Counseling Sheet

Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.

Preventive Medicine

• It increases the efficiency of your lungs, conditioning them to process more air with less effort.
• It increases the efficiency of your heart in several ways. It grows stronger and pumps more blood with each stroke, reducing the number of strokes necessary.
• It increases the number and size of your blood vessels, as well as your total blood volume, thus saturating the tissue throughout the body with energy-producing oxygen.
• It increases your body's maximal oxygen consumption by increasing the efficiency of the means of supply and delivery. In doing so, it improves the overall condition of your body, especially its most important parts: the lungs, the heart, the blood vessels, and the body tissue, giving you protection against many forms of illness and disease.
• It improves digestion by quickening the circulation and helping to lift blood back to the heart from the digestive organs and normalizing the bowel action.
• It improves the tone of your muscles and blood vessels, changing them from weak and flabby tissue to strong and firm tissue, often reducing blood pressure in the process.
• It slows down your aging process and physical deterioration, as it restores your zest for life and youthful activity. It reduces the likelihood of getting cancer.
• It may change your whole outlook on life. You learn to relax, develop a better self-image, and tolerate the stress of daily living. You will sleep better and get more work done with less fatigue.
• It lifts a gloom from the spirits. Brisk exercise brightens the disposition.

NOTE

‍Dr. Cooper suggests that some of the best exercises for building cardiovascular endurance are running, swimming, cycling, walking, stationary running, handball, basketball, and squash. He also points out that exercise must be regular, vigorous, and sufficiently prolonged, if it is to be of any appreciable benefit.

Cooper, Kenneth, M.D. The New Aerobics

Cureton, Thomas, Ph.D. Physical Fitness and Dynamic Health