Aaquatics and Fitness

Benefits of Physical Fitness Physical Fitness has many positive benefits for a person's body. Exercise provides health benefits, increases strength and energy, enhances a person's appearance, which helps with self-esteem and also relieves stress. A major health benefit from exercising is reducing the risk of heart disease. Exercise will help increase the HDL (good cholesterol) to LDL (bad cholesterol) ratio. Estimates are that 96.8 million American adults (51 percent) have blood cholesterol values of 200 mg/dL and higher. About 37.7 million American adults (20 percent) have levels of 240 or above. By having physical activity, the efficiency of the heart and lungs is increased. As a person's level of fitness increases blood pressure will decrease therefore lowering high blood pressure. Exercise also controls diabetes by increasing insulin efficiency. A person's body is protected against osteoporosis when exercising because bone mass is increased. Studies done on the bone density of broken limbs have shown that in just 2 months, a bone can lose 5 percent of its mass. Astronauts have also shown similar loses when subjected to weightlessness. By exercising frequently, a person's joints, tendons, and ligaments are more flexible promoting easy unrestricted movement. This will increase a person's sense of balance and agility. Exercise also helps expedite the movement of the nutrients to the cells and the toxins from the cells improving digestion and elimination. The endurance and energy level a person's body is also increased. Exercising increases a person's life span by slowing aging process. Muscle tone in the body is improved and weight loss is controlled making a person look and feel better. This type of feeling really helps boost a person's self-esteem and decreases depression. Physical activity relieves stress and tension from a person's body by clearing the mind. Anxiety can also be released in exercises such as kickboxing, aerobics, or tae-bo. Another benefit that most people don't think of is the reduction in health care costs. The fitter a person is, the less chance of becoming ill. As many as 12 percent of the deaths in the US may be due to diseases associated with lack of regular physical activity. Steven Blair, chief of epidemiology at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, led a study of physical activity levels and mortality. He found that the greatest percentage decrease in the