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STAYING HEALTHY: EFFECTS OF EXERCISE

Just why do we exercise? People who do not exercise do not have positive health. They do not seem to have the vigor, vim, and vitality of those who take a reasonable amount of exercise. The muscles of our chests and hearts and of our bodies generally need a certain amount of activity in order to give them a factor that is called "tone." Tone includes the ability of a muscle to respond when called on.
The chief purpose of exercise is to obtain a normal development of tissues, so that they will be capable of performing their ordinary functions. The muscles of the trunk and of the back must be well-developed to maintain good posture. The muscles of the back, legs, and feet are needed to make walking, running, and jumping easy and graceful.
Exercise increases the circulation of the blood, and thus aids nourishment of the individual cells of the body. Improved circulation also helps to remove waste material from the body. The proper circulation of the blood is related to the regulation of the heat of the body.
Exercise also increases the depth and rate of breathing, thus giving the red blood cells more oxygen to carry, and helps to eliminate the waste carbon dioxide from the body.
Following a reasonable amount of exercise in the open air, the body feels refreshed and not exhausted. With such refreshment comes the relaxation that is exceedingly important for rest and good mental hygiene.
Finally, there is a sense of satisfaction associated with being able to swing a golf club, a tennis racket, or an ax as well as the next man, or in being able to row a boat or to swim when such an activity may be required.
There is apparently no absolute evidence that physical training produces a condition which helps to protect the body against disease. There is general belief that the hardy mountaineer, who has to keep climbing and who is constantly in a state of physical activity, is more healthful than the lazy inhabitant of the tropics, who sleeps through large portions of the twenty-four hours, but there is no proof that the mountaineer has better health than the lazybones who sleeps in the sun.
The chief value of exercise is that it increases the competence of the body to do physical work, lessens fatigue, increases endurance, and produces perfection of movement.
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