Disease-Control Workouts

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/09/29/targetted.health.club.program.ap/index.html

Nowadays, maintaining good health has become a recently popular and growing trend. I've noticed more and more people exercising and even taking the responsibility to sign up with a trainer or for a fitness class if they know they lack the motivation to do it themselves. Many people assume (myself included) that such sessions with a trainer or fitness classes are for people who want to lose weight and get into better shape. Recently this has become an outgoing trend. Illness and health-issues are the new reasons why more and more people are signing up for fitness memberships that cater to these problems.

"More and more clubs are offereing exercise programs fine-tuned for people coping with a variety of ailments," states the artcile. As the number of studies of the benefits of exercise has grown, so has the number of participants. 61 year-old Patti Kiernan signed up for a four-week Female Focus program at her gym after being diagnosed with osteoporosis. She's still in the program after two years. Along with the assistance of medication, exercise helped improve her bone density greatly. "Medical and fitness experts say that exercise not only elevates the mood and energy levels, but helps control weight -- a contributing factor for many diseases." Being overweight is a huge factor in the reoccurance of breast cancer. Keeping a balanced diet and exercising regularly helps maintain a healthy weight, which will lower the risk for relapse.

Unfortunately this article proves that some people don't adapt a healthy lifestyle until their present one forces them to change. It takes fraile bones or even cancer for people to change and start leading a healthy life. What can we do to get people to want to live healthier? I think it is good however that these classes are offered. It helps encourage people to make the change they need to become as healthy as they can be. I also like the fact the exercise is now becoming a form of treatment, and people are stepping away from our dependency on prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Exercise has little to no cost and you can reap the best benefits from it.