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The physical benefits of exercise are well known and
include:
- Prevention
of heart disease and diabetes
- Reduction
of blood pressure and cholesterol
- Weight
loss
- Improvement
in bone strength
Exercise also has mental benefits, particularly for
sleep and depression.
To see these health benefits, you needn’t exercise
excessively. The recommended amount for general and mental health is:
- At
least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day, such as brisk
walking, swimming, bicycling, aerobics class or dancing.
That activity can also be spread out in 10 minute
chunks. If you can’t exercise
daily, you can still get good results from an every-other-day routine.
This kind of exercise has been shown to help depression
in several studies. One study found that people who exercised while taking
antidepressants were less likely to become depressed again after recovery.
To improve sleep, try exercising in the afternoon.
If your goal is to lose weight, you may need to exercise
longer (60 minutes a day instead of 30 minutes).
The effects of exercise on other conditions are not as
well known, but some research suggests it may also be beneficial for:
- Anxiety
and panic disorder
- Chronic
fatigue syndrome
- Chronic
pain
- Smoking
cessation
Precautions:
Exercise may not be helpful for everyone, and for some it may not be
safe. If you have medical problems, particularly
of the bones, muscles, heart or lungs, consult your physician before taking
on an exercise program. Also talk to
your doctor if you have symptoms of medical illness including chest pain,
loss of balance, shortness of breath, dizziness and physical pain.
Updated 6/18/4 by Chris Aiken,
M.D.
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Lyonel Feininger, The
Bicycle Race, 1912, National Gallery of Art
Exercise Links
National
Center for Disease Prevention Exercise Program.
Scientific References
Blumental JA, Effects of exercise training on older adults with major
depression. Archives of Internal
Medicine 1999; 159: 2349-56.
Lawlor, DA. The effectiveness of exercise as an intervention in
the management of depression: systemic review and meta-regression analysis
of randomized controlled trials. British
Medical Journal 2001; 322:1-8.
Broocks A. Comparison of aerobic exercise, clomipramine
and placebo in the treatment of panic disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 1998; 155:603-9.
Powell P. Patient education to encourage graded exercise in
chronic fatigue syndrome. British Journal
of Psychiatry 2003; 184:142-6.
Ussher MH. Does exercise aid smoking cessation? A systematic
review. Addiction 2000;
95(2):199-208.
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