Today's modern lifestyles are sedentary compared to those of our ancestors who were busy hunting and gathering. For them every day was full of physical activity and hard work just to meet the demands of daily living. When the 20th Century came along the physical demands of daily life were rapidly replaced by automation. Our lifestyle, with all of its conveniences, gives us little opportunity to be active as all of the manual "work" has been removed. We drive to work, sit in front of a computer, drive home, and sit in front of the television hardly moving all day. The result of this type of lifestyle is not simply a lack of strength and fitness. This type of lifestyle is actually a threat to your health no matter what your age. When we don't get the necessary movement or "work" to stay healthy, the body starts a downward spiral of declining health. We used to think that as we aged we naturally lost strength and muscle along with hair, eyesight and teeth. However, some of us found this unacceptable and started asking questions, challenging the frailty/rocking chair scenario and scientists began to investigate this phenomenon. It turns out that increased age and decreased strength are not necessarily part of getting older and that many of the leading causes of death for people between the ages of 25 and 65 are preventable. It is now known that personal lifestyle habits, in particular exercise and healthy eating either speed-up or reverse disease and aging. The important goal is to increase the span of healthy life for everybody and a proper exercise program is a major contributor to this goal. Strength and fitness are crucial to successful aging. A no-exercise lifestyle is a major health risk and can easily bring about an early death. Think of your exercise program as medicine. Medicine that will bring about positive changes to reduce human and financial losses associated with chronic life threatening diseases. The impact of this medicine is both healing and preventive and it is the self-health care that regenerates the body and mind and rekindles the spirit adding years to life and life to years. The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that proper exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression and at least 20 other types of illnesses and conditions. In addition to disease-fighting properties, a proper exercise program can improve the quality of your life and your general well-being in many other ways, such as helping you sleep better, reducing stress, controlling your weight, brightening your mood, and sharpening your mental functioning. Isn't this just the best deal you ever did see, so much to gain for such a small outlay? Since you care more about your health than anyone else, (you do don't you) doesn't it make sense that you should take control and be part of it? Your exercise program should include at least 60% strength training and help you become and stay healthy. Don't live your life now so that doctors and drugs are needed to fix you once the wheels fall off and things are broken somewhere down the track. Make exercise the only prescription you ever need to get filled.
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