How Exercise Changed My Life

 

Exercise often gets a bad rap as something you must endure to lose weight, but these readers prove that being active has great benefits in all aspects of our lives. Check out these amazing stories and you will be inspired to start your own fit revolution!

Alexandra Williams

"It has helped me to show my kids how rewarding and enjoyable a healthy lifestyle can be. And now for them that's the "norm" that's set in their minds." —Alexandra Williams of Fun and Fit

Lindsey Johnson

"When I was a sophomore in college, I was diagnosed with stomach problems. Then I joined the YMCA, and thanks to my increased activity, weight loss, and stress reduction, I don't need to take the medication anymore! Not to mention that it gave me a great group of girlfriends!" —Lindsey Johnson

Michelle Stilley

"Exercise got me pregnant! I was diagnosed with PCOS and tried different meds but after trying for years my husband and I eventually just gave up hope of having more kids. But once I started exercising and eating better, I lost 50 pounds and ended up pregnant. Baby is due in 4 months!" —Michelle Stilley

Quish Turner

"Now that I am much more active and I've lost a ton of weight, I am much more confident. And it has shown in my sex life. Let's just say my significant other is a very happy man!" —Quish Turner

Michelle Gay

"The thinner I got, ironically the more self-conscious I became because I fit into the 'normal' people world. When I was fat I could hide away. I still feel pressure, but I'm learning how to be my own person. Plus, I love that my pulse is super low and I can see muscles in my arms!" —Michelle Gay

Kevin Lynch

"Exercise keeps me sane! I notice a huge difference in my mood when I miss a racquetball session (my workout of choice)." —Kevin Lynch

Jen Embry

"Being active has drastically improved my depression. Running is like Xanax for me!" —Jen Embry

Janette Smith

"My sister dealt with an ugly divorce by training with a friend for a triathlon. One year later and 60+ pounds lighter, she is the athlete she was in high school again: coaching girls' volleyball, running races, and living life again. It's been an amazing transformation!" —Janette Smith

Justine Childs

"I can't say I lost a ton of weight, but more importantly,(to me) being active and going outside helped me love midwest winters and got me off my depression medicine. I am stronger, have more endurance, can run faster, and feel better about myself, even if I am not a size 4 or 6." —Justine Childs

Alyssa Zulueta

"My workout is my 'me' time, away from work, kids, all the everyday stuff that I get bogged down in. Plus, I get to ride bikes, roller skate, and climb on the playground equipment—with my kids, of course—without anyone looking at me funny!" —Alyssa Zulueta

Jess Hodgson

"It allowed me to get better faster during and after a bone-marrow transplant I needed to fight my Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer. Only 12 percent of transplant patients don't have to be readmitted due to infection, and I am that 12 percent! I have more energy and have stayed pretty healthy since. Most of the patients that are at my stage of recovery can barely run a mile at this point." —Jess Hodgson

The health benefits of exercise are known to all; it reduces the risk of heart disease and extends lifespan. New research sets out to understand, in the world of sports, which ones are best for staving off illness.

All sports are healthful, but which sport is the most healthful?

A raft of studies over the last few decades has unequivocally shown that physical activity benefits health.
Sports participation has been shown to decrease mortality in middle-aged and older individuals.
In particular, vigorous sporting activity is considered to hold the most benefits. However, to date, exactly which activities are best for longevity has not been thoroughly investigated.
Previous studies addressing the question have lacked strength.
Research, published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, set out to examine the relationship between sports and mortality (including cardiovascular-based mortality).
They designed their study to investigate which types of sporting activity provided the strongest beneficial effect.
Taking data from 11 annual health surveys for England and Scotland between 1994-2008, the team used data from 80,306 adults with an average age of 52. Each participant was asked which activities they had carried out in the previous 4 weeks, and whether the activity had been intense enough to make them sweaty and breathless.
The types of activities that were collected included chores, such as DIY and gardening. They also collated information about the types of sports they had been involved in. The six most popular were cycling; swimming; aerobics/keep fit/gymnastics/dance; running/jogging; football/rugby; and racquet sports - badminton/tennis/squash.
Overall, just 44 percent of respondents met the recommended levels of physical activity.
On average, each individual was tracked for 9 years. During that time, 8,790 died, and 1,909 of them died from heart disease or stroke.

Breaking the data down by sports type

Once the analysis had accounted for potentially influential factors, differences could be measured between the various sporting activities. Compared with participants who had done no exercise, risk of death was:

• 47 percent lower in those who played racquet sports
• 28 percent lower in swimmers
• 27 percent lower in aerobics
• 15 percent lower in cyclists.

Perhaps surprisingly, cycling, running/jogging, and football/rugby were not associated with any kind of protection from cardiovascular disease. When joggers and runners were compared with those who did not run or jog, there was a 43 percent decrease in risk of death from all causes and a 45 percent reduction in cardiovascular risk; however, when confounding variables were adjusted for, this effect disappeared.
Few of the respondents said that they played football or rugby frequently, this may account for its lack of apparent influence on health outcomes. Additionally, because these sports tend to be seasonal, even an avid football or rugby player might have long periods where they do not play a match.

The effects of intensity

When the intensity of the exercise was investigated, for some sports, the higher the intensity, the greater the positive influence on longevity. But, for other activities, there was a U-shaped curve - lesser intensity was more beneficial than higher intensity or no activity at all.
Although the intensity findings are intriguing, the authors warn that this part of the analysis included only a small number of deaths, making the findings tentative; further investigation is necessary to firm them up.
Also, the findings are based on an observational study, meaning that cause and effect can not be concluded. Regardless of this, the findings add further weight to the already weighty hypothesis that exercise reduces mortality and that any sport is better than no sport.
Learn how exercise might safeguard against memory loss.

Written by Tim Newman