Get Moving

Bodily Activity for Health: A Summary

• Exercise is a physical activity that helps maintain or enhance physical fitness, overall health, and wellness.

• Physical activity is performed for various reasons, including weight loss, developing muscles and the cardiovascular system, and improving overall health and mental well-being.

• The amount of recommended exercise depends on the goal, type of exercise, and age of the person, but even a small amount of exercise is healthier than none.

• Physical exercises are generally grouped into three types: flexibility, aerobic, and anaerobic.

• Benefits of physical activity include maintaining a healthy weight, regulating the digestive system, building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility, and strengthening the immune system.

• Physical inactivity causes approximately 6-10% of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and colon cancer worldwide.

• Most people can increase fitness by increasing physical activity levels.

• Physical activity has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke.

• Evidence suggests that exercise may positively affect the quality of life in cancer survivors and contribute to a reduction of cancer-related fatigue in survivors of breast cancer.

• Exercise can induce a transient state of euphoria, improve sleep quality, and improve sexual arousal problems related to antidepressant use.

• Community-wide and school campaigns may increase exercise levels, and parents can promote physical activity by modeling healthy levels of physical activity or encouraging physical activity.

• Incorporating mindfulness into physical exercise interventions increases exercise adherence and self-efficacy and has positive effects both psychologically and physiologically.Sociocultural Variations in Physical Exercise and the Importance of Nutrition and Recovery: A Summary

• People exercise outdoors for personal enjoyment, health, social interactions, competition, or training.

• In Colombia, outdoor activities are used as social gatherings and to enjoy nature and communities.

• Cambodia has public gyms where people congregate to organize aerobics and dance sessions.

• Sweden has free outdoor gyms placed in picturesque environments, and people swim in rivers and run through forests to stay healthy.

• In some areas of China, particularly among the retired, square dances are held in public parks to interact with different people.

• Physical exercise can improve health and well-being, enhance community ties, and appreciation of natural beauty.

• Proper nutrition is important to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macronutrients while providing ample micronutrients.

• Active recovery is recommended to remove lactate from the blood and decline in body temperature.

• Exercise affects appetite, but whether it increases or decreases appetite varies from individual to individual.

• Excessive exercise or overtraining occurs when a person exceeds their body's ability to recover from strenuous exercise.

• The benefits of exercise have been known since antiquity, and mass exercise movements began in the early twentieth century.

• Studies of animals indicate that physical activity may be more adaptable than changes in food intake to regulate energy balance.