Duckworth1 Running head: How Exercise Impacts a Humans Health

How Exercise Impacts a Humans Health Benefits, Drawbacks, and Different Types Lauren D. Duckworth University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Fall 2013

Duckworth2 Abstract Are you as healthy as you could be? Or is there something you as an individual to make your overall health better? Exercise is the answer. Why though, this research paper will inform you why. Also, give you different choices of high impact exercises and low impact exercises inform you of the drawbacks and benefits of each. Therefore, you can personally decided which is better for your personally lifestyle.

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Introduction: Why I Chose Exercise People all around the world strive to be healthy at some point in their life. Some think if you eat healthy you will stay healthy. However, exercise needs to be a part of someones everyday life. What is the perfect exercise for people though? Are there more benefits or drawbacks from exercise? Does exercise really impact a per sons life for the better? These are all valid questions when I think about my personal life. I choose to be a part of the running figured world. I incorporated my figured world with two other ones (running and swimming) and looked at whether they benefit actors in the world or is there really more drawbacks? Biking, swimming, and running are all exercises and all impact your health. Therefore, I wanted to find out which is the most beneficial and did I really choose the right figured world to be in to keep my body healthy. Many authors with scholarly knowledge help me decide what is best for a humans health.
Literature Review: The Truth about Exercise

All three exercises I chose to research or be a part of are aerobic exercises. What is an aerobic exercise? Sadgrove explains that aerobic exercise is an activity that works the heart and lungs. It is not considered aerobic if oxygen is not present (Sadgrove, pg.6). After researching I realized no matter what aerobic exercise you do there are great benefits. The first category of benefits I noticed was the mental benefits of exercise. Kotz and Haupt explains interesting benefits of exercise I never really thought of until reading their research. The first benefit they inform us about is how it relieves stress. They explain how just jogging on a treadmill can increase levels of soothing brain chemi cals (serotonin and dopamine)
Comment [ds1]: Great definition, consider including some examples of exercises that fall under the category of aerobic

Duckworth4 (Haupt and Kotz pg.2) Secondly, exercise decreases depression. Research studies show that exercise simulates growth of neutrons in the brain that were damaged by depression. Therefore, the more you exercise the more a person can repair the parts of their brain that stimulate depression. (Haupt and Kotz pg.3). Thirdly, is the improvement of your learning capacity Exercise not only helps neutrons grow after being damaged but also helps grow new brain cells. New brain cells created new connections between all the brain cells which impact a persons learning for the better. (Haupt and Kotz pg.4). The last benefit is it improves self-esteem and body image. Haupt and Kotz talk about how a small change in a persons body helps their selfesteem so much (Haupt and Kotz, pg.5). After finding this out in research I relize that Lisa in my observations had to be experiencing this benefit. (Duckworth, Pg. 5-7). Mental benefits are not the only benefits from exercise. There are also long term health benefits from exercise. Sliver and Morin talk about how exercise has benefits with Cardiovascular and pulmonary health. Exercise promotes the improvement of blood pressure and improves lipid control, which all play a factor in cardiac risk (Morin & Sliver, Pg. 17). Not only does exercise control cardiac risks but it also helps people with pulmonary system problems. There are programs that help people with lung disease and help their breathing functions so they can get through everyday life (Morin & Sliver, Pg. 34). Another important health benefit of exercise is that it prevents cancer. One-third of cancer death is due to excess weight because of poor nutrition and lack of exercise (Morin & Sliver, Pg. 182). Cancer is not the only disease that prevented by exercise but type two diabetes is also prevented by exercise. (Morin & Sliver, Pg. 120). Exercise has many benefits however; every benefit comes with drawbacks as well. Sadgrove explains there are three major problems with exercise. The first drawback any person
Comment [ds3]: Wonderful facts! Really love this section. Good use of statistics Comment [ds2]: Loved the way you set up the research here, very interesting!

Duckworth5 in an exercise figured world has to worry about is training injuries. Most injuries occur when you put your body through something that you are not in shape for. Injuries also can happen when you dont eat properly or you overtrain (Sadgrove, Pg.43). Which brings us to our next drawback, overtraining. People trying to lose weight make this the mistake of overtraining all the time. Overtraining causes stress to joints, muscles, and bones which damage growth. Another impact of overtraining is that is weakens your immune system which can cause infections (Sadgrove, Pg. 43). The last drawback is humans have to worry about is Dehydration. People who exercise on regular basis need to make sure they stay hydrated. You can check if your hydrated by looking at your urine (the darker the urine the more dehydrated you are). People also need to realize the more you sweat the more your body it becoming dehydrated. (Sadgrove, Pg. 44). Now that we have talked about the benefits and drawback of exercise in general we need to compare high impact exercise versus low impact exercises and which eliminates the most drawbacks as possible. Running is considered a high impact exercise. This means there is a lot of impact on your joints bones and muscles. Running has its advantages. One advantage is burns a lot calories compared to other activities. This makes it addictive to many new comers figuring out which exercise figured world to be a part of (Weil). Another advantage you get what runners call a runners high which it also a quick burst of energy. A runners high is a great antidepressant (Weil). However, there is major disadvantages that comes with running. Running traumatizes your body more than any other aerobic exercise, especially bones, joints, legs, and kidney (Weil). Another disadvantage is abuse of running. This means it becomes addictive, which leads to overtraining and causes injuries to your body. More injuries happen with running more than any other aerobic exercise (Weil).
Comment [ds5]: Consider explaining here how and why it becomes addictive. You could include experiences from people you know too. Comment [ds4]: Very insightful findings here, consider explaining here how someone knows if they are overtraining, as well as how it weakens the immune system. Love to hear more on this.

Duckworth6 In contrast to running, swimming and biking are low impact exercises. This means there is less impact on your joints bones and muscles. Both exercises are effective in weight loss and have fewer disadvantages than high impact exercises (running). If both these exercises are a better choice for a humans health overall, how does a person choose between the two? After research I found and compared the two low impact exercises. I also found out they are both effective and both beneficial just depends what the actor prefers for their self. Allen compared calories burned and physical action. First a person burns a different amount calories depending of the two different exercises. Allen did a study that showed the amount of calories burned during a one hour period of moderately swimming or biking (Allen). The statistics for swimming showed that a 90 pound person burned the average of 245 calories and a 290 pound person burned about 791 calories on average. Compared to biking which the statistics stated; a 90-pound human burned an average of 286 calories and a 290-pound human burned 923 calories (Allen). Therefore, if an actor is looking for the activity to burn more calories biking would be the best choice statistically. Secondly, physical action is something a lot of humans look at when choosing what exercise that would prefer. Each exercise has different benefits and disadvantages when it comes to the physical action of the particular exercise (Allen). The first benefit swimming has over biking is that it tones the whole persons body in contrast to biking which primarily only tones the actors legs. Also, swimming is a non-weight bearing exercise which is important to people that has problems with their joints or skeleton. (Allen). In contrast, swimming does not have bone strengthening effects like cycling does (Allen). Therefore, it strictly depends on two different things, to just burn calories or tones a greater amount of body parts. Also, it depends on how your health is to begin with and choosing the safer exercise for yourself.
Comment [ds6]: I love how you set up these stats, consider adding onto this by translating what these statistics mean for a person and their goals with exercising.

Duckworth7 After deciding which exercise will benefit you as a person the most, you need to realize the benefit of high intensity over low intensity. Breen did a study (experiment) about the benefits of high intensity over low intensity. The study focused on the effects of exercising, as the test subjects had no change in their personal diet. The actors were put in three groups and were tested over a sixteen week period. Seven of the women did not change their level of which they exercised. Eleven exercised at low intensity five days per week; and nine exercised at lowintensity two days per week and high intensity exercise three days per week (Breen). Low intensity consisted of only walking and low and high intensity consisted of walking and jogging. The results showed that the group that did low and high intensity exercise reduced their total amount of abdominal fat (Breen). Reducing the total amount of abdominal fat is good for a person because it improves overall health (Breen). Some examples of improving overall health include cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Improving these two things lower your chances of getting diabetes (Breen). Therefore, no matter what exercise you choose you will have benefits if you do high intensity exercise over low intensity exercise. Breen states, The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend that healthy adults 18 to 65 years old need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 20 minutes three days each week. However, overweight and obese persons may need up to 300 minutes of exercise per week to lose weight (Breen). In doing this you will improve you overall health even if you do not change your diet. Enter the conversation: What I think Is Best After researching these key points of different types of exercises I realize the running figured world might not be the best world for me. Instead of just being in the running figured
Comment [ds7]: Great job with setting this info up and explaining it.

Duckworth8 world, I should broaden my views on exercise and become just a part of the exercise figured world. This information showed me how people in the running community need to know its good to exercise because it benefits your overall health however, running has more drawback that low impact exercises. Even if runners decided to keep strictly to running and not broaden their views on different exercises they still can impact figured worlds that do not have any exercise involved in them. Also, if runners do decide to go out and try a low impact exercise they can actually put an input into which exercise is more beneficial because the actor played a role in both high impact and low impact exercises. I have gained new knowledge that made me revaluate my observations. My observations talked about alpha males and people with goals (Duckworth, pg. 5). I considered alpha males to be the people that were at the top when it came to the figured world. However, I just thought this because they were constantly running. In contrast, some people that were in the people with goals ran and walked. This was just mixing high impact with low impact which is better for an actor in their long term overall health. Observation one took place at the greenway. On the greenway there were different figured worlds all around (Duckworth, Pgs. 6-7). I never really thought about them influencing each other however, this is a great possibility. This is really important knowing after the research I did on low impact exercises (biking). The reason is because if the two interact with each other there is a greater chance someone could cross over figured worlds. Instead of doing a high impact exercise (running) all the time they start doing low and high impact which will only benefit them. The last observation I could probably revaluate after researching these topics were the misfits I talked about in my observation (Duckworth, Pg.5). In the observation, I defined misfits as; when you observe the community you dont understand why they are there. They
Comment [ds8]: Yes! I really like your flow here and the way you went into explaining these as wells as making references to your finding into your own research.

Duckworth9 dont really seem to have a purpose. The misfits are just there with their friends to have something to do. In another words, people that dont want to feel left out even though they dont belong in the figured world (Duckworth, Pg.5). Now that I have finished researching different exercises I realize misfits arent really out of place. Maybe actors already involved in a certain exercise figured world are just using their communication strategies to show a person that isnt involved what the world is like. I think this now because there is no way someone could show another person what exercise really is unless they actually do the exercise. You can tell a person the benefits and drawbacks of each type. However, they will only know which one they prefer personally when they actually do the exercise. Rolling states it in a great way, the question of which is better will be determined by your personal preference. You'll be more likely to stick to an exercise routine if it's something you enjoy doing (Rolling). Conclusion/So What The importance of this research is to show humans that exercise has a strong impact on their overall health. People cannot just strictly rely on diet. Also, even if a human does to have a great diet they still can improve their overall health with exercise alone. The second topic that was important to this research was to show humans the benefits and drawbacks of high impact and low impact exercises. In doing this they will be able to choose their personal preference of exercise. Lastly, an important issue to inform the exercising and non-exercising worlds about was to show that there is a difference in the level of intensity a person decides to do when exercising. Therefore, when picking the level of intensity the person might now see the reason why they should go a little harder than they normally would.
Comment [ds9]: Good introduction.

Duckworth10 There are many areas of further research someone could do based off of the research I have found. Another topic that would link to the topics I have researched would be figuring out how much better a persons overall health is with exercising. Is it really life changing? Also, further research could go on and talk about even if a person a poor genetics can exercising change their life or will they get diagnosed with a disease no matter how much they change their lifestyle. Your overall health is in your own fate are you willing to do what it takes to stay healthy.
Comment [ds10]: You could also add here areas on further research for self-esteem.

Duckworth11 References Allen, J. (2013). One Hour of Bike Riding VS. One Hour of Swimming Exercise. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/529080-one-hour-of-bike-riding-vs-one-hour-ofswimming-exercise/ Breen, A. (2008,October 28). U. Va Study: High Intensity Exercise Best for Improving Body Composition. UVA Today. Retrieved from http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-studyhigh-intensity-exercise-best-improving-body-composition Cleveland Clinic. (2013). Stay Fit: Aerobic Exercise. Retrieved from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/exercise/hic_aerobic_exercise.aspx Conan, N. (April 4, 2006) Talk of the Nation: The Truth About Exercise. Washington DC: NPR.Retrived from: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=5323151 &m=5323160 Duckworth, L. Assignment One [Microsoft Word Doc.].Retrieved from Moodle Revised Assignment One Link: https://moodle2.uncc.edu/mod/assignment/view.php?id=130355 Hart, N. (2011). High-Impact Aerobics VS. Low-Impact. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/544062-high-impact-aerobics-vs-low-impact/ Haupt, A., Kotz, D. (2013). Seven Mind Blowing Benefits of Exercise. Retrieved from: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/slideshows/7-mind-blowing-benefitsof-exercise Morin, C. & Silver, J. Understanding Fitness: How Exercise Fuels Health and Fights Disease. Westport Connecticut: Praeger Rolling, J. (2011). Cycling Versus Swimming for Cardio. Retrived from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/526512-cycling-versus-swimming-for-cardio/ Sadgrove, J. (2000). Exercise. Austin, Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn. Weil, A. (2013). The Pros and Cons of Running. Retrieved from http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02928/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Running.html

Duckworth12 Allen, J. (2013). One Hour of Bike Riding VS. One Hour of Swimming Exercise. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/529080-one-hour-of-bike-riding-vs-one-hour-ofswimming-exercise/ Jae Allens main point of this article is to inform the reader about which type of exercise (biking or swimming) is more effective. It talks about the benefits and the drawbacks of both. The article talks about which is more efficient. This article is important to my paper because in my paper I talk about which exercise is more beneficial for a person. Breen, A. (2008,October 28). U. Va Study: High Intensity Exercise Best for Improving Body Composition. UVA Today. Retrieved from http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-studyhigh-intensity-exercise-best-improving-body-composition Breen discusses about how high intensity exercise improves body composition, which improves overall health. In the article an experiment was conducted with obese women. During the experiment without changing the diet of the individuals tested, it shows how no exercise increases abdominal fat and high impact exercise reduced total abdominal. The article also talks about how reducing abdominal fat reducing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This is important to my research because it shows the benefits of exercise which I talk about in my paper. Cleveland Clinic. (2013). Stay Fit: Aerobic Exercise. Retrieved from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/exercise/hic_aerobic_exercise.aspx Cleveland Clinic addresses the benefits of aerobic exercise in this article. Also, the article talks about exercise safety. Exercise safety consists of progression of aerobic exercise and the technique of warming up and cooling off. Another major point the article talks about how long you should exercise and the intensity. This is important to my paper because it talks about all the points I make in my paper. Also, this article helps me by giving me key concepts so I could do further research for my paper.

Conan, N. (April 4, 2006) Talk of the Nation: The Truth About Exercise. Washington DC: NPR.Retrived from: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=5323151 &m=5323160 This radio broadcast informs us about what exercises work and which ones doesnt. Another point made is how much you have to exercise to help improve your heart. It talks about how people that do excess exercise do not benefit from it. This broadcast is important to my paper because in my paper I talk about it there a such thing as too much exercise. This also helped me see that there is such a thing as too much. Therefore, this helped me with wanting to find more research on this topic in my paper. Duckworth, L. Assignment One [Microsoft Word Doc.].Retrieved from Moodle Revised Assignment One Link: https://moodle2.uncc.edu/mod/assignment/view.php?id=130355

Duckworth13 This paper talks about the running community as a figured world. It gives observations of all different types of people in the figured world. Also, it talks about certain actors and artifacts in the running community. This is important to my paper because running is one of the main exercises I talk about in my paper. Being able to use personal observations allows me to research more of what I saw during the observations. Hart, N. (2011). High-Impact Aerobics VS. Low-Impact. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/544062-high-impact-aerobics-vs-low-impact/ Hart talks about low impact exercise versus high impact exercises. It gives the benefits and drawbacks of each. The article talks about which benefits a person more. This article is important to my paper because I talk about two low impact exercises (swimming and biking) and one high impact exercise (running). This article helps me be able to do further research on each type of exercise. Haupt, A., Kotz, D. (2013). Seven Mind Blowing Benefits of Exercise. Retrieved from: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/slideshows/7-mind-blowing-benefitsof-exercise The two authors in this article talks about seven benefits from exercise most people do not know. The seven benefits are; reverses the detrimental effects of stress, lifts depression, improves learning, builds self-esteem and improves body image, leaves you feeling euphoric, and keeps the brain fit. This is important to my paper because I talks about the benefits of exercise. However, this article gives benefits from exercise that most people are not aware of. Morin, C. & Silver, J. Understanding Fitness: How Exercise Fuels Health and Fights Disease. Westport Connecticut: Praeger The main point this author talks about is understanding fitness as a whole. The book gives the benefits of exercise for cardiovascular health, flexibility health, and more. Also, it talks about exercise with people that have diabetes and arthritis. This book is important to my paper because it gives me benefits of exercise which is a main point in my paper. Also, it talks about certain health issues and how exercise plays a role in helping the health issue. Rolling, J. (2011). Cycling Versus Swimming for Cardio. Retrived from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/526512-cycling-versus-swimming-for-cardio/ Rolling discusses cycling versus swimming. The article also talks about the safety considerations of each type of exercise. This article is important because it gives me another source to support my earlier search on biking versus swimming. Having two articles about this specific topic makes my research stronger and more valuable. Sadgrove, J. (2000). Exercise. Austin, Texas: Raintree Steck-Vaughn. Sadgrove book Exercise discusses why exercise makes a person feel good after. Another point made in the book is how your heart works and also why exercising keeps it healthy. Lastly, the book talks about what types of exercise is bad for a person. This contributes to my paper because it talks about how exercise affects your health which is the main issue in my paper. Also, this book gave me questions to do further research on after reading.

Duckworth14 Weil, A. (2013). The Pros and Cons of Running. Retrieved from http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02928/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Running.html Weil talks about the pros and cons of running. Running has the most disadvantages out of all aerobic exercises. However, the article talks about certain ways to lessen these disadvantages. This article it a good source for my article because I compare low impact and high impact exercises to each other. This article gave me insight how running is not the best exercise to choose to keep your body healthy.