If you exercise regularly, try different types of physical activity and try to include exercises that stimulate:
- Cardiovascular fitness: exercise is extremely beneficial for the heart, improving its ability to contract and, therefore, it is able to pump the same amount of blood with a lower frequency. With regular physical activity, there is a decrease in heart rate needed to execute a specific task, resulting in less fatigue;
- Respiratory fitness: the respiratory system’s performance improves considerably with physical activity, as it improves bronchi and lung functions and the mobility of the chest cavity, resulting in a significantly improved oxygen supply;
- Muscular fitness: exercise improves muscle strength, flexibility and resistance. By increasing the number of muscle fibers and capillaries, it increases muscle mass and, consequently, the nutrient reserve, allowing it to work better and for longer;
- Skeletal system: bones get stronger and more resistant with movement, reducing the risk of fracture in the event of a fall, especially in the elderly;
- Flexibility and agility: although flexibility tends to decrease with age, this process can be reverted at any age, with physical activity. Exercises working on flexibility also improve posture, stability and balance, especially when in combination with resistance training;
- Neuro mobility: some exercises improve motor skills such as balance, agility, walking, postural symmetry and proprioceptive body image;
- The proper functioning of the digestive system: movement improves the digestive process and makes gastric, intestinal and liver functions more effective (the latter having an important metabolic role). The benefits of exercise reach several organs that are not traditionally associated to exercise;
- Nervous system: Physical activity improves sensory skills (hearing, sight and touch) as well as balance, reaction rate and sleep. It also helps stress management and many cognitive abilities such as memory, mental agility and intellectual performance.