Exercise is important for all individuals of every age, race, culture, and physical ability. Exercise helps to maintain and even improve the health and wellness of the individual. Even if an individual is not able to engage in strenuous, intense physical activity due to physical restraints or current medical conditions, he can at least engage in some sort of activity to maintain his baseline. For healthier individuals, exercise can be used to maintain a healthy baseline and even build strength and endurance. Exercise is important to maintaining healthy functioning of the body’s organs and decreasing the stress on the mind.
For healthy, young adults in their late 20’s to early 30’s, the best type of exercise for their age is moderate-to-intense cardiorespiratory exercise (Garber et al.). According to the researchers, cardiorespiratory exercise is associated with “lower risks for poorer health” (1337). Cardiorespiratory exercise uses the two most vital organ systems of the body, the heart and cardiovascular system and the pulmonary system. These two systems together fuel the body’s tissues with the nutrients they need to sustain life. It is incredibly important for these two systems to maintain their strength while still young in order to age well and continue to work into an individual’s older years. Exercising allows these two systems to become stronger and build endurance to withstand whatever the future holds.
Conversely, in older adults, endurance training is best to maintain cardiovascular function and prevent individuals from developing coronary heart disease (Tanaka). Some older adults are not able to partake in the activities and exercise they once were in their early adulthood. However, it is important that they still remain active in some way. Endurance training works to improve and maintain the functioning of the aerobic system, namely the heart. The heart must remain healthy in order to adequately nourish the body’s tissues.
References
Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M. R., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I. M., &
Swain, D. P. (2011). Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 43(7), 1334-1359.
Tanaka, H. (2009). Habitual exercise for the elderly. Family & community health, 32(1), S57-
S65.
