the desired fitness level. The health benefits of
exercise become apparent within two weeks of
starting an exercise regimen and progress as phys-
ical activity continues. Conversely, the health ben-
efits of physical activity diminish significantly two
weeks after stopping an exercise regimen and are
gone after two months of physical inactivity.
Though the overall health benefits of exercise
far outweigh the risks, a few health risk factors do
increase with physical activity, notably those for
exercise-related injuries and REPETITIVE MOTION
INJURIES. However, most such injuries are prevent-
able through proper WARMUP, preparation, protec-
tive items, and technique during activity.
Furthermore, maintaining a high fitness level
reduces the risk for many other kinds of injuries
because regular exercise increases BONE DENSITY,
MUSCLE STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, and balance.
HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH EXERCISEACHILLES TENDON INJURY ANKLE INJURIES
BLISTER CHAFING
CHARLEYHORSE EPICONDYLITIS
FRACTURE KNEE INJURIES
MUSCLEand JOINTsoreness ROTATOR CUFF
SHIN SPLINTS IMPINGEMENT SYNDROME
SPRAINS AND STRAINS SYNOVITIS
TENDONITIS
Prescription: Exercise
Until the 1970s bedrest was the standard prescrip-
tion for convalescence after significant health con-
ditions ranging from herniated disk (HERNIATED
NUCLEUS PULPOSUS) and KNEE INJURIES to HEART
ATTACK and major surgical operations. Rest,
according to prevailing medical wisdom, allowed
the body to heal itself. With the collection of evi-
dence of physical inactivity’s harmful effects on
health in general growing in the late 1960s, doc-
tors began to question the value of the “rest to
recover” approach and to implement gradual
physical activity as part of a person’s recuperation
plan. Doctors observed that people who engaged
in limited physical active early in the course of
their recovery, such as sitting in a chair or walking
to the bathroom, in the days immediately after an
OPERATIONor a heart attack improved faster and
felt better than those who remained on bedrest.
Doctors also noted that early mobility, now a
mainstay of recuperation, reduced PULMONARY
EMBOLISM(PE) and DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS(DVT)—
BLOODclots in the LUNGSand the inner veins of the
legs, respectively—which are risks with surgery
and major injury.
By the mid-1980s supervised and graduated
physical activity was the core of structured cardiac
rehabilitation programs, and today exercise is a
component of treatment regimens for numerous
health conditions. Structured physical rehabilita-
tion programs are now also the standard of care
for people who have musculoskeletal injuries,
operations, and conditions. The typical multidisci-
plinary health-care team includes professionals
who specialize in returning the body to optimal
function.HEALTH CONDITIONS INFLUENCED
BY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND INACTIVITY
ASTHMA ATHEROSCLEROSIS
ATHLETIC INJURIES BREAST CANCER(certain forms)
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE(CVD) CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
CHRONIC PULMONARY COLORECTAL CANCER
OBSTRUCTIVE DISEASE(COPD) CONSTIPATION
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE(CAD) DEPRESSION
DIABETES FIBROMYALGIA
HYPERLIPIDEMIA HYPERTENSION
INSULIN RESISTANCE INTERMITTENT CLAUDICATION
OBESITY OSTEOARTHRITIS
OSTEOPOROSIS PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE
PROSTATE CANCER (PVD)Fitness for Health: Public Health Goals
The US federal government adopted formal inter-
est in and support for physical fitness in the 1950s,
when President Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1890–1969) formed the President’s Council on
Youth Fitness in response to published scientific
data that America’s youth were significantly less
physically fit compared to European youth. Each
US president after Eisenhower strengthened and
broadened the role of government agencies to
study exercise and educate the public about the
relationship betweenEXERCISE AND HEALTH.
Through the 1970s and 1980s these initiatives
expanded to encourage extended physical fitness
and sports activities in the schools and support
businesses and corporations in promoting exercise
and fitness programs and opportunities amongFitness: Exercise and Health 211