Running head: PHYSICAL EXERCISE 1

The Importance of Regular Physical Exercise

Vitor, Homem
Written Communications Skills IV, Section 4-2
Instructor: Elsie, Gerber
Monday, July 14, 2014



















PHYSICAL EXERCISE 2
The Importance of Regular Physical Exercise
I dont have enough time. I prefer to stay at home and watch TV. I
work all day long. I have too much home work. Some people during the years
start to remove physical exercise (PE) from their own regular schedule and begin
to give more importance to their jobs or personal activates. According to Haskell,
et al., (as cited by Werner Hoeger and Sharon Hoeger, 2013), Only about one
half of U.S. adults meet the minimal recommendation of 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity at least 5 days per week. Furthermore, data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 16 percent are completely
inactive (p. 3). This shows that a good percentage of people do not give much
importance to physical exercise, and those bad habits affect directly not only their
personal welfare, but also their intellectual and social skills.
Apparently, physical exercise became increasingly serious for the wellness
of human beings. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(as cited by Werner Hoeger and Sharon Hoeger, 2013), around 42.4 percent of
deaths in the U.S today were caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, but this could be
prevented if people choose a healthy way of life (p. 5). This means that physical
exercise is a strong tool in human health care. Although many people believe that
they do not have enough time in their regular routine, people should do physical
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 3
exercise because it will improve their mental health, physical health and social
skills.
First of all, practicing physical exercise can provide a huge improvement in
mental health. People choose physical exercise to have different mental help, for
example to prevent diseases such as insomnia. According to Urponen, Vuori,
Hasan and Partinen, (as cited by Carmen Erlacher, Daniel Erlacher and Schredl,
2014), physical activity is one of the most effective tool against the insomnia
(p. 1). Accordingly, to people who have insomnia should adapt their routines to
practice PE as a medical prescription. After all, PE can be a good medical
medicine and provide a better sleep time. In addition, the change in lifestyle is
recommended not just for people with insomnia but for every person who wants to
have better mental health. Another example, Smith, Potter, McLaren and
Blumenthal (as cited by Stanton, Happell and Reaburn, 2014) noted: [there is] a
similar positive dose-dependent relationship between physical activity and the risk
of cognitive decline and dementia in later life with risk reductions of up to 50%
(p. 46). Thus, PA has been shown to be a strong tool to prevent diseases.
Moreover, regular PE would help in the treatment of mental illness. Some
mental diseases are much common in the world but normally those illnesses are not
easy to recognize. For instance, according to Martin (2012), depression is a very
normal disease; recent research made by the World health Organization (WHO)
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 4
(2012) estimate 350 million people are affected (para. 1). Moreover, the PE
appears again as a strong tool in the treatment of depression; according to
Ravindran et al. (as cited by Stanton, Happell and Reaburn, 2014) Clinical
Guidelines from the Canadian Society for Mood and Anxiety Treatments
(CANMAT), noted there is moderate evidence for the importance of exercise in the
treatment of depression in adults (p. 47). Furthermore, PA is important against
stress, another disease that a huge portion of the population suffers and this
disrupts them at work and at home. According to Gerber, Puhse and Forcier et al.
(as cited by Teisala et al., 2014),
Physical activity (PA) is one of the factors that protects against stress.
Exercise and psychological stress have similar acute physiological effects
because both result in potent increases in cardiovascular, sympathetic, and
hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical responses and decreases in
parasympathetic responses Repeated bouts of exercise lead to physiological
adaptations, including decreased resting heart rate (HR) and blood pressure
and increased parasympathetic activity. (para. 1)
In summary, PE at present is normally used by doctors no just preventing disease
but also in the treatment of it too.
Thirdly, quality of life is one of the most important things in life. Because
quality of life is an abstract thing, people usually think that there is more than one
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 5
way to obtain it. However, PE is one way to increase quality of life; as stated by
Werner Hoeger and Sharon Hoeger (2013), Physical activity no longer is a natural
part of our existence. This epidemic of physical inactivity is the second greatest
threat to U.S. public health and has been termed Sedentary Death Syndrome, or
SeDR (p. 4). Thus, not practicing physical activity is to go against the quality of
life.
PE is important not just in the mental health field but also to improve
physical health. First, PE can help by preventing diseases; according to World
Health Organization as cited in the book Fitness & Wellness, people who
undertake even the modest amounts of regular physical activity will by
consequence avoid chronic diseases; these diseases represent around 60 percent of
deaths according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (Werner Hoeger &
Sharon Hoeger, 2013, p. 5). Those diseases are not just in adults; According to
Global Advocacy for Physical Activity and Nelson, Stovitz, Thomas et al., (as
cited by Basterfield et al., 2014), inclusion of the sport as a tactic for dealing with
the abstinence from physical activity of childhood and even an effective agents
obesity (p. 1). To sum up, because of the strong help, PE should be in the schedule
of all the persons no matter what age to prevent physical diseases.
Furthermore, with the same good habits, PE can improve the body. The
importance of PE for the bones, joint, muscular flexibility is incontestable, it
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 6
maintains better muscle tone and endurance, improves posture and physical
appearance, improves physical stamina, and raises levels of energy (Werner
Hoeger & Sharon Hoeger, 2013, p. 12). This means that try to adapt PE in routine
is crucial and can result in a lot of benefits to the body.
In addition to help in mental and physical health, PE can improve social
skills. To illustrate, social skills are a very important part of childrens lives and
crucial for good maturation. According to Koric (2013), a childs involvement in
sport helps them to improves their social interaction, increases their confidence,
and improve their listening skills and health (para. 2). With the same idea, Ozbar
(as cited by Dorak, Yildiz and Sortullu, 2012) wrote that children can also get
abilities such as self-confidence, and they can improve their health too; all this
happens through the physical education and sport (para.1). In addition, PE gives
more opportunity to meet people with the same interest; when the need to find
people with the same interest appears, the sport may be the solution. People who
play team sports, or even individuals, tend to go to specific places such as parks,
sports fields, clubs or even gyms. These places may be the initial points of people
who want to make friends with something in common with themselves. Thus, to
have a good social life and improve social skills, PE can be one way.
In conclusion, all people should include physical exercise in their routine
because it will improve their mental health, physical health and social skills. It is
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 7
important that a person select motivating and enjoyable activities; it should work
with exercises considering fitness level. Moreover they should be practiced in a
relaxed and pleasurable form preferably with a group of friends; finally, it is
important to conduct ongoing evaluation of the effects generated by the practice of
selected physical activity, so that this meets all the needs of the individual, from
the physical aspect to the social. In addition, these skills will help them in a lot of
different ways. People who want to be healthy and good with themselves should
start physical exercise as soon as possible.










PHYSICAL EXERCISE 8
References
Basterfield, L., Reilly, J., Pearce, M., Parkinson, K., Adamson, A., Reilly, J., &
Vella, S. (2014). Longitudinal associations between sports participation,
body composition and physical activity from childhood to adolescence.
Journal Of Science And Medicine In Sport.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2014.03.005
Dorak, R., Yildiz, L., & Sortullu, C. (2012). The effects of eight weeks of sports
activities on self-sufficiency, social skills and some physical fitness
parameters in children 9-10 years of age, Social and Behavioral Sciences,
47. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.813
Erlacher, C., Erlacher, D., & Schredl, M. (2014). The effects of exercise on
self-rated sleep among adults with chronic sleep complaints, Journal of
Sport and Health Science, doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2014.01.001.
Hoeger, W. W. K. & Hoeger, S. A. (2013). Fitness & wellness (10
th
ed.).
Belmonte, USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Koric, I. (2013, October 3). The benefit of team sports. Rossland News (British
Columbia, Canada). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=
GALE%7CA344565133&v=2.1&u=conestoga&it=r&p=CPI&sw=
w&asid=1de050246bd0d9fe55d0eb168c0dbc27.
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 9
Martin, K. (2013). Providing support for people with depression. Practice Nursing,
24(3), 133-136. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.rap.ocls.ca/
eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6bef27fe-b7fa-4c7d-af494897c93
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Stanton, R., Happell, B., & Reaburn, P. (2014). The mental health benefits of
regular physical activity, and its role in preventing future depressive illness.
Nursing: Research & Reviews, 4, 445-53. doi:10.2147/NRR.S41956.
Teisala, T., Mutikainen, S., Tolvanen, A., Rottensteiner, M., Leskinen, T., Kaprio,
J., & ... Kujala, U. M. (2014). Associations of physical activity, fitness, and
body composition with heart rate variability-based indicators of stress and
recovery on workdays: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Occupational
Medicine & Toxicology, 9(1), 1-20. doi:10.1186/1745-6673-9-16.