Tag: health
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The Benefits Of Exercise
The Benefits Of Exercising: 10 Reasons Why You Should Make Fitness Your New Year’s Resolution
We all know about certain benefits of exercising – above all, that it’s good for us. But this isn’t always enough to get us motivated into actually doing it. If you’re looking for a little inspiration to get started on your new year’s resolution then here are 10 reasons why exercise can improve your life.
1) More Energy: Although exercise in itself may be tiring, one of the major benefits of exercising is the fact that it’ll ultimately leave you feeling more energized. Studies have shown that regular exercise helps to reduce fatigue.
2) Increase Your Mood: Every time you exercise your body will release endorphins that help to make you feel good. Exercise really will give you a natural high!
3) Improve Your Health: There are so many health benefits of losing weight that it’s impossible to list them all here! By getting fit you’ll reduce the risk of diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and much more.
4) Improve Your Appearance: If being overweight or not being toned leaves you feeling unhappy about yourself then losing weight can help you to look and feel better.
5) Play With Your Kids: It takes a lot of energy to keep up with your kids. By losing weight and getting fit, you’ll be able to run around with them without constantly getting out of breath. This can be one of the most rewarding benefits of exercising: it helps you to enjoy life more.
6) Sleep Better: When you exercise more you’ll start to find it easier to get a good night’s rest. This adds to the energy boost that you’ll get from exercise in the long term.
7) Increase Your Strength and Stamina: Do you find it hard to go on long walks, even though you want to? Or maybe even carrying shopping bags up the stairs is a struggle? Exercise more and you’ll eventually be able to handle these activities with ease.
8) Reduce Stress: Exercise can hugely reduce stress levels. If you regularly suffer from stress – or even mental heath issues such as depression and anxiety – regular exercise can help to reduce your symptoms.
9) A Sense Of Achievement: When you start to exercise and see the improvements you’re making week on week, you’ll really get the feeling that you’ve achieved something worthwhile!
10) Keep Your Independence Later In Life: The more you can exercise now, while you’re still able, the more you can reduce the impact of certain health problems later in life. In short, keeping fit and healthy will help you to keep your independence as late into life as possible.
So how much will you need to work out to feel these benefits of exercising?
That all depends on your current fitness levels.
The good news is that just 30 minutes of exercise a day is enough to improve your health drastically.
So what are you waiting for?!
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What Is Your BMI
Understanding BMI And How To Calculate Yours
If you’ve ever wondered whether your weight is healthy, then you may have stumbled upon the term BMI. You may have heard about it from your doctor or colleague, and that it could be an indicator that you need to lose or gain weight. If you want to know what it is all about and how to calculate your own BMI, then read on.
What Is BMI
BMI stands for Body Mass Index, which is a number that you calculate from your height and weight. This number takes into consideration the ratio of your weight to your height, to roughly calculate the percentage of body fat that you have. A high BMI suggests that you have a higher percentage of fat in your body. Experts have come up with a method of calculating one’s BMI together with a BMI chart that represents one’s body fat content. However, it’s far easier to use an online calculator such as this one: http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
Men and women generally carry different amounts of body fat and therefore cannot refer to the same chart when calculating their BMI. Women naturally tend to have more subcutaneous fat than men do, so they may have a higher BMI than men. To obtain the best results when calculating your BMI, you should refer to a chart designed for your gender.
Calculating Your BMI
Calculating your BMI is quite a simple process. To calculate it by yourself, you first need to measure your height and weight (both in inches and pounds). You then calculate the square of your height (multiply your height with itself). Now divide your weight by your this number, and multiply that value by 703. The number you have now is your BMI. Alternatively, you can also use meters and kilograms to calculate your BMI. The method is exactly the same but you do not need to multiply the number by 703 in the end.
A BMI of below 18.5 suggests that you are underweight; whereas a value of 25 and above suggests that you are overweight. You should try to adjust your weight so your BMI is always within the normal range which is 18.5 to 24.9. If your BMI is above 30, you are then considered obese. If this is the case, then you may need to work at losing weight.
Remember, however, that the BMI measure is just a starting point. If you are very muscular, you may have a higher than average BMI but actually still be healthy. And, those with a good BMI are not always healthy. To get a better measure of body fat, you can use tools such as calipers. However, as an easy to calculate starting point, your BMI is a good place to begin.