By Andrea Pelin,
Project Weight Loss Editor
September 12, 2008 Exercising may help maintain your heart`s health whether it`s a daily routine or a structured fitness program. Some activities don`t give you muscle pains or leave you out of breath even if you feel warm or perspire.
Activities such as jogging, walking, aerobic dancing, cycling, swimming, or skiing are benefic for your health. Choose activities that make you feel good, so you can have fun and relax while practicing. Listening to your favorite music should keep you entertained.
Does regular physical activity bring any benefits for your health? Sure. It gives you more energy, makes you more resistant to stress and better looking, it tones your muscles and controls your appetite. It helps you lose weight or at least keep it under control. Not to mention that it gives you confidence in yourself, helps you fall asleep quickly, and may help against anxiety or depression.
If you want to lose weight, you can be more active and eat the same amount of calories or be more active and eat fewer calories. Almost three-fourths of the energy burned daily comes from basic activities such as breathing, sleeping, or digesting. If you have more activities, you burn extra calories.
The list presented below shows how many calories are burned per hour by a person of about one hundred-fifty pounds. If a person weights less, it burns fewer calories but if it weights more, it burns more calories:
- Bicycling six mph – 240 cals/hr
- Jogging 5 mph – 740 cals/hr
- Jumping rope – 750 cals/hr
- Running – 650 cals/hr
- Swimming twenty-five yds/min – 275 cals/hr
- Tennis – 400 cals/hr
- Walking three mph – 320 cals/hr
Physical inactivity is a risk factor for coronary heart disease along with high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, smoking, or high blood cholesterol. A physical activity with the right frequency and intensity help you control your blood pressure, blood lipids, protect you against heart disease, and maintains the health of your lungs. The best exercises for heart and lungs are the aerobic ones.
The common risk of exercising is injury to the muscles. This usually happens when you practice too hard, especially if you were a sedentary person. Another important aspect is the heat exhaustion during hot days. A risk of a regular physical activity is that you may aggravate your heart problems (existing or hidden) and that`s why you should follow the advice of a specialist when you want to start a fitness program.
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Project Weight Loss. All rights reserved.
