15 Fun Facts About Exercise
There’s no doubt that being physically active is good for your health. Here are 15 fun facts about your body and why exercise is good for you.
- People who don’t regularly exercise may lose up to 80% of their muscle strength by age 65.
- Regular exercise has been shown to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, two major risk factors for heart disease.
- Not only is exercise good for your body, but it can also improve mental functioning and mood.
- Your metabolism stays elevated even after you are done exercising, helping you burn more calories even at rest.
- The average person walks about 7,500 steps per day. If you stick to that average step count and live to be 80 years old, you’ll walk about 110,000 miles in your lifetime.
- You use 200 muscles to take a single step forward.
- When you run, the pressure on your feet is equal to about 3-4 times your body weight.
- Your heart is the hardest working muscle in your body. It beats approximately 100,000 times per day, pumping almost 2,000 gallons of blood.
- Most people breathe about 12-20 times per minute while at rest. When you exercise, you breathe more often to keep oxygen levels in your blood at appropriate levels.
- The knee is the largest and most complex joint in your body. It’s also the most likely to be injured.
- Fat and muscle are completely different types of tissue. One does not turn into the other.
- If you can’t speak a few words without taking a breath, you may be exercising too intensely.
- Being dehydrated reduces exercise performance.
- People who cross-train are less prone to injury than people who do the same type of exercise regularly.
- Studies indicate that children’s physical activity levels correlate closely with those of their parents.
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Date Last Reviewed: October 31, 2018
Editorial Review: Andrea Cohen, Editorial Director, Baldwin Publishing, Inc. Contact Editor
Medical Review: Andrew P. Overman, DPT, MS, COMT, CSCS
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