Fitness

Exercise ... Your Inner Strength!

Exercise serves many different purposes, especially for a growing teen. Not only will exercise help you improve your muscle strength, flexibility and physique, but exercising has several other benefits as well. Exercise produces the natural body chemical, endorphins, which enhance emotional well-being and promote happiness and extra energy. In addition, exercising has several long term benefits such as aiding in diabetes and hypertension disease prevention.

Since there are several types of exercise, from casual recreation to strength training. Talk to your parents or a doctor to see which type is right for you. Here are a few types of different exercise for you to consider:

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovascular Exercise is exercise that promotes a healthy heart. The amount of oxygen flowing in and out of the heart during a regular exercise routine helps to work out the heart as well as provide oxygen to various organs in the body. It is recommended that teens participate in a cardiovascular workout for twenty minutes, three days a week. However, conventional forms of cardiovascular activity, such as walking or running, are not the only activities that promote heart health. If you are involved in extracurricular sports or fitness programs, these are also considered cardiovascular exercises. In addition, activities such as biking, swimming, dancing, hiking, etc. are also great activities to achieve optimum heart health.

Strength Training

Strength training is great for targeting specific muscle groups within the body that you would like to strengthen and build. After continuous work, your muscles become stronger making it possible to build up more muscle mass on your body. Some areas that are frequently focused on whole strength training are arms, legs and abdominal muscles. To strength train your arms, try pull-ups, push ups or swimming; for stronger legs try running or biking; and for stronger abs try crunches, bike riding or rowing.

Flexibility

To avoid injuries to your muscles and tendons, it is important to stretch your muscles and to do exercises that promote flexibility. In addition, stretching helps to circulate oxygen throughout your muscles, which can aid in preventing muscle soreness after a strenuous workout. Several calisthenics can be done to support in flexibility. Some of them are Pilates, basic stretching, yoga and dance.

Typically, people stop exercising because they become disinterested in the activity. Make sure that you are participating in an exercise regime that you find to be fun. Maybe ask your friend to join you and make exercising a fun social time rather than hard work. You will benefit either way. Click here for a downloadable form to keep track of your weekly exercise routine.