Health Time Is Good For You!

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You have probably heard by now that physical activity is good for you. Well, the news in favor of regular physical activity keeps coming in! The U.S. Office on Women's Health has shown that an active lifestyle can lower your risk of early death from a lot of causes. There is strong evidence that regular physical activity can also lower your risk of:

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Heart disease
Stroke
High blood pressure
Unhealthy cholesterol levels
Type 2 diabetes
Metabolic syndrome
Colon cancer
Breast cancer
Falls
Depression

Regular activity can help you reach and stay at a healthy weight. It can also improve your cardiorespiratory (heart, lungs, and blood vessels) and muscular fitness. For older adults, activity can improve mental function. It’s never too late to begin physical activity. If you haven’t been active for a while, though, check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Physical activity may also help:

Improve functional health for older adults (your health-related quality of life)
Reduce waistline size
Lower risk of hip fracture Lower risk of lung cancer
Lower risk of endometrial cancer
Keep a healthy weight
Increase bone density, which can lower your risk of bone loss
Improve sleep quality

So what do you need to do to be active? Health benefits are gained by doing the following each week:

• 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or
• 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity or
• A combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity and
• Muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days (like working out with hand weights)

You can gain even more benefits by boosting activity to 5 hours of moderate-intensity or 2 hours and 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week.