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Encyclopedia > Physical activity

The word exercise can mean the following: ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x997, 299 KB) Summary Marines doing push-ups. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x997, 299 KB) Summary Marines doing push-ups. ... France Marines is the name of a commune in the département of Val dOise, France. ... A press up (also push up) is a common strength training exercise performed while lying horizontal and face down, raising and lowering using the arms. ...

  • A setting in action or practicing.
  • Any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.
  • Physical exercise

Contents


Physical exercise

Physical exercise is activity performed in order to develop or maintain physical fitness and overall health. Frequent and regular exercise is an important component in the prevention of some of the diseases of affluence such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The notion of physical fitness is used in two close meanings. ... Diseases of affluence are those diseases which are thought to be a result of increasing wealth in a society. ... When normal cells are damaged or old they undergo apoptosis; cancer cells, however, avoid apoptosis. ... There are different forms of heart disease: Coronary heart disease Ischaemic heart disease Cardiovascular disease The study of heart disease is Cardiology This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ...


Exercises are generally grouped into three types depending on the overall effect they have on the human body:

Exercise can be an important part of physical therapy, weight loss or sports performance. Stretching is the activity of gradually applying tensile force to lengthen, strengthen, and lubricate muscles, often performed in anticipation of physical exertion and to increase the range of motion within a joint. ... A top-down view of skeletal muscle Muscle is a contractile form of tissue. ... Aerobic exercise is a type of exercise in which muscles draw on oxygen in the blood as well as fats and glucose, that increase cardiovascular endurance. ... Cardio, exercise intended to be for cardiovascular training rather than weight loss, or so on, is a method of training (or type of equipment) in fitness. ... Anaerobic exercise is complementary to aerobic exercise. ... Physical therapy (also known as physiotherapy) is a health profession concerned with the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and disability through physical means. ...


Proper nutrition is as important to health as exercise. When exercising it becomes even more important to have good diet to ensure the body has the correct ratio of macronutrients whilst providing ample micronutrients, this is to aid the body with the recovery process following strenuous exercise. Nutrition is the study of the relationship between diet and states of health and disease. ...


"Exercise bulimia" is a disorder in which too many calories are purged from the body through exercising. Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known as bulimia, is a psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by intentionally doing one or more of the following in order to compensate for the intake of the food and prevent weight gain: vomiting inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas...


It should be noted that Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness can occur after any kind of exercise, particularly if the body is in an unconditioned state relative to that exercise. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the pain or discomfort often felt 24 to 76 hours after exercising and subsides generally within 2 to 3 days. ...


Exercise benefits

Frequent and regular exercise has been shown to help prevent or to improve major illnesses such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, insomnia, cancer [1] and depression, among others. Arterial hypertension, or high blood pressure is a medical condition where the blood pressure is chronically elevated. ... There are different forms of heart disease: Coronary heart disease Ischaemic heart disease Cardiovascular disease The study of heart disease is Cardiology This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ... For the novel by Stephen King, see Insomnia (novel); for the Norwegian movie and its American remake, see Insomnia (movie). ... When normal cells are damaged or old they undergo apoptosis; cancer cells, however, avoid apoptosis. ... Clinical depression is a health condition of depression with mental and physical components reaching criteria generally accepted by clinicians. ...


Common myths

Many common myths have arisen surrounding exercise, some of which have a basis in reality, and some which are completely false.

  • Spot reduction.

It is a common belief that training a particular body part will preferentially shed the fat on that part; for example, that doing sit-ups is the most direct way to reduce subcutaneous belly fat. This is false. Most of the energy derived from fat gets to the muscle through the bloodstream and reduces stored fat in the entire body. Fat is reduced in a pattern determined mostly by genetics. Sit-ups may improve the size and shape of core muscles and may reduce the unsightly appearance of belly fat, but the belly fat will often be the last fat removed from the body.

  • Only overweight people need a physical before beginning an exercise program.

Absolutely false. Only a physician can determine your ability to engage in an exercise program. Apparently healthy people can still have unknown medical conditions, such as a heart murmur, that can cause severe injury or death not only to themselves, but also to others that are dependent upon them, such as someone they are spotting. Spotting in weightlifting is done by a partner of the person lifting the weights to ensure safety. ...

  • Muscle tissue will turn into fat once a person stops exercising.

False. Fat tissue and muscle tissue are fundamentally different. However, the more common expression of this myth "muscle will turn to fat" has a grain of truth. Although a muscle cell will not become a fat cell, the material that makes up muscle can in fact turn to fat. The catabolism of muscle fibers releases protein, which can turn to glucose that can be burned as fuel, and excesses of which can be stored as fat. Moreover, the composition of a body part can change toward less muscle and more fat, so that a cross-section of the upper-arm for example, will have a greater area corresponding to fat and a smaller area corresponding to muscle.


Too much exercise

Doing too much exercise can sometimes be harmful. The body needs time to rest, which is why most health officials say one should exercise every other day or 3 times a week. Without proper rest the chance of strokes or other circulation problems is increased, and muscle will develop slower. A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90%of strokes) or by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - approximately 10% of strokes). ... It has been suggested that Circulation (physiology) be merged into this article or section. ...


Over-exercising does more harm than good. Performance is lost over-exercising, although the levels required to reach this are phenomenal (many hours every day of the week). For many activities, especially running, there are also significant injuries that occur with poorly regimented exercise schedules. Man Running - Edward Muybridge Horse Running - Edward Muybridge Running is by definition the fastest means for an animal to move on foot. ...


In addition, a relatively recently discovered phenomenon is that of Exercise hypertension, where the body's blood pressure spikes during intense exercise. Exercise hypertension is an excessive rise in blood pressure during exercise. ...


List of activities used as physical exercises

Aerobics is an effective physical exercise which is often done to music. ... The name calisthenics is Greek in origin, a combination of the words beauty and strength. // United States usage Calisthenics is a type of exercise consisting of a variety of simple movements usually performed without weights or other equipment that are intended to increase body strength and flexibility using the weight... Cycling is a recreation, a sport, and a means of transport across land. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... The Pilates Method is a physical fitness system that was developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates. ... Rowing refers to several forms of physical activity: For rowing boats in general, see Watercraft rowing. ... Man Running - Edward Muybridge Horse Running - Edward Muybridge Running is by definition the fastest means for an animal to move on foot. ... Sexercises are exercises done during foreplay and/or sex to tone, build, and strengthen muscles. ... Stretching is the activity of gradually applying tensile force to lengthen, strengthen, and lubricate muscles, often performed in anticipation of physical exertion and to increase the range of motion within a joint. ... Swimming is the method by which living creatures move themselves through water in a method not involving simply walking on the bottom. ... // What is walking? Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. ... Categories: Stub | Exercise ... A complete weight training workout can be performed with a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a set of weight disks (plates). ... Hatha Yoga posture performed at a Hindu temple. ...

List of classes of physical exercise


Some activities can fall into more than one class of exercise. For instance: cycling can be used for endurance or high-intensity interval training; weightlifting is resistance training and can be high-density exercise with certain workout designs. Aerobic exercise is a type of exercise in which muscles draw on oxygen in the blood as well as fats and glucose, that increase cardiovascular endurance. ... Anaerobic exercise is complementary to aerobic exercise. ... ... High-density exercise involves either high intensity for short periods or moderate intensity for longer periods. ... High-intensity interval training (HIIT), sometimes referred to as Guerilla Cardio, is an exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance with short training sessions. ... A complete weight training workout can be performed with a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a set of weight disks (plates). ...


Breathing

Active exhalation during physical exercise helps the body to increase its maximum lung capacity, and oxygen uptake. This results in greater cardiac efficiency, since the heart has to do less work to oxygenate the muscles, and there is also increased muscular efficiency through greater blood flow. Consciously breathing deeply during aerobic exercise helps this development of the heart lung efficiency. Exhalation is the movement of air out of the bronchial tubes, through the airways, to the external environment during breathing. ...


During breathing, males mostly use the intercostal muscles in the rib cage, females mostly use abdominal muscles. In strenuous exercise, it is likely that these differences diminish.


See also

Cross training is the combination of various exercise to work various parts and systems of the body. ... Photo of a heart rate monitor (made by Polar) showing chest strap and watch A heart rate monitor is a device that allows a user to monitor their heart rate whilst exercising. ... Exercise hypertension is an excessive rise in blood pressure during exercise. ... The Training Effect is a physical phenomenom known to athletes. ... A metabolic equivalent unit, or MET, is defined as the number of calories burned per minute by an organism in an activity relative to the rate at rest (BMR/RMR, see below). ...

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