we van imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I wdo not box as one xbeating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and ykeep it under control,2 lest after preaching to others zI myself should be adisqualified."
s Phil. 3:14; Col. 2:18
t Gal. 2:2; 5:7; Phil. 2:16; Heb. 12:1; [2 Tim. 4:7]
u 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:5; 4:7; [Jude 3]
v See James 1:12
w [Heb. 12:4]
x [ch. 14:9]
y [Rom. 6:19]
2 Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave
z [S. of S. 1:6]
a [Jer. 6:30; Rom. 1:28; Heb. 6:8]
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (1 Co 9:24-27). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

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Grace and Peace,

Ed