Why get active?

There are a huge range of health and social benefits associated with regular exercise, which can include the following:

• Exercise is also believed to help depression and provide natural pain relief. It does this by triggering the release of endorphins, anti-stress hormones that block pain signals from the brain, and serotonin, a chemical compound that affects mood, emotion, sleep and appetite.

• Half an hour of active gardening such as weeding, raking or mowing the lawn is enough to raise the heart rate sufficiently to improve circulation.

• It only takes 30 minutes of moderate physical activity 5 times a week to dramatically improve your health and happiness.

• Mortality is halved in retired men who walk more than two miles every day.

• Regular walking can halve the risk of heart disease.

• The risk of having a stroke is three times higher in those who do little or no exercise.

• Someone who is inactive has as great a risk of having heart disease as someone who smokes, has high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

• Even small improvements in physical fitness are associated with a significant lowered risk of death.

• Exercise significantly reduces the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes.

• With regular exercise, blood pressure in those with hypertension is reduced.

• Regular walking can strengthen the bones, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and subsequent hip fracture.

• In the elderly, exercise can reduce the risk of falling, improve joint flexibility, co-ordination and balance.

• Regular exercise can reduce weight by as much as 14 pounds in three months.

• With gentle to moderate exercise there is an improvement to the immune system.

• Lifelong exercise has been shown to lessen the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

• Regular walking can significantly reduce pain and self-reported disability in those suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees.

• Regular exercise is associated with a 40% reduction in bowel cancer.

• Exercise can help prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. It is a better method then drugs due to its ability to help prevent all of these at the same time and improve your mental wellbeing!