A sedentary lifestyle is dangerous to your health, contributing to a myriad of diseases. The American Heart Association attributes 250,000 deaths to a lack of exercise. Physical activity, like walking, running or playing tennis, directly and indirectly reduces your risk for developing heart disease, some forms of cancer, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Increasing the amount of exercise you get each day decreases your chances for becoming afflicted with one of these diseases.
Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. You need to exercise all the muscles in your body to stay healthy, and your heart is your most important muscle. Exercise strengthens your heart muscle by making it work harder. Exercise increases your tolerance for physical activity. Strong heart muscles work efficiently, requiring less oxygen to pump blood efficiently throughout your entire body. This leaves more oxygen available for other muscles, increasing the amount of exercise you can do without becoming out of breath.
Hypertension
Physical activity decreases and controls high blood pressure, or hypertension. Exercise reduces your blood pressure by about 10 points within two to three weeks after increasing your physical activity, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Maintain a regular exercise routine to enhance the cardiovascular benefits.
Obesity
A sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity. You gain weight when you consume more calories than you burn. Adequate exercise may be the most important factor in maintaining your body weight in that it is easier to burn calories through exercise than it is to restrict the number of calories you consume in a day. Exercise enough to cause a 500 calorie deficit each day to lose 1 lb. each week. Create a 1,000 calorie deficit each day to double your weight loss.
Cancer
The American Cancer Society states that one-third of all cancer deaths could have been prevented with proper diet and exercise. Exercising for at least 30 minutes on four or more days of the week reduces your risk for developing certain types of cancer, such as cancers of the breast and colon. Exercise decreases your breasts' exposure to estrogen circulating in your blood, reducing your risk for breast cancer. Physical exercise reduces colon cancer by accelerating the passage of food through the digestive system, decreasing your exposure to toxins in the food.
Diabetes
Regular physical activity decreases your risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, or adult-onset diabetes. Normally, insulin helps the cells of your body absorb sugar. If you have type 2 diabetes, your cells grow intolerant of insulin, refusing to absorb either the insulin or the sugar, which causes your blood sugar levels to rise. Exercise increases cellular tolerance to insulin which then decreases your blood sugar levels.
