Physical Activity
Regardless of your age, weight or athletic ability, physical activity has many benefits and is good for the body.
Benefits of Physical Activity
- Manages weight
- Protects against heart disease and certain types of cancer
- Helps prevent osteoporosis
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves cholesterol profile
- Enhances immunity
- Improves mood
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Increases concentration and alertness
- Increases energy
- Improves quality of sleep
Physical Activity vs. Exercise
Leading a physically active lifestyle does not mean you have to go to the gym regularly, engage in competitive sports or weight lifting. You can become more physically active in your daily routine. While it may not seem like much, small amounts of activity throughout the day will add up in a good way.
To include more physical activity, try the following:
- Park your car further away in the parking lot
- Take the stairs instead of an elevator
- Walk in place, do sit-ups, push-ups or standing lunges while watching TV during commercial breaks
- Play games like Dance, Dance, Revolution
Walk Your Way to Fitness
Walking is a great way to increase your physical activity because it's free and easy do. One way to monitor your walking is by using a pedometer to count your steps. Aim for walking 10,000 steps, or about 5 miles, a day. If 10,000 steps is too much or you don't have time, take the average number of steps you can do and try to increase the number of steps each week.
Motivate Yourself to Move
While motivation is what can get you started, habit is what keeps you going. However, on the days when you lack motivation, ask yourself, "will I feel better after I exercise?" If the answer is "yes", let that be your motivation to exercise. Other ways to stay motivated are to:
- Identify potential barriers and come up with solutions
- Sign up for a sports, fitness or dance class
- Include fun, recreational activities
- Monitor your progress using workouts logs
- Write workouts into your calendar or daily schedule
- Set short- and long-term goals
- Have workout clothes ready to go
- Workout with friends
- Vary your exercise routine to beat boredom
Calories Burned During Exercise
Fitness Websites
National Strength & Conditioning Association (shows videos demonstrating individual exercises)
Nutrition for Athletes
Resources at OSU
For additional information on exercise, see handouts on Fitness Basics, Getting Started with Resistance Training, and Getting Bigger.
See handouts for more information about Dietary Supplements and Creatine.
To view the next section, go to Stages of Change.