Exercise for Health and Life

Regular exercise is vital to building a healthy body and maintaining a youthful quality of life. Exercise, ranked just below proper nutrition as one of the most important things you can do to be healthy, has many aspects that can appeal to all ages. No doubt that exercising daily contributes to a "pleasing" physical appearance, but more importantly, exercise improves cardiovascular and respiratory health. Getting the heart to pump more, increases circulation, strengthens heart muscle tissue and lowers blood pressure. Exercise not only combats high cholesterol levels, but also reverses the damaging effects of stress. Resistance exercise (exercise done with weights, rubber tubes, or water) prevents bone loss. Exercise will naturally increase metabolism even hours after the exercise has been completed. Exercise will lower blood sugar levels, fight against depression and improve immune system function. As you can see, there are not many aspects of a healthy life that exercise does not benefit. Recent research in the study of aging and longevity suggests that regular exercise is the "Fountain of Youth" and will ensure a higher quality of life for our senior years. Arthritis pain is even better managed with regular exercise. What constitutes healthy exercise? It doesn't take much. Studies have shown that a person who walks 30 minutes a day, 3 x per week (In addition to their normal day) is usually 50% healthier than the person who does not walk. Walking is great exercise and anyone can do it. Resistance training also needs to be incorporated into a regular exercise program. If you can't get to the gym and don't have exercise equipment at home, you can work your muscles with soup cans and or empty milk jugs filled with sand or water. Everyone who wants to live healthier and longer, needs to exercise. It doesn't matter whether you walk, run, jog, swim, dance, bike, weightlift or play a sport, you need to just do something. Exercise will keep you alive.

Thought for the Week: "You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough." ----- Joe E. Lewis

Chiropractic Thought for the Week: "Remember that chiropractic always works. When it does not seem to, examine the application, but do not question the principle." ----- Clarence Gonstead, D.C.

The principle is that the body is a self-healing organism, it is regulated and controlled by the nervous system. Subluxated vertebra cause nerve disruptions, muscular imbalance and muscular stress as well as degenerative processes on the bone itself. Correct the subluxated vertebra, remove the nerve disruption and the body is able to heal and function at a healthier level.