The Health Benefits

of Physical Activity

07/15/2025 1
lesson topics
Physical activity and hypo kinetic
diseases
Physical activity and
cardiovascular diseases

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Physical activity and hypo kinetic diseases

Hypokinetic diseases are

conditions related to inactivity or
low levels of regular activity.

Physical inactivity is the most

important public health problem
in the 21st century.

Each year at least 1.9 million

people die as a result of physical
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Aerobics Center Longitudinal
Study (2009)
Risk factor Death Rate
Low cardio respiratory 16%
fitness
Obesity 2-3%

Smoking 8-10%

High cholesterol 2-4%

Diabetes 2-4%

Hypertension 8-16%

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 Question
How much and what kind of
physical activity are needed to
promote health and reduce the
risk of chronic disease ?

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Recommendations
American Heart Association
(AHA) &
 American College of Sport
Medicine (ACSM )

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Cardiovascular fitness
Moderate-intensity Vigorous-
aerobic activity intensity activity
3.0-6.0 METS or 5 or
>6.0 METS or 7 or
6 on a 10-point
8 on a 10-point
perceived exertion
scale perceived exertion
Activity that scale
noticeably increases Causes rapid
heart rate and lasts breathing and
more than 10 min increases heart
 Example, brisk rate substantially
walking for 15 min. Example, jogging.

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RPE scales

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ACSM recommendations for adults
For adults (18-65 yr) and older adults (>65 yr),

minimum of 30 or 20 min of

min of vigorous-
moderate- intensity aerobic
intensity aerobic exercise 3 days
activity 5 days per week.
per week

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Resistance exercise
Moderate- to high-intensity (8- to
12-repetition maximum (RM) for
adults and
10- to 15-RM for older adults -
resistance training for a minimum
of 2 nonconsecutive days per
week.

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Adults
For substantial health benefits,
adults should engage in aerobic
exercise at least 300 min per
week at a moderate intensity
OR 150 min per week at a
vigorous intensity.
 In addition, adults and older
adults should do muscle-
strengthening activities at least 2
days per week.
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Children
Children should Part of the 60
do at least 60 min or more of
min of physical daily physical
activity every activity should
day. be muscle
Most of the 60 strengthening
min per day activities (at
should be either least 3 days a
moderate or week) and bone-
vigorous aerobic strengthening
activity and activities (at
should include 07/15/2025 least 3 days a 12
 Brainstorm
Exercisedeficit disorder (EDD)
Dose-response relationship
between physical activity and
health

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Balance and flexibility exercises
are also suggested for older
adults.

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07/15/2025 15
Physical Activity and
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
caused 17.3 million deaths (30%)
worldwide in 2008, and it is
projected to cause more than 26
million deaths by 2030. (WHO,
2011)

More than 80% of those

cardiovascular deaths occurred in
low- and middle- income
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Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

Globally,7.6 million people dying

from CHD in 2005 (WHO 2007).

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Cause of CHD
Myocardial ischemia resulting
from a progressive,
degenerative
disorder ,atherosclerosis.

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CHD Risk Factors
Age
Family History
Hypercholesterolemia
Hypertension
Tobacco use
Diabetes Mellitus
Prediabetes
Overweight
Obesity
Physical inactivity
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Physical Activity and CHD
Approximately 6% of CHD deaths
worldwide
can be attributed to a lack of
physical activity (WHO, 2010).
Physically active people have
lower
incidences of myocardial
infarction and mortality from CHD
and tend to develop CHD at a
later age compared to their
sedentary counterparts.
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Hypertension

Hypertension( high blood

pressure) is a chronic, persistent
elevation of blood pressure.
Clinically defined as a systolic
pressure ≥140 mmHg or a
diastolic pressure ≥90 mmHg.
Prehypertension - a systolic
pressure of 120 to 139 mmHg, a
diastolic pressure of 80 to 89
mmHg, or both.
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Report on Hypertension
WHO identified hypertension as
the leading cardiovascular risk
factor, attributing 13% of deaths
worldwide to high blood pressure.
Hypertension is also the primary
risk factor for all types of stroke.
About 15% to 40% of the global
adult population has
hypertension. (WHO,2011)
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Regular physical activity prevents
hypertension and lowers blood
pressure in younger and older adults
who are normotensive,
prehypertensive, or hypertensive.
Compared to normotensive
individuals, training-induced changes
in resting systolic and diastolic blood
pressures (5-7 mmHg) are greater for
hypertensive individuals who
participate in endurance exercise.
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However, even modest
reductions in blood pressure (2-3
mmHg) by endurance or
resistance exercise training
decrease CHD risk by 5% to 9%,
stroke risk by 8% to14%, and all-
cause mortality by 4% in the
general population (Pescatello et
al. 2004).

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Exercise Prescription for Individuals with Hypertension (ACSM,
2013)

Mode:  Duration: 30-60 min or

Primarily
more of continuous or
endurance accumulated aerobic
activities physical activity per
day,
supplemented by and a minimum of one
resistance set (8-12 reps) of
exercises resistance training
exercises for each major
Intensity: muscle group.
Moderate-  Frequency: Most,
preferably all days of
intensity
the week for aerobic
endurance (40- exercise; 2 or 3 days/wk
60% VO2R) and for resistance raining.

Resistance 07/15/2025 25
Precautions during exercise
In the presence of uncontrolled HTN
(>180/110 mm Hg), exercise is only
engaged after initiating drug therapy
 For resting SBP greater than 180 mm
Hg or resting DBP greater than 110
mm Hg, even if blood pressure
medications are being taken, exercise
is contraindicated and is not engaged
until blood pressure is under control.
During exercise, if SBP becomes
greater than 220 mm Hg or DBP
greater than 10507/15/2025
mm Hg, exercise is 26
Hyper-cholesterolemia & Dyslipidemia

Hypercholesterolemia- an
elevation of total cholesterol (TC)
in the blood.

Hyperlipidemia- an increase in
blood lipid levels

 Dyslipidemia - an abnormal
blood lipid profile.
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Standards for blood lipids

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Risk factors for
hypercholesterolemia
Age
Gender
Family history
Alcohol
Smoking

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Physical Activity and Lipid
Profiles
 Regular physical activity
positively affects lipid metabolism
and lipid profiles.
Cross-sectional comparisons of
lipid profiles in physically active
and sedentary women and men
suggest that physical fitness is
inversely related to TC and the
TC/HDL-C ratio (Shoenhair and
Wells 1995).
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 Diabetes Mellitus
• Characterized by high blood
glucose concentrations
• Type 1: inability of the -cells in
the pancreas to produce insulin
– 5-10% of all diabetes cases
• Type 2: ineffectiveness of insulin
to facilitate the transport of
glucose into the cells (insulin
resistance)
– 90-95% of all diabetes cases
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• Gestational: diabetes that
develops during pregnancy
– 4% of all pregnancies
• Prediabetes: impaired fasting
glucose and/or impaired glucose
tolerance

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Diabetes

A fasting plasma glucose ≥126

mg / dL (7.0 mmol /L ) or
 2 h plasma glucose values in
oral glucose tolerance test
(OGTT) ≥200 mg / dL (11.1
mmol/∙ L) or
 HbA1C (glycated hemoglobin
test) ≥6.5%.

There must be at least two

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Symptoms of Diabetes
 Frequent  Tingling or
urination numbness in
 Excessive thirst hands or feet
 Unexplained  Feeling very tired

weight loss much of the time

 Extreme hunger  Irritability

 Sudden vision  Sores that are

changes slow to heal

 More infections
than normal
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Etiology of Diabetes
• Type 1: • Type 2: Delayed
Destruction of insulin secretion or
insulin- impaired insulin
secreting - reaction, insulin
cells (heredity) resistance,
excessive glucose
output from the
liver
• Type 2: -cells
become less
responsive to
increased blood
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Health Problems and
Diabetes
• Coronary artery and peripheral
vascular disease
• Cerebrovascular disease and
stroke
• Hypertension
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Kidney disease
• Eye disorders, including
blindness 07/15/2025 36
 Treating Diabetes
• Individualized insulin
administration and monitoring (if
needed)
• Well-balanced diet
• Regular exercise and physical
training
• Drugs: sulfonylureas, biguanides
• Weight loss

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Physical Activity and Type 1
Diabetes
• In people with type 1 diabetes,
exercise may or may not
improve their glycemic control
but will help lower their risk for
coronary artery disease
• Blood glucose concentration
must be carefully monitored
during exercise in people with
type 1 diabetes so that they can
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Physical Activity and Type 2
Diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes responds well to
exercise
• Membrane permeability to
glucose improves with exercise.

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Physical Activity and Type 2
Diabetes…
Healthy nutrition and increased
physical activity, can reduce the
risk of type 2 diabetes by as
much as 67% in high-risk
individuals (Sanz, Gautier, and
Hanaire 2010).
Exercise (30-120 min, 3 days/wk
for 8 wk) produced clinically
significant improvements in
HbA1c and reduced visceral and
subcutaneous adipose tissue
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Physical Activity and Type 2
Diabetes…

 Both resistance and aerobic

exercise alone or in combination
improve HbA1c values in people
with type 2 diabetes.

 If daily exercise is not possible, it

should not be skipped 2 days in a
row.
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Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome -
combination of CVD risk factors
associated with hypertension,
dyslipidemia, insulin resistance,
and abdominal obesity.

According to clinical criteria

adopted by the National
Cholesterol Education Program
(2001), individuals with three or
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Factors for Metabolic
Syndrome
Age
BMI

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Metabolic syndrome is higher
(>40%) for older (>60 yr) adults
than for younger (20–29 yr)
adults (7%).
Also, the prevalence of metabolic
syndrome is much higher for
obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2)
individuals (~50%) than for
normal weight (BMI ≤ 25 kg/m2)
individuals (6.2%)
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Obesity and Overweight
(The World Health Organization report (2012)

Globally, more than 1 in every 10

adults is obese
About 35 million children living in
developing countries are
overweight .
Overweight adolescents have a
70% chance of becoming
overweight adults; this increases
to 80% if one or both parents are
overweight or obese (AHA, 2012).
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Etiology of Obesity
Genetic factors
Decreased physical activity
Overconsumption of calories
Hormonal imbalances
Emotional trauma
Homeostatic imbalances
Cultural influences

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Health Risks Associated With
Excessive Weight and Obesity
Increased mortality rates of the
following diseases:
• Heart disease
• Hypertension
• Type 2 diabetes
• Certain types of cancer
• Gall bladder disease
• Osteoarthritis
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 The Relationship of BMI to
Excess Mortality

Bray, G.A. “Obesity: Definition, diagnosis and disadvantages.” MJA 1985; 142: S2-S8. © Copyright 1985. The
Medical Journal of Australia—reproduced with permission.
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Obesity-Induced Changes in
Normal Body Function
Respiratory problems including
sleep apnea
Polycythemia
Thrombosis
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Congestive heart failure
Decreased exercise tolerance

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General Treatment of
Obesity
Not everyone responds to the
same intervention in the same
way
Weight loss should not exceed
0.45-0.9 kg (1-2 lb) per week
Weight loss should be
considered a long-term project
Extreme weight loss measures
◦ Very low calorie diets (350-400 kcal
per day)
◦ Weight-loss drugs
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Role of Physical Activity in
Weight Control

• Altered body composition

–↓ Total weight
–↓ Fat mass and relative
body fat
–Either maintain or ↑ FFM
• Increases metabolism after
exercise (EPOC)
• Decreases visceral fat stores
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Risk factors for obesity
Age
Gender
Family history
Cholesterol intake
Physical inactivity

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Physical Activity and
Postural Deformity
Posture is the position from which
movement begins and ends.
It is the alignment of different
body segments.
Proper postural alignment
enables the body to perform
movements quicker with less
joint and muscular strain.

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Poor Posture

Decreased circulation
Leading to varicose veins
Muscle pain
Joint pain

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Physical inactivity and a
sedentary lifestyle.
Osteoporosis (aging,
amenorrhea, malnutrition,
menopause, and physical
inactivity)
Osteoarthritis
Bone fractures
Connective tissue tears
Low back syndrome

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Exercise Prescription for
Preserving Bone Health of Adults
Mode: Weight-bearing
endurance activities (e.g., stair
climbing, jogging), activities that
involve jumping (e.g.,
basketball,plyometrics), and
resistance training
 Intensity: Moderate to high
 Frequency:
3–5 times / week for weight-
bearing endurance activities;
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Exercise Prescription for Preserving
Bone Health of Adults …
Duration: 30–60 min/day of a
combination of weight-bearing
endurance activities, activities
that involve jumping, and
resistance training that targets all
major muscle groups

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Low back pain
More than 80% of all low back
problems are produced by
muscular weakness or imbalance
caused by a lack of physical
activity

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Risks factors of low back
pain
Modifiable Non
Excessive modifiable
weight Age
Improper Gender
lifting habits
Smoking
Physical
inactivity
Poor flexibility
Poor muscular 07/15/2025 61
?
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