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What are some of the risk factors if you don't partake in exercise?

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What are some of the risk factors if you don't partake in exercise?

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Physical activity can improve health now and in the future. People of all ages, races and ethnicities, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from more physical activity. Everyone needs both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. Even short periods of physical activity can improve health.

Physical activity:

Helps prevent unhealthy weight gain.

Reduces the risk of many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Helps reduce feelings of anxiety and improves sleep quality.

Improves cognitive ability and reduces risk of dementia.

Improves bone and musculoskeletal health.

Learn more about the Health Benefits of Physical Activity for Adults and the Health Benefits of Physical Activity for Children.

Not everyone has the same opportunity to be physically active. Many people live in neighborhoods with poor sidewalk and street infrastructure, few safe spaces for physical activity, and few destinations (including transit stops) within walking or biking distance from their home. Creating activity-friendly communities can provide safe and convenient places for people to be active. It can also support local economies by increasing retail activity and employment.

When communities are developed or redesigned to promote physical activity, community members should be involved in the planning and decision-making process. It is especially important to include people who have been left out in the past, such as members of racial and ethnic minority groups, older adults, and people with disabilities.

CDC aims to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027 through Active People, Healthy Nation℠, a comprehensive initiative to promote physical activity based on strategies recommended by the Guide to Community Preventive Services.

ABOUT 1 IN 2
ADULTS

don't get enough
aerobic physical activity.

77% OF
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

don't get enough
aerobic physical activity.

$117
BILLION

in annual health care costs are related to low physical activity.

Heart Disease

Not getting enough physical activity can lead to heart disease-even for people who have no other risk factors. It can also increase the likelihood of developing other heart disease risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes

Not getting enough physical activity can raise a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Physical activity helps control blood sugar (glucose), weight, and blood pressure and helps raise "good" cholesterol and lower "bad" cholesterol. Adequate physical activity-at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week-can also help reduce the risk of heart disease and nerve damage, which are often problems for people with diabetes.

Cancer

Getting the recommended amount of physical activity can lower the risk of many cancers, including cancers of the breast, colon, and uterus. Regular physical activity is one of the most important things people can do to improve their health. Moving more and sitting less have tremendous benefits for everyone, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, or current fitness level.

Physical activity is one of the best things people can do for their health. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition presents new findings on the benefits of regular physical activity, which include:

Improved sleep.

Increased ability to perform everyday activities.

Improved cognitive ability and a reduced risk of dementia.

Improved bone and musculoskeletal health.

Emerging research also suggests that physical activity may help our immune systems protect our bodies from infection and disease.

CDC's Work to Increase Physical Activity

CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity uses data from national and state surveys to track levels of physical activity among adolescents and adults. Data are used to assess trends in physical activity, understand differences in populations, and help identify priority action areas.

CDC also works with partners to measure community supports for physical activity. These supports include policies and design approaches that enable safe and convenient walking, biking, wheelchair rolling, and public transportation options for people of all ages, abilities, and physical activity levels. For example, CDC measures how many communities have Complete Streets policies that are designed to improve the safety of streets for all modes of transportation. CDC also measures how many people have shops, stores, or markets near their homes and the land use policies that help make these everyday destinations more convenient.

Many people want to get regular physical activity but live in communities that lack safe, convenient places to be active. CDC funds states, communities, and national organizations to create activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations that connect people from where they live to where they need to go.

These efforts include:

Making active transportation more feasible and attractive through land use and zoning policies that allow schools, workplaces, shops, and parks to be located closer to people's homes.

Supporting Safe Routes programs that help students walk, bike, or wheelchair roll to school and older adults reach their destination without driving a car.

Implementing Complete Streets policies to make streets safe for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, wheelchair roll, or take public transit.

Supporting transportation planning that connects active transportation and public transit planning.

Schools are in a unique position to help students get their recommended 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity. CDC Healthy Schools works with states, school systems, communities, and national partners to promote strong physical education and physical activity programs as part of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.

CDC funds state departments of education and provides specialized tools, recommendations, and resources to help them work with local school districts and schools. The impact and reach of the school health programs developed are shared in success stories and videos.

CDC also publishes guidance for schools and parents to develop a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program including recess, physical education, classroom physical activity, and staff involvement, as well as ways to increase physical activity before, during, and after school.

CDC's Workplace Health Promotion Program works with employers and other partners to encourage physical activity in the workplace as part of CDC's Workplace Health Model. CDC focuses its efforts on small and midsize employers because 99% of US employers have fewer than 500 employees. Many employers this size lack the expertise and resources to develop effective public health programs.

CDC also encourages employers to help make physical activity an easier choice for their workers. For example, they can provide on-site walking paths, discounts for local gyms, or subsidies for active commuting options. They can also support efforts to create more safe and accessible options for physical activity in the surrounding community.

In the United States, 96 million adults-more than 1 in 3-have prediabetes, and more than 8 in 10 of them don't know they have it. The leading preventable risk factors for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are being overweight and not getting enough physical activity. CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) is a partnership of public and private organizations working to build a nationwide delivery system for a lifestyle change program proven to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in adults with prediabetes.

Participants in the National DPP lifestyle change program learn to make healthy food choices, be more physically active, and cope with stress. These changes can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 58% (71% for those over 60).

People with arthritis who take part in "joint-friendly" physical activity can reduce their arthritis pain and improve their function, mood, and quality of life. Examples of joint-friendly activities include walking, biking, and swimming. Being physically active can also delay arthritis disability.

Funding from CDC's Arthritis Program allows partners to offer the following physical activity programs:

Active Living Everyday focuses on helping people who are sedentary become and stay physically active. About 20 people come together for 1-hour weekly sessions for 12 to 20 weeks of education and discussion to learn how to become more physically active.

EnhanceFitness works to increase strength, boost activity levels, and elevate mood. Certified instructors focus on stretching, flexibility, balance, low-impact aerobics, and strength training exercises.

Fit & Strong! focuses on sedentary older adults with lower-extremity joint pain and stiffness. It offers stretching, balance, aerobic, and endurance exercises.

Walk with Ease is a community-based walking program that meets three times a week for 6 weeks. Trained group exercise leaders begin each session with a pre-walk discussion covering a topic related to exercise and arthritis, followed by a 10- to 40-minute walk that includes a warm-up and cool-down period.

Nearly 1 in 2 adults in the United States has high blood pressure, which raises a person's risk of heart attack and stroke. Physical inactivity is one of the leading preventable risk factors for high blood pressure.

Million Hearts® 2022 is a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes within 5 years. It focuses on a small set of priorities and targets that can improve cardiovascular health for all.

One of these targets is to reduce physical inactivity by using proven strategies where people live, learn, work, and play. These strategies include providing behavioral counseling for adults with cardiovascular risk factors and creating safe community spaces that encourage activity.

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national center for chronic disease prevention and health promotion

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CDC works to reduce the four main risk factors for preventable chronic diseases: tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol use.

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Your brother plays tennis every weekend, and your son hits the gym three times a week. Your wife walks every day, and your daughter takes yoga and dance. You putter in the yard and enjoy a round of golf now and then, but you've finally decided to get serious about exercise.

To put good intentions into action, you need a goal. How much exercise do you need? Ask the U.S. Surgeon General, the Institute of Medicine, the American Heart Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine, and you're likely to get four different answers. But don't let that turn you off. In fact, you're the only one who can decide just how much exercise is best for you.

Why exercise?

People exercise for one of five reasons: for work, for health, for recreation, for competition, or for their appearance.

The amount of exercise you need depends on your reasons for exercising, on your starting point, and on how quickly you want to achieve your goals. And the type of exercise you choose depends on your personal abilities and preferences, on your schedule, and on the facilities at your disposal.

Exercise for work

For better or worse, not many 21st century Americans fill their exercise quotas in the workplace. As recently as the 1850s, about 30% of all the energy used for agriculture and manufacturing in the United States depended on human muscle power. No more. We've replaced hoes with tractors, brooms with vacuums, and stairs with escalators. Freed from physical work, people have used mental work to create a society of enormous convenience and comfort. In the process, though, we've created a hidden energy crisis - not a shortage of fossil fuels, but a shortage of the physical activity the human body needs to ward off disease and reach its full potential.

Exercise for health

Exercise is the best-kept secret in preventive medicine. Despite our other differences, we all need to exercise for health. Regular exercise provides essential protection against many of the diseases that plague our country. The list includes:

What does it take to get these benefits? Less than you might think. The key is what exercise scientists call isotonic exercise - activities that use your large muscle groups in a rhythmic, repetitive fashion without making your muscles work against heavy resistance. We used to call this "aerobic" exercise because we thought it had to be intense enough to boost your heart rate into the aerobic range (70% to 85% of your maximum heart rate). We also called it "endurance" exercise because we thought it had to be sustained continuously to be beneficial. But we now know that neither of these long-held beliefs is true. In fact, you can get all the health benefits you need from moderate exercise that won't make you huff and puff, even if you do it in little chunks - as long as it adds up to enough total activity.

We coined the term "cardiometabolic exercise" (CME) to encompass a range of activities, from climbing the stairs in your office building to pushing yourself on an elliptical. All these things will improve your heart, your metabolism, and your health. The key is to do enough and to do it often enough. For health, doctors should "prescribe" at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise or 15 minutes of intense exercise a day. To see how your exercise stacks up, use the CME point system (see below), aiming to get at least 150 CME points a day.

Mix daily activities, formal workouts, and sports play to get the cardiometabolic exercise you need for health. And for best results, do some stretching nearly every day and some strength training two or three times a week. The older we get, the more we need these supplementary activities. And as the years roll on, most of us will also benefit from some simple exercises to improve balance and prevent falling, a major health problem for seniors.

Exercise for recreation

No need for a point system, clock, or calendar here. If you're exercising for the fun of it, just go for it - as long as you meet your minimum needs for health.

But the recreational value of exercise brings up a point that's relevant for hard-working men who are "too busy to exercise." Exercise is a great way to dissipate stress and lift your spirits. If your work threatens to overload your psyche, consider using exercise to refresh your mind. For some, that will mean a trip to the gym to burn off some stress on a treadmill or elliptical; for others, it will be a walk or jog outdoors to get away from it all; and for others, it will be a bit of stretching or yoga at bedtime. But don't let exercise add to your stress; if you hit a truly overwhelming patch, you can take a few days off without losing your edge.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra got it right when he said exercise is 90 percent mental - and the other half is physical.

Exercise for competition

Here's where aerobic training comes in. To stay well, exercise for health fitness. To hit your peak for road running, racquet sports, basketball, biking, or any other competitive sport, work out for aerobic fitness. That means boosting your heart rate to 70% to 85% of its maximum and holding it there for 20 to 60 minutes. If you're like most of us, you'll have to build up slowly, and everyone who works out this hard should warm up before and cool down after aerobics. You'll also benefit from stretching, strength training, and if you're really going for it, interval training, or speed drills.

It's a lot to ask of your body, particularly as you get older. And strenuous exercise has potential pitfalls. Every man over 50 should get medical clearance before starting an intense exercise program. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, abnormal cholesterol levels, or other cardiovascular issues require special care. And because intense exercise is more likely to cause problems than moderate exercise, it's particularly important for competitive athletes to listen to their bodies and react promptly to signals of distress.

Aerobic exercise has done a lot of good for many people. But because it is demanding, it has discouraged many others from exercising at all. That's why everyone should exercise for health and fitness, but only the motivated (and healthy) among us can set high-level aerobic fitness as a realistic goal.

Exercise for appearance's sake

Weight loss is the most common goal. You can get there with the moderate exercise you need for health - but for faster, more impressive weight loss, double your goal to 300 CME points, or about an hour of moderate exercise a day. It sounds like a lot, but remember that you can break it into chunks. Remember, too, that the little things you can build into your daily routine will make a big difference; climbing stairs and walking for transportation are prime examples. And to really make progress, cut down on the calories you consume as well as boosting the calories you burn with exercise.

Sorry to say, you can't selectively shed fat from your belly, butt, or thighs. But you can use calisthenics and strength training to firm up your muscles, which will make you look thinner and better.

Exercising your options

So how much exercise do you need?

Just enough to meet your goals. Make health your priority, and remember to get a check-up before you start a big new exercise push. Choose the activities that best fit your schedule, your budget, your abilities, and your taste. Construct a balanced program by adding the weight training, stretching, and exercises for balance that you need. Start slowly, build up gradually, and - above all - stick with it. As Yogi might have said, exercise is 50% ability and 90% persistence.

Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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How much exercise do you need? - Harvard Health

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Your brother plays tennis every weekend, and your son hits the gym three times a week. Your wife walks every day, and your daughter takes yoga and dance. You putter in the yard and enjoy a round of golf now and then, but you've finally decided to get serious about exercise.

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Exercise involves engaging in physical activity and increasing the heart rate beyond resting levels. It is an important part of preserving physical and mental health.

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The effect of exercise on the human body 

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The effect of exercise on the human body 

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Help you control your weight. Along with diet, exercise plays an important role in controlling your weight and preventing obesity. To maintain your weight, the calories you eat and drink must equal the energy you burn. To lose weight, you must use more calories than you eat and drink.

Reduce your risk of heart diseases. Exercise strengthens your heart and improves your circulation. The increased blood flow raises the oxygen levels in your body. This helps lower your risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and heart attack. Regular exercise can also lower your blood pressure and triglyceride levels.

Help your body manage blood sugar and insulin levels. Exercise can lower your blood sugar level and help your insulin work better. This can cut down your risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. And if you already have one of those diseases, exercise can help you to manage it.

Help you quit smoking. Exercise may make it easier to quit smoking by reducing your cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It can also help limit the weight you might gain when you stop smoking.

Improve your mental health and mood. During exercise, your body releases chemicals that can improve your mood and make you feel more relaxed. This can help you deal with stress and reduce your risk of depression.

Help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. Exercise stimulates your body to release proteins and other chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain.

Strengthen your bones and muscles. Regular exercise can help kids and teens build strong bones. Later in life, it can also slow the loss of bone density that comes with age. Doing muscle-strengthening activities can help you increase or maintain your muscle mass and strength.

Reduce your risk of some cancers, including colon, breast , uterine, and lung cancer.

Reduce your risk of falls. For older adults, research shows that doing balance and muscle-strengthening activities in addition to moderate-intensity aerobic activity can help reduce your risk of falling.

Improve your sleep. Exercise can help you to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.