Why and How You Should Exercise Today ... and Every Day

For too many people, the only "exercise" they get is to go from the bed to a car to a desk to a couch, and then back to bed again. And a recent study shows just how harmful this can be.

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia provided a group of rats with exercise wheels. After allowing the rats to exercise every day for three weeks, they locked the wheels - and within only 48 hours, the rats' sensitivity to insulin dropped by one-third. The insulin sensitivity continued to decrease as long as the rats were active.

Why is this important? Because decreased sensitivity to insulin is a precursor for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Insulin binds with receptors on muscle tissue and creates a path for the glucose in your bloodstream to be transferred into the muscles and other tissues. When you are active, this metabolic process is rapid and efficient. However, when you are sedentary (even for 48 hours), it takes greater and greater amounts of insulin to reduce the glucose in your blood.

Why Weight-Training Is a Must for Your Bones

There are a number of vitamins and minerals that are essential for strong and healthy bones. One of these, of course, is vitamin D, produced by your skin when it's exposed to sunlight. However none of these co-factors will result in optimal bone density unless you also engage in a regimen of weight lifting exercise.

You might have heard that when astronauts return to earth, they often experience bone problems. Problem is, bones are living tissues, and the materials that make them up are constantly being broken down and then replaced. Without weight or stress on the astronauts' bones, there is no stimulation to replace the material being broken down.

This is why weight-training exercise is so important. Applying force along the axis of a bone stimulates its growth.

Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db

Dov Oshri is the author of the revolutionary Anti-Aging Fitness Program "Change Your Body and Be Admired". He is the chief editor of Body for Mind – a Wellness Lifestyle for Successful People. His cutting edge Anti-Aging Fitness Program can be downloaded for FREE at http:/www.bodyformind.com

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