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ANNOUNCER: Physical fitness plays an important role in how we age and feel.
MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: From a health standpoint, there are three different areas you get benefits in that we have well-quantified.
Arterial aging: arterial aging is associated with heart disease, stroke, memory loss, impotence, decay in orgasm quality, even wrinkling of the skin.
Immune aging: that's associated with infections and cancer, even autoimmune disease such as many forms of arthritis.
And then accidents and disability from accidents. All three are affected by physical activity.
ANNOUNCER: Lack of activity and the obesity that can result, may also increase the risk of health complications.
MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: Iit's the side effects of obesity that are so great a risk. Blood pressure elevations, sleep apnea, arthritis, diabetes, the altered self-image that obesity causes or is associated with it. All are tremendously aging.
ANNOUNCER: That's why exercise is vital when it comes to a healthy body. Dr. Roizen has seen his patients stuggle with this in his practice. That is why he recommends the following steps.
MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: There are plenty of treadmills and bikes, etc. that are coat hangers. So don't do the stamina activity first. Do walking. Secondly, do strength-building activity. You've got 13 basic different muscle groups. You need to use 9 of them for 10 minutes three times a week to get the maximum benefit from resistance or strength training. So it's 30 minutes a week for that.
Once you've done those two for about a month each, then you should go into stamina. Stamina, you need 21 minutes of raising your heart rate.
ANNOUNCER: Integrating exercise into a busy life is difficult, and a regular routine is key.
MICHAEL ROIZEN, MD: You've got to make time to do exercise.
No one is going to do 90 minutes every day, if they've got a busy life, unless they schedule some things that are regular into their life. One of the things I've found is: I bought a set of weights and while I'm watching the Jay Leno monologue every night, it's only 10 minutes a night, but you can exercise either your upper body or your lower body every night and get plenty of strength-building exercise and enjoy doing it. Have fun doing it. So make it an enjoyable part of life.
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