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Different Exercises Help the Body In Different Ways

When it comes to starting a new exercise routine or adding to your current fitness plan, there are a variety of types of exercise from which you can choose.

Each type of exercise has a different effect on your body and can help you reach different fitness goals.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the four most common types of exercise and the ways they can help you improve you fitness level are:

• Balance exercise – This type of exercise can help prevent falls and avoid disabilities that can be caused by falling injuries. More than 2 million older Americans visit emergency rooms every year because of falls. Examples of some balance exercises include Tai Chi, a heel-to-toe walk, and standing on one foot.
• Endurance exercise – Also known as aerobic exercise, this type of workout increases your breathing and heart rate. Endurance activities help to keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system in good health. They also improve your overall fitness. The more aerobic activities your do, the more endurance you build up, which makes it easier to do many day-to-day activities. Brisk walking, jogging, dancing, biking, some house work, some yard work, and some sports all are types of aerobic exercise.F
• Flexibility exercise – Exercises for flexibility work to stretch your muscles to help your body stay limber, giving you the freedom to move easily in your everyday activities. Improving you flexibility also can help you do other exercises more easily, without the risk of injury. Flexibility exercises include yoga, repeatedly getting up and down from the floor, and stretches for your back, calves, shoulders, hips, thighs, and chest. 
• Strength exercise – Exercising to make your muscles stronger is also known as weight training, strength training, or resistance training. Making even small improvements in your strength can have major positive effects on the way you do everyday activities, such as carrying groceries, climbing stairs, or playing with children and grandchildren. Building muscle strength can also improve your ability to stay independent. Types of strength training include using your own body weight, using wrist or ankle weight cuffs, lifting heavy weights a few times, lifting light weights many times, and using resistance bands.

Because each type of exercise can promote keeping your body healthy in a different way, for most people, doing them all will be the most beneficial to your health, according to the NIH. And, mixing up your routine with these different kinds of exercise can keep you from becoming bored with your workout.

As with any exercise routine, talk with your health care provider to decide whether rotating all these types of exercises would be best for you, or if you should focus on only one or two.  

For more information about types of exercise routines, talk with your doctor or visit Premier Health to find a physician.

Source: National Institutes of Health