How does active living help me?
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Regular physical activity helps people of all ages and abilities.
What are the short-term benefits?
You can benefit quite quickly from being active. Within the first month of being physically active, you may start to notice that:
- It is easier to climb a flight of stairs.
- You feel more confident in your activity.
- You have more energy and cope better with stress.
- It is easier to lift your child or grandchild.
- It is not as hard to carry your groceries.
- Tasks that you do at home or at work everyday are not as hard as they were before.
- You sleep better and feel less tired during the day.
What are the long-term benefits?
Over the longer term, active people can feel more satisfied with their weight, how they look and just generally feel better. Being active can also help to reduce certain health problems. These include:
- back pain
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- obesity
- anxiety and depression.
You can also lower your risk of getting such diseases as breast and colon cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis. On the other hand, people who aren't active are more likely to develop some of the health problems listed above.
Does active living help anyone else?
Active living could also help reduce health costs over time.
- Active living programs in the workplace may help to reduce employee injuries and sick leave.
- People who are more active may be healthier and rely less on medical care.
- Active seniors may be able to manage day-to-day activities on their own for longer.
Additional information
- Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence —Canadian Medical Association (CMA)
- How can the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines help me to improve my health? — Alberta Centre for Active Living
- How much physical activity is enough? — Alberta Centre for Active Living
References
- Warburton, D.E., Whitney Nicol, C., Bredin, S.S. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence Can. Med. Assoc. J., Mar 2006; 174: 801 - 809.
- Vuori IM. Dose-response of physical activity and low back pain, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 ; 33 (6 Suppl) : S551-S586 ; discussion 609-610
