What if there were a single medication that could help you sleep better, reduce stress, give you more energy and address a wide range of common health issues? Believe it or not, such a medication does exist – but it doesn't come in a prescription bottle.
Exercise helps people shed unwanted pounds and maintain a healthy weight, but it can also accomplish so much more. Regular workouts are hugely beneficial for both mental and physical health.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting a study to learn how exercise affects the body on the molecular level. This may help researchers discover which exercises are best for different individual body types and allow doctors to “prescribe” specific workouts. At Holland Hospital, providers are already putting the idea of “prescribing” workouts into practice.
The benefits of exercise.
Different exercises provide different health benefits. For example, a person can strengthen muscles and bones by lifting weights, increase their flexibility by stretching or improve heart health through aerobic activity. But whatever your health goals may be, the most important step is to simply get moving.
Prescribing workouts.
At Holland Hospital, doctors can “prescribe” exercise as medicine through the hospital’s Lifestyle Medicine program, which helps people adopt healthier habits through personalized approaches that include nutrition, fitness, sleep and stress reduction.
Embracing exercise.
In the future, the results of the NIH study may be able to help people who exercise but have hit a plateau and are no longer seeing results. But for most people, it’s more important to get moving today.
Ideally, each week should include three days of vigorous exercise or five days of moderate exercise. Aim for aerobic exercises like walking, biking, swimming or rowing.