There are three types of activities you need to do to keep your body healthy: endurance activities, flexibility activities, and strength activities . Do a variety from each group to get the most health benefits. Take a look and see what activities appeal to you. Choosing things you like to do is one of the best ways to build regular physical activity into your life.
1. Endurance Activities
Endurance activities help your heart, lungs and circulatory system stay healthy and give you more energy. They range from walking and household chores to organized exercise programs and recreational sports.
Here are some examples to get you thinking about how to increase your endurance activities:
- walking
- golfing
- yard and garden work
- cycling
- skating
- continuous swimming
- tennis
- dancing
2. Flexibility Activities
Flexibility activities help you to move easily, keeping your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile. Regular flexibility activities can help you to live better, longer, so that your quality of life and independence are maintained as you get older. Flexibility activities include gentle reaching, bending, and stretching of all your muscle groups.
Here are some ideas to help you increase your flexibility activities:
- gardening
- mopping the floor
- yard work
- vacuuming
- stretching exercises
- Tai Chi
- golf
- bowling
- yoga
- curling
- dance
3. Strength Activities
Strength activities help your muscles and bones stay strong, improve your posture and help to prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Strength activities are those that make you work your muscles against some kind of resistance, like when you push or pull hard to open a heavy door.
To ensure good overall strength, try to do a combination of activities that exercise the muscles in your arms, mid-section, and legs. Strive for a good balance - upper body and lower body, right and left sides, and opposing muscle groups (e.g., both the front and back of the upper arm). Here are some ideas to increase your strength activities:
- heavy yard work, such as cutting and piling wood
- raking and carrying leaves
- lifting and carrying groceries (not to mention infants and toddlers!)
- climbing stairs
- exercises like abdominal curls and push-ups
- wearing a backpack carrying school books
- weight/strength-training routines
