Overview

What is fitness?

Fitness means being in good physical condition. We often think of athletes as being very fit. They tend to focus on performance-related fitness for sports.

But you don't have to be an athlete to be fit. Doing more physical activity improves your fitness and health, no matter what size or shape you are.

This topic focuses on health-related fitness, which helps you feel your best and lowers your risk for certain diseases. Making small changes in your daily lifestyle helps you improve your fitness.

What are the benefits of fitness?

Fitness helps you feel better and have more energy for work and leisure time. You'll feel more able to do things like playing with your kids, gardening, dancing, or biking. Children and teens who are fit may have more energy and better focus at school.

When you stay active and fit, you burn more calories, even when you're at rest. This can help you lose weight if you need to. It also can help you to sleep better, handle stress better, and keep your mind sharp.

Fitness is good for your heart, lungs, bones, and joints. And it lowers your risk for heart attack, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

How much physical activity do you need for health-related fitness?

To improve your health, it’s important to make physical activity part of your daily life.

One way is to get some moderate activity for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week or more. Brisk walking is one kind of moderate activity.

Or you can do more vigorous exercise, like running, for at least 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week or more. This is activity that raises your heart rate to 70% or more of your maximum heart rate. To find your target heart rate for exercising, use the Interactive Tool: What Is Your Target Heart Rate?

Children and teens should be active for at least 1 hour each day.

Here’s how you can tell if an activity or exercise is making you work hard enough. If you can't talk while you do it, you're working too hard. You're at the right level if you can talk but not sing during the activity.

What types of physical activity improve fitness?

The activities you choose depend on which kind of fitness you want to improve. There are three different kinds of fitness:

• Flexibility is the ability to move your joints and muscles through their full range of motion. Stretching is an exercise that helps you to be more flexible.
• Aerobic fitness means increasing how well your body uses oxygen. This depends on the condition of your heart, lungs, and muscles. Any activity that raises your heart rate, such as walking or running, can improve aerobic fitness.
• Muscle fitness means building stronger muscles and increasing how long you can use them (called endurance). Activities like weight lifting or push-ups can improve your muscular fitness.

You may be in better shape in one kind of fitness than another. For example, you might be flexible but have poor muscle strength. It’s best to work on all three kinds of fitness.

How can you be more physically active?

If you're ready to add more physical activity to your life, here are some tips to get you started:

• Make physical activity part of your routine, like brushing your teeth or going to work. Try biking to work at least once a week, using the stairs more often, or walking to do errands near home. But talk to your doctor before you start an exercise routine, especially if you haven't been very active or have health problems.
• Walking is one of the best fitness activities. To keep up a routine, you can walk with family members, friends, coworkers, or pets. Keep track of your steps with a step counter or pedometer, which you can buy at a sporting goods store. This can help motivate you to walk more.
• Schedule activity for times that you're likely to stick with it. For example, walk in the morning if you tend to talk yourself out of it later in the day. If you don't have time for one 30-minute walk, break it up into three 10-minute walks.
• Find a partner to do your activities with. This can make exercising more enjoyable.
• If you want a more structured exercise routine, consider joining a health club or a community center that offers fitness activities.
• Find an activity that you enjoy, and stay with it. Vary it with other activities so you don't get bored. For example, walk 3 days a week, and switch to swimming or biking on the other days. Join a softball, volleyball, or basketball league for fun and exercise. By finding more activities you enjoy, you'll have a greater chance for success. Use the Interactive Tool: How Many Calories Did You Burn? to find out how many calories you burn during exercise and daily activities.
• Setting small, realistic goals can help you improve your fitness. Write down your goals and activities. Give yourself a healthy reward, like getting a massage, each time you reach a goal.

Health Tools 

Health tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health.

	Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition.
	Core stabilization
	Interactive tools are designed to help people determine health risks, ideal weight, target heart rate, and more.
	Interactive Tool: How Many Calories Did You Burn?
	Interactive Tool: Is Your Weight Increasing Your Health Risks?
	Interactive Tool: What Is Your Target Heart Rate?

Why Should You Exercise?

The overall benefit of being active and fit is an improved quality of life—being able to do things you enjoy for longer periods of time (for example, playing with the kids, gardening, dancing, or walking).

Research repeatedly shows that fitness is a strong measure of health. In a study of more than 25,000 volunteers, researchers at the Cooper Institute found that a person's fitness level was more important than body weight. Men in the study who were overweight or obese but who were physically fit had a lower risk of death than men who were a healthy weight but were not physically fit.¹

Being fit improves your overall health and reduces your risk of disease.

Short-term benefits include:²

• A healthier heart. Physical activity makes demands on your heart that make it stronger and better able to function.
• Healthy muscles, bones, and joints. Resistance training such as weight lifting improves muscular strength and endurance and increases bone density, which is especially important for older adults to prevent falls and injuries.³
• Increased burning of calories. Physical activity burns calories and helps you achieve a healthy balance between the calories you take in from food and those you expend. (To find out how many calories are burned during different activities, use this Interactive Tool: How Many Calories Did You Burn?) When you exercise regularly, your body burns more calories, both during activity and at rest. Being fit may also lower your percentage of body fat and increase muscle strength and tone. Your percentage of body fat depends on genetics, lifestyle, and physical activities.

No matter what your size or shape, physical activity has important health benefits. These may include:

• Improved ability to fall asleep and sleep well.
• Increased energy.
• Increased mental acuity—sharper and faster thinking.
• Better mental health and ability to cope with stress. People who are fit have less anxiety, depression, and stress than people who aren't active.⁴

Long-term benefits include reduced risk of:^{2, 5}

• Dying early.
• Developing coronary artery disease. Men who are not active have about twice the risk of developing heart disease as men who are regularly physically active.⁴
• Having a second heart attack. Also, people who get regular physical activity as part of a cardiac rehabilitation program have a lower risk of dying from a heart attack.⁴
• Developing high blood pressure. Regular physical activity can also lower blood pressure in those who have high blood pressure.⁶
• Developing type 2 diabetes. Physical activity may prevent type 2 diabetes through its effect on insulin, how the body processes sugar, and maintenance of body weight.
• Developing colon cancer or other cancers.
• Becoming obese.

Note: Most people should talk to a health professional first before beginning a regular exercise program, especially those who have conditions such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, heart valve disease, or diabetes. If you are at risk for or have some of these conditions, your health professional may want to help you build a plan matched to your needs. He or she may want to do tests before you start a plan or want you to be more careful and watch for injuries or other problems.

Flexibility

Flexibility is the ability to move joints and muscles through their full range of motion. As you become more flexible, you will find it easier to reach things on high shelves, to look under a bed, or perhaps to tie your shoes. You will also have a better sense of balance and coordination.

To stay flexible, stretch all your major groups of muscles. These include the muscles of your arms, back, hips, front and back of your thighs, and calves. Try to stretch for 10 to 12 minutes a day, after a brief warm-up. Do some stretches first thing in the morning, take a stretch break instead of a coffee break, or stretch in the office for a few minutes. Or participate in activities that include stretching, such as dance, martial arts (aikido or karate), tai chi, or yoga.

Stretching also can be done as part of strength training and aerobic exercise. When you exercise, you repeatedly shorten your muscles. To counter this effect, you need to stretch slowly and regularly, which makes you more flexible. Combining it with other forms of fitness is an ideal way to practice flexibility fitness.

When getting started with flexibility and stretching, begin slowly and increase your efforts gradually. You can measure your progress with flexibility by noticing how much farther you can do each stretch. Can you go farther with each stretch than you could when you started? If so, your flexibility is improving.

Aerobic Fitness

Aerobic fitness increases the amount of oxygen that is delivered to your muscles, which allows them to work longer. Any activity that raises your heart rate and keeps it up for an extended period of time will improve your aerobic fitness.

As you increase your aerobic fitness, you will notice that you can do more physical activity without becoming out of breath or feeling like your heart is pounding. You will be able to do activities such as playing with children, housework, yard work, or hiking without becoming exhausted as quickly. Many forms of aerobic exercise will also strengthen your muscles and increase your flexibility.

One of the best and easiest aerobic activities is walking. You don't need special equipment, and it can be done almost anywhere. To get aerobic benefit, you must walk briskly—fast enough to increase your pulse and breathing, but not so fast that you can't talk comfortably.

Some people start by walking 30 minutes daily during lunch or after work. Others start more gradually, with a 10-minute walk every other day. You can also add up exercise time over the course of a day. Walking 10 minutes 3 times a day is roughly equivalent to walking 30 minutes once a day.

Increasing your walking

A pedometer, which you can buy at a sporting goods store, can help you keep track of your activity. A pedometer will count the number of steps you take each day and help you set goals to walk more. Some people prefer letting the pedometer count the steps they walk, rather than trying to keep track of how many minutes they walk.

A good goal is to walk a total of 10,000 steps per day. Try wearing your pedometer every day for 1 week to see your usual number of steps. Then increase the number by up to 2,000 steps per day until 10,000 steps is comfortable for you. You can increase your walking in simple ways. These suggestions can get you started, and you can probably think of additional ways. You can add more steps to your everyday activities by:

• Parking farther than usual from your workplace (or get off the bus or subway before your stop).
• Taking the stairs rather than the elevator for one or two floors.
• Walking a lap inside the grocery store before you start shopping.
• Walking instead of driving for short trips. Walk to school, work, the grocery store, a friend's house, or a restaurant for lunch.

To keep exercise interesting, find a new area to walk in. Allow yourself some extra time in case this walk takes longer than your usual route. Because new areas may pose some safety concerns, try a new area only during daylight, and choose well-populated areas, such as:

• Around your neighborhood. See some places you rarely see from your car. Meet some neighbors.
• Around a whole park. Try getting off the sidewalk. For example, walk around a baseball or soccer field.
• A mall.
• A track at a local school.

Walk at various times of day. Use "transition times" (times between activities when you don't have to be anywhere) to get out and walk, such as:

• After work, when you usually might sit in front of the television.
• First thing in the morning. See a part of the day you usually might miss.
• During your lunch or coffee break. Ask a coworker to join you for a walk. This can be a great energy boost.

Other aerobic activities include:

• Aerobic classes, including step aerobics and spinning (indoor cycling) classes.
• Running or jogging.
• Bicycling.
• Cross-country skiing.
• Swimming.
• Daily activities such as walking the dog or actively playing with children. These need to be done for at least 8 to 10 minutes per session at a moderate intensity.
• Water aerobics (which is especially good for older people, those who are overweight, and those with joint problems).
• Sports such as tennis, basketball, or soccer.

To find out how many calories are burned during various activities, use this Interactive Tool: How Many Calories Did You Burn?

How often and how long?

To get the most out of aerobic exercise, start by doing a short warm-up, such as walking or riding a stationary bike, and stretch briefly. Then, experts advise doing either of these things to get and stay healthy:⁷

• Do moderate activity for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week or more. Moderate activity is equal to a brisk walk, cycling about 10 to 12 miles per hour (mph), sailing, or shooting baskets. You notice your heart beating faster with this kind of activity.
• Do vigorous activity for at least 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week or more. Vigorous activity is equal to jogging, cycling at least 12 mph, cross-country skiing, or playing a basketball game. You breathe rapidly and your heart beats much faster with this kind of activity.

Being active in several chunks of 10 minutes or more throughout the day can count towards the above recommendations. You can choose to do one or both types of activity. Always ask your doctor whether it is safe for you to start a fitness program.

The recommendation for children and teens is to be active at least 1 hour a day.

It is not necessary to get all your day's activity at one time. For example, walking 10 minutes 3 times a day is about equal to 30 minutes once a day.

How hard do I have to work?

To achieve health benefits, you need to exercise at a moderate pace. This means you need to increase your heart rate to the point where it is 50% to 70% of its maximum or at a pace that feels somewhat difficult. An easy way to monitor this is to note how hard you are breathing:

• If you can't talk and exercise at the same time, you are exercising too hard.
• If you can talk while you exercise, you are doing fine.
• If you can sing while you exercise, you may not be exercising hard enough.

It is also possible to determine your target heart rate and measure it while exercising. Use this interactive tool to calculate your target heart rate.

As you continue to exercise aerobically, your heart rate will not rise as high as it once did with the same amount of effort. This is a sign that you are becoming more fit.

Muscle Fitness

Muscle fitness can mean you have muscles that can lift heavier objects (strength) or muscles that will work longer before becoming exhausted (endurance). As you increase your muscle fitness, you will notice that you can carry heavy grocery bags more easily, pick up children without feeling as much strain, or carry heavy items longer before becoming too tired to continue. Having stronger muscles also protects your joints.

One part of muscle fitness is strengthening the muscles of your trunk. This strengthening is called core stabilization. It can help you have better posture and balance, and help protect you from injury.

Getting started on core stability

Muscles become stronger through a 3-step process:

1. Stress
2. Recovery (rest)
3. Repeated stress

When you exercise against resistance, you stress your muscles slightly but not to the point of serious damage or injury. When you rest, your body rebuilds the muscles and the connective tissues between them (joints, tendons, and ligaments) in a way that prepares them for the next time they will be stressed. When you stress the same muscles again, the process is repeated, and the muscles gradually become stronger.

A resistance-training program to increase muscle fitness can include:

• Basic muscle-conditioning exercises such as push-ups, leg lifts, and other familiar exercises.
• Resistance training with surgical tubing or stretchable bands.
• Weight training with free weights ("dumbbells") or weight-training equipment. See an illustration of muscle-strengthening exercises using weights.
• Doing housework and yard work, such as scrubbing the bathtub, washing walls, tilling the garden, or pulling weeds, on a regular basis.

Experts advise people to do exercises to strengthen muscles at least two times each week.⁷ Examples include weight training or stair climbing on two or more days that are not in a row. For best results, use a resistance (weight) that gives you muscle fatigue after 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise.

Swimming, cycling, rowing, and skiing are activities that improve both muscle strength and aerobic fitness.

When you begin your muscle-conditioning activity, try to take 5 to 10 minutes to walk, jog in place, or do other activities to warm up, and do some stretches. Learn and pay attention to the proper form for all exercises.

As you build muscle strength and endurance, you will notice that you can do more and more of each exercise. Some people will see a change in the way their muscles look, but others will not see a change for a long while. A more important sign of progress is how many repetitions and sets of an exercise you can do, or how much easier it feels to do them. This means your muscle fitness has improved.

Talk to your health professional before starting a resistance-lifting program, particularly if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or joint problems.

Becoming More Active

Evaluate yourself

Before increasing your activity, evaluate where you are now. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is physical activity safe for me? For some people, some forms of physical activity might be unsafe or should only be started after talking with a health professional. If you have any concerns, talk to your health professional before beginning any exercise or fitness program.
• What barriers do I need to overcome? You may have barriers in your life that make starting a fitness program difficult. These may be a lack of time, someone to exercise with, or fear of hurting yourself.

Pick an activity

Pick an activity and prepare for it. The following points will help you do this.

• Ask yourself questions to discover your physical activity preferences and attitudes.
• Pick an activity that you enjoy or think you might enjoy. You're more likely to keep doing something you like.
• Be sure you have the correct clothing and gear.
• Learn about fitness machines you may use (such as a treadmill or stair-climber) and how to buy fitness equipment.
• Learn the proper way to do your activity and be aware of any safety concerns.

To find out how many calories are burned during various activities, use this Interactive Tool: How Many Calories Did You Burn?

Remember that it is best to achieve fitness in all three areas—flexibility, aerobic fitness, and muscle strength and endurance. As you meet your goals for one area, think about beginning or expanding your fitness program for another area. It is useful and easy to make flexibility part of your aerobic and muscle-strengthening routine.

Set goals

Goals help provide the motivation you need to start and continue regular physical activity.

• Set a 1-month goal you can reach. For example, plan to walk for 10 minutes at lunch 3 days a week or to stretch for 5 minutes each morning. Avoid setting goals that compare yourself with someone else; when you are just starting out, comparisons with others can be disappointing or can cause you to try to rush your progress. Make sure your goal is specific and realistic.
• Keep a record of what you do. Circle the days on a calendar when you get a little extra physical activity. If you want a clearer record, use a notebook to write down your moderate physical activity every day, including informal things like walking an extra block to work or a game of soccer in the yard with your kids. Occasionally read entries from months ago to see your progress.
• Reward yourself. When you meet your goal, celebrate your accomplishment and give yourself a reward.

Motivate

People often cite problems with motivation as the main reason they aren't more active. Following are suggestions that may help:

• Know why you want to get fit. It is difficult to start or continue with a fitness program if you don't really know why you are getting fit. Review your reasons for doing so.
• Have a partner. An exercise partner can keep you going just by expecting you to show up. He or she can also motivate you by watching your progress, discussing your training schedule with you, or socializing after exercise. Pick someone who is at about the same level of fitness as you. Exercising with someone who is much further along than you are can be discouraging, while someone who is at a much lower level of fitness can cause you to fall back or fail to improve. Changing or adding exercise partners can sometimes renew your motivation as well.

As you become more active, be aware of:

• The relationship between diet and activity, including vitamins and minerals.
• How to avoid common mistakes, such as doing too much too soon or investing in equipment before you know the activity is right for you.
• How too much weight loss can be dangerous.

Establishing Fitness Routines

When you have determined that you want to become fit, you will want to establish a fitness routine. Although most people think of classes and specific activities (such as jogging or tennis) as the way to fitness, there are many ways you can work physical activity into your life.

Structured fitness

Fitness classes or groups provide a consistent approach to an activity. Local gyms, schools, and churches may sponsor a regular fitness group. Teams also provide a consistent approach to fitness but are more competitive. Many communities have intervention programs to help adults and children become fit. They often are found within social agencies and schools.

Structured fitness has the advantage of:

• Being held at the same time and place, which is easier for you to schedule.
• Having a social atmosphere.
• "Healthy" peer pressure to show up and participate.

Self-directed fitness

Many people find an activity they enjoy and create their own fitness program. For it to be effective, you must set up a regular schedule and stick to it. Self-directed fitness gives you:

• Flexibility as to the time and place.
• The ability to try different types of exercises.

Fitness within your day

You can use "everyday" activities for fitness, as long as you do them regularly. This includes:

• Daily aerobic activity, such as raking leaves, mowing the lawn, or doing housework.
• Physical activity in the workplace, such as using stairs instead of elevators.
• Muscle-conditioning exercises, such as scrubbing the bathtub, washing walls, tilling the garden, or pulling weeds.
• An outdoor interest that promotes walking or another type of exercise. For example, bird watching may involve considerable walking, and trail building may involve both walking and strength to clear paths.

Children and older adults

Children and older adults can also benefit from being fit.

• Physical activity for children
• Physical activity for people age 65 and older

Maintaining the Lifestyle

Many of the benefits of being physically active, such as more energy and improved mood, occur soon after you become more active. Some of the most important health benefits, however, have to do with being active over many years. Also, if you stop being active, you lose the fitness you achieved. Being consistent makes the most sense for your health.

Ways to make physical activity a long-term commitment include:

• Setting goals and developing and following a specific program.
• Expanding your fitness activities through coaching, competition, and cross-training.
• Adding variety to your fitness program by changing the place, activity, and time.
• Making physical fitness a habit—a routine, pleasant, and normal part of your life.
• Not letting reasons such as lack of time or bad weather slow you down.
• Having the support of friends and family.

Preventing Injury and Illness

Physical activity is good for your health, but it can stress and strain your body if not done right. If it's done too suddenly or without basic precautions, exercise can lead to injury or illness.

Even if you have long been active and are fit, keep safety in mind. Do not assume that basic precautions do not apply to you.

The most important ways to avoid injury and illness are to:

• Learn about the risks of any new activity you begin. Take lessons, if appropriate.
• Wear clothing that is right for your activity, including shoes that have good support for your feet.
• Always use the safety gear that is recommended for your chosen activity, such as helmets and knee pads. Learn about the use and proper fit of safety equipment.
• Begin an exercise routine slowly and gradually increase intensity.
• Pay attention to your body's signals, such as pain and fatigue, when starting a new activity or when increasing the intensity of your physical activity. General muscle soreness is common when you try a new activity, but pain can mean you're injured. If you are very tired, you may be doing too much too soon.

Some injuries and illnesses related to physical activity include the following:

• Dehydration may result from losing too much water through sweating and failing to replace it by drinking as you exercise. Follow these guidelines for avoiding dehydration when exercising.
• Heat exhaustion, heatstroke, or dehydration may result from exercising in heat and humidity. Review these guidelines for exercising in hot and humid weather.
• Overhydration (hyponatremia) is having too much fluid in the body. It's possible to become overhydrated from drinking too much fluid. This is rare, but it can happen to people who do strenuous exercise for a long time, such as long-distance runners. You can avoid overhydration by learning to match your fluid intake to how much fluid you lose through sweat, and by noticing if you have symptoms of overhydration. Symptoms can include feeling bloated (your watch band or race bracelet may become tight), sick to your stomach, or confused. Overhydration during exercise is unusual, but it is a medical emergency when it happens.⁸
• Overuse injuries can happen to anyone who overuses certain joints or muscles. Doing too much too soon or intensive exercise and sports can lead to overuse injuries. Not using the proper form for the activity or wearing poorly fitting shoes can also cause injury.
• Exercise-induced asthma can occur regardless of whether you have asthma at any other time.
• Overtraining can cause fatigue and irritability as well as increased risk for injury and illness.
• Heart attack is rare, but you should be aware of its symptoms.

Other Places To Get Help

Online Resources

Organization

Related Information

• Achilles Tendon Problems
• Asthma in Teens and Adults
• Bursitis
• Healthy Eating
• Healthy Weight
• Low Back Pain
• Mental Health Problems and Mind-Body Wellness
• Patellar Tracking Disorder
• Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Rotator Cuff Disorders
• Stress Management
• Tendon Injury (Tendinopathy)
• Tennis Elbow

References

Citations

1. Barlow CE, et al. (1995). Physical fitness, mortality, and obesity. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 19(Suppl 4): S41–S44.

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2002). Physical activity fundamental to preventing disease. Available online: http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/physicalactivity.

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004). Strength training among adults aged 65 or older. MMWR, 53(2): 25–28.

4. Pratt M (2004). Physical activity. In L Goldman, D Ausiello, eds., Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 22nd ed., vol. 1, pp. 54–57. Philadelphia: Saunders.

5. Chakravarthy MV, et al. (2002). An obligation for primary care physicians to prescribe physical activity to sedentary patients to reduce the risk of chronic health conditions. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 77(2): 165–173.

6. Simon HB (2003). Diet and exercise. In DC Dale, DD Federman, eds., Scientific American Medicine, Clinical Essentials, chap. 4. New York: WebMD.

7. Haskell WL, et al. (2007). Physical activity and public health: Updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation, 116(9): 1081–1093.

8. Almond CSD, et al. (2005). Hyponatremia among runners in the Boston Marathon. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(15): 1550–1556.

Other Works Consulted

• American College of Sports Medicine (1998). The recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, and flexibility in healthy adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 30(6): 975–991.

• National Institute on Aging (2004). Exercise: A Guide From the National Institute on Aging. Available online: http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/ExerciseGuide.

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