You Reduce Your Risk
of Medical Problems
Perhaps the number-one reason for working out is that you’ll be healthier.
The reasons in the following list alone are enough for you to lace up your
shoes and head out the door:You’re more likely to live a long life. In an eight-year study of more
than 20,000 men, those who were lean but unfit had twice the risk of
death as fit, lean men. Even fatmen who had a history of working out
(yes, it’s possible — if you eat more calories than you burn off through-
out the day, you can still gain weight) had a lower death rate than those
who were lean but unfit.You have more energy.People who complain that they don’t have
enough energy to exercise fail to realize that working out gives you
energy. In one study, middle-aged women who lifted weights for a year
became 27 percent more active in daily life than before.
You won’t have to count sheep.After a 12-week aerobic and strength-
training regimen, research subjects reported falling asleep faster and
sleeping longer than before they’d started exercising, probably because
of hormonal changes. Sedentary folks who start exercising regularly
boost the amount of time spent in slow-wave sleep,the phase of sleep
believed to be the most restorative. They also report waking up less
often during the night.You stay lithe and limber.As little as five minutes of stretching a day
helps keep your muscles mobile and helps you stay agile. Reaching
for your purse in the back seat, bending over to pick up a towel off the
bathroom floor — being limber is important for countless everyday tasks.
You improve your balance.In just three months, 80-year-olds who per-
formed balance exercises — like walking a straight line and standing on
one foot — gained the level of body control typical of people three to ten
years younger. With improved balance, you have a zippier walking gait
as you age, and less shuffling means fewer falls and fractures.You’re less likely to catch a cold. Moderate exercise strengthens your
immune system. People who walk regularly report cold symptoms on
fewer than half the days that couch potatoes report symptoms.
You can offset the decrease in immune function that weight loss
appears to cause.Research suggests that dieting alone causes a drop in
disease-fighting cells but that a program of aerobic exercise and weight
training makes up for this loss.