Exercise is Positive...just trust me

Exercise benefits a person’s body by improving physical strength and flexibility, and mentally by reducing psychological stresses (Brannon & Feist, 2004). Living a lifestyle that does not include outdoor activities, exercise, or flexibility programs will not contribute to a healthy life and therefore organic fitness, which is what each person has the natural physical potential, and dynamic fitness, which is what each person has trained themselves to do in a physical manner, should be incorporated to enhance a physical activity plan which should incorporate muscle strength training, endurance, cardiovascular aerobics, and flexibility (Brannon & Feist, 2004).

Exercise has been found to help reduce anxiety if it is performed on a regular basis (three times a week, 20 minutes a day) and this is found to be equally beneficial to both men and women (Petruzzello, 2001). Both men and women benefit from exercise as they are equally less likely to have premature death if they consistently exercise and their cardiovascular health improves among other benefits according to Brannon and Feist (2004).  Additionally a study that looked at an independent exercise program such as running found that both men and women benefited equally from a psychological and physical standpoint (O’Connor, 2001).

Brannon, L. & Feist, J. (2004).  Health psychology: An introduction to behavior and health (5th Ed.).  CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
O’Connor, P. (2001) Anxiety and intense running exercise in the presence and absence of interpersonal competition. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 22(4), 423-6.
Petruzzello, S. J. (2001). A meta-analysis on the anxiety-reducing effects of acute and chronic exercise. Sports Medicine, 21(3), 143-82.