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Benefits of moderate exercise

New recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American College of Sports Medicine, state that 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days is enough to reap the benefits of exercise.

This is great news.

Moderate activities include gardening, housework, dancing, raking leaves, walking, climbing stairs, paddling a canoe - anything that gets you moving. Even better, you can accumulate the 30 minutes of activity throughout the day. For example, you could spend 15 minutes mowing the lawn in the afternoon, and then go dancing later that evening.

You'll receive many of the same benefits from moderate exercise as you do from strenuous exercise. It will lower stress and anxiety levels, improve self-esteem, ward off depression, boost your immune system, and increase your energy.

If you want to start an exercise program, start slowly! You'll risk injury if you start with strenuous exercise, and, you are much more likely to burn out if you push yourself too hard. It is important to make exercise a habit, and the best way to accomplish this is by making it easy.

If you want to walk every day, start by walking only 5 or 10 minutes a day. Gradually increase the time, adding an additional five minutes every week or so. Everyone can devote 5 or 10 minutes to exercise. Once you get started, the sense of accomplishment you'll feel just might carry you through another 10 minutes. Source: The Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Handbook, by David S. Sobel, MD & Robert Ornstein, Ph.D.