The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex or physical ability. These are a few ways exercise can lead to happier, healthier you:

  • Exercise controls weight. It can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn!
  • Exercise combats health conditions and diseases. No matter what your current weight, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases. Regular exercise helps prevent or manager a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolix syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, a number of types of caner, arthiritis and falls.
  • Exercise improves mood. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling hapier and more relaxed. You can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem when you exercise regularly.
  • Exercise boosts energy. Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently - and when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.
  • Exercise promotes better sleep. Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. The key is to not exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to hit the hay.
  • Exercise can be fun and social! Exercise can give you a chance to unwind and enjoy the outdoors! It can also help you connect with family and friends in a fun social setting.

There are many ways to be active in our community. Here are a few resources to help you get started:

Would you like to join a walking group?
Walk2Connect has walking programs focused on connections to others, to place and to self. For upcoming walks in Aurora, please check our events page. 

Healthy Aging

At Tri-County Health  Department we work collaboratively with all of our divisions and with partners in the community to help ensure that services as well as community planning efforts address the unique needs of the growing older adult population. One of the progams we help coordinate is the "A Matter of Balance Classes" and other resources for healthy aging that can be found here

Source: Mayo Clinic