BENEFITS OF EXERCISE

We all know what regular exercise does for the waistline, but prepare to be amazed at just how much it benefits the rest of you, including significantly slowing down the ageing process. You may not want to be running marathons at 70 (although plenty of people do), but increasing your activity will help you enjoy your life more - for a whole lot longer.

1. Regular exercise increases your body's production of SOD, anti-ageing enzyme that fights the free radicals which cause cell breakdown and skin damage.
2. Exercise also raises levels of the anti-ageing hormone DHEA, which has been found to help prevent everything from brain ageing to heart disease, while at the same time, improving your mood and energy levels.
3. The reason you feel god after exercise is because it raises levels of endorphins, the chemical we make naturally when we're happy. These not only act as natural painkillers but also reduce tension, anxiety and even appetite.
4. Exercise raises levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, which helps you feel more positive. Serotonin is so effective at fighting depression that both Prozac and St. John's wort work by preventing its breakdown.
5. Even moderate exercise will strengthen your immune system, making you far less likely to catch a cold. And fitter people also recover from illnesses more quickly, whether it be a niggling sore throat or major surgery.
6. Sleep is nature's best beauty treatment. Exercisers sleep more soundly (spending extra time in the most restorative phases), and wake less often through the night, then sedentary people.
7. Active women are less likely to experience hot flushes during menopause, and the mood-boost exercise provides helps ease other menopausal symptoms too.
8. Flexibility is the first thing to go with age, but gentle stretching such as yoga and Pilates will keep you supple for life. As little as five minutes stretching a day will help keep your muscle loose and limber for longer.
9. Exercise boosts your lymphatic system, which is responsible for removing toxins, and also moves important anti-ageing vitamins around your body.
10. Women start losing bone mass between the ages of 30and 40, but weight-bearing exercise such as walking keeps your bones stronger by thickening joint cartilage. Exercise also drastically reduces your risk of osteoporosis.
11. Exercise strengthens your ligaments and tendons, making couch potatoes far more likely to suffer from back and joint problems than active people who work their muscles regularly.
12. Forget not having enough energy to exercise. Up your activity rate and you will have more energy , not less. Anything that raises your heartbeat and gets you breathing a little faster will improve your stamina for everything else in life.
13. After 30, your metabolic rate drops by almost 5% a decade, but exercise increases it, making you burn stored fat faster even when you are relaxing.
14. Regular exercise makes your body look younger by improving your posture. When your stomach and back muscles are strong, you will walk tall and proud instead of hunching over like an old person.
15. Exercise makes your body feel years younger. Women who exercise regularly have the strength, bone density, metabolism, flexibility, muscle bulk and blood pressure of women 15 to 20 years younger.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?
Losing muscle mass and strength is the cause of most physical signs of ageing, so it is easy to see why exercise that rebuilds and strengthens muscle will instantly make you look younger. In fact, just one year of light weight training can fast-track your muscle bulk and strength, metabolism, flexibility and certain hormone levels back by an amazing 15 to 20 years.

So how much is enough? Any exercise is better than none, so never use lack for time as an excuse not to reap the benefits. Even walking to the station every morning will increase bone density and metabolism (the reason many people put on weight the minute they buy a car). Start with five minutes' brisk walking a day and you look and feel better almost immediately. For optimum results, exercise for 30 minutes three to four times a week (you can drop this to twice a week once you have achieved your desired result).

Maintaining your fitness
Do not let 48 hours pass without some kind of activity, as you want to keep your metabolic rate buzzing to burn fat effectively. Exercising in the afternoon is the best time for weight loss, as your hormone levels are high, and activity at this time will help you sleep at the end of the day, too. Fitness experts also advise interval training, which simply means working harder for a few minutes, then slowing down a little before speeding up again, as this burns more calories.










Start with five minutes' brisk walking a day and you'll look and feel better almost immediately.

What exercise does to your hormones
Certain hormone levels decline with age, but by increasing and rebalancing them with exercise you can literally help reverse the ageing process.

• Endorphins are the most well-known hormones released as our bodies' biochemistry changes during a bout of exercise. They not only give you that feel-good factor (they are natural opiates), but also reduce anxiety and appetite. Endorphins are increased by a whopping 500% after 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise.
• Growth hormones decline with age and can be the cause of weight gain, low energy, dry and sagging skin, disrupted sleep and poor concentration. Both aerobic exercise and weight training will increase your growth hormone levels after 30 minutes.
• The male hormone testosterone is important for maintaining muscle tone and strength, plus it increases your metabolic rate, helping to reduce body fat. Testosterone increases in your blood after 20 minutes of exercise and peaks after 30, staying high for up to three hours afterwards.
• The female hormone oestrogen declines at the menopause and is responsible for boosting metabolism and fat breakdown. It also increases after exercise and stays high for up to four hours afterwards.
• Thyroxin speeds skin-cell renewal and boosts energy levels, helping you burn calories faster. It increases in the blood during exercise and stays high for up to three hours afterwards.

Enjoyable, Easy Exercise
Gym-based exercise can not only be incredibly boring but also very inconvenient. Not so the following, which are free, easy, simple to fit into your life - and maybe even enjoyable.?

The wonder of walking
It is estimated that every minute of walking extends your life by up to two minutes. Not a bad return. In fact, walking at a brisk pace is nature's greatest fitness booster. It does not jar your joints like jogging, but still manages to raise your heart rate to 50-70% of its maximum, which not only strengthens your heart but also burns serious calories. At a moderate walking pace you will burn about five calories a minutes, which means walking 20 minutes a day burns 100 calories a day (that's 3.5kg (8 lb) of weight lost a year). And, by speeding up your metabolism, walking will carry on burning calories faster even when you are stationary.

And that's not all. Walking can significantly improve your mood (those endorphins again), with some scientists saying that a fast-paced walk can be even more effective than tranquilizers. Regular walking also helps stabilize your blood-sugar levels, helping to avoid mood and energy crashes, and boost your immunity. Stride out and you'll be strengthening the muscles in your hips, thighs, stomach and bottom, while keeping osteoporosis at bay.

If you start walking to work meetings and evening socials (carry your high heels in your bag), you will not only save money on transport, but you will also be able to fit the recommended 20-30 minutes or more five times a week quota into your life. And practice a good walking technique. Walk tall with your stomach pulled in to support your back, and your shoulders relaxed and down so you can breathe more deeply. Wear cross-trainers or well-fitting flat shoes, and either swap your handbag from side to side or invest in a leather rucksack for even weight distribution.

How fast is enough? You should be able to talk, but if you can carry on an easy, effortless conversation then you need to pick up the pace. And do not forget to warm up and cool down (as you would with any exercise) by starting and finishing at a slower ace, plus be kind to your muscles with a few shoulder shrugs, arm swings, gentle froward bends and hamstring stretches before and after your walk.

Find your rhythm
Anything that raises your heart rate and gets you breathing a little faster is good for your health (and stamina), which means dancing counts as exercise. It is the most sociable way to work out ever, or just turn up the music at home and discover your inner dancing queen. Do not underestimate the effect music has on your soul. The combination of music and movement has been proven to create high levels of energy, balance your heart rate and release stress. Never felt confident on the dance floor? Then take a class in flamenco, ceroc, salsa or belly dancing. Who said exercise was boring?

Child's Play: How To Have More Fun
When you are a child, exercise is all about fun - running, skipping and jumping until the school bell rings or bedtime beckons. But fast forward 20 or more years and suddenly exercise has become a chore you know you should do, but somehow never quite feel like you want to.

The answer is to go back to child's play (with grown-up benefits). You cannot do better than rebounding. Do not make the mistake of dismissing bouncing on a mini-trampoline as less serious than pounding the pavement or getting heavy down at the gym. NASA has now incorporated rebounding into their astronaut training programme, as they have found it to be 68% more efficient at increasing aerobic fitness than using a treadmill, plus it builds bone and muscle mass - and helps combat osteoporosis.

Just 10 minutes' bounces is said to be the equivalent of half an hours' jogging, which also makes jumping up and down a very quick and efficient way to lose weight. And that is not all. Studies also show that bouncing on a mini-trampoline not only gives good cardio (without putting stress on your joints, making it perfect for anyone who is overweight or recovering from injury), but also helps boost your lymphatic system by squeezing waste out of your cells. And by getting rid of toxins you will be benefiting your skin and significantly reducing the appearance of cellulite. Do it daily for at least 5-10 minutes, to your favourite upbeat CD for best effects.

For more playful inspiration, think back to a time in your life when you were more physically active and loving it. You may have to go as far back as the school playground, or your teenage years. What did you enjoy most about it? The music, the fresh air, the people, the scenery? What are your memories of fun activities? A team sport like volleyball or netball? Outdoor fun like rowing, horse-riding, rollerblading or cycling? Or learning an exhilarating new sport like skiing, diving or surfing? Think how you could do this again now. Some activities may be available nearby, or book an action-packed holiday to get you back in the mood.

If finding the time (or babysitter) to leave your house is a problem, you can now take classes with some of the world's finest fitness teachers in your own sitting room. There is fitness DVD or video for everyone, from kickboxing to dissolve your anger (exercise has been proven to clear excess adrenaline), to aerobic dance so you can lose yourself in the music with no one looking.

The trick is to make it fun by not pushing your body too far, too fast. The more you do, the more your body will want to do, and the less you will need to motivate yourself. If you need more inspiration, make a note of how you feel after you chosen activity and refer back to it should the sofa beckon. By making movement something you enjoy, it can easily become the highlight of your day rather than just another chore on your to-do list.