HOME

OK - you go to the clinic and you're taking your medications faithfully. Your viral load is undetectable and your T-cell count is reasonably high. So you're doing absolutely everything you can to stay healthy - right?

Think again! There's one more thing you can do that will absolutely, unquestionably help protect your health, increase your overall well-being, and improve your quality of life: exercise. The benefits of regular physical exercise are so incredible that if you could get them by taking a pill, everyone would!

1. Exercise boosts your immune system and helps prevent a wide variety of diseases.

Worried about heart disease or stroke? Getting regular exercise is one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself.

Exercise helps prevent heart disease and stroke by strengthening your heart muscle, lowering your blood pressure, raising your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (good cholesterol), and lowering your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (bad cholesterol.)

For those who already have high blood pressure, exercise can help to lower it.

Exercise can also protect you from diabetes. And, again, for those who already have diabetes, exercise can help you manage it.

Exercise has also been shown to protect you from osteoporosis, a loss of bone density.

Exercise can even protect you from some kinds of cancer. As far back as 1984, a study from the University of Southern California found that men with sedentary jobs, such as accountants, lawyers, musicians and book keepers, had a 60% greater risk of cancer compared to those with active jobs, such as carpenters, plumbers, gardeners and mail carriers. Subsequent studies have confirmed physical activity reduces the risk of colon cancer.

It also reduces the risk of breast cancer. An early study in 1985 found that women who were athletes in college had a lower lifetime risk of cancer of the breast - as well as cancers of the uterus, ovaries, cervix and vagina - than women who were not athletes. Numerous follow-up studies have confirmed the fact that exercise helps protect against breast cancer. In fact, a recent large-scale study found that women on the low end of aerobic fitness were three times as likely to die from breast cancer as women who were very fit!

2. Exercise improves your mood.

Feeling a little cranky? Down at the mouth? Just plain "blah"?

Go for a workout or a run! Physical activity stimulates brain chemicals that make you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out.

In fact, regular physical activity is such a powerful mood-enhancer that it can even help prevent - and treat - depression. A recent study shows that a brisk 30-minute walk or job three times a week may be just as effective in relieving major depression as standard anti-depressant drugs.

3. Exercise helps you manage your weight.

It's no secret that exercise is one of the key tools for preventing obesity - and the health problems that come with excess weight.

When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn - and the easier it is to keep your weight under control. You don't even need to set aside major chunks of time for working out. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk during your lunch break. Do jumping jacks during commercials. Better yet, turn off the TV and take a brisk walk. Dedicated workouts are great, but physical activity you accumulate throughout the day helps you burn calories, too.

4. Exercise increases your ability to do everyday tasks.

It's a sad fact that many people look at changing a light bulb as a serious physical challenge. It shouldn't be that way! If you get winded lugging in a couple bags of groceries or doing household chores, it's time to get in shape! Physically active people breeze through the day. They don't struggle with everyday tasks!

Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. In fact, regular physical activity helps your entire cardiovascular system - the circulation of blood through your heart and blood vessels - work more efficiently. When your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to do the things you need to do - and the things you enjoy. Exercise can also increase your strength, so simple tasks like opening a jar of pickles or pulling the cork out of a bottle of wine really are simple!

This is especially important the older you get. Studies have shown that even people in their eighties and nineties can regain the ability to look after themselves with a program of regular exercise.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep.

Struggling to fall asleep? Or stay asleep? It might help to boost your physical activity during the day.

A good night's sleep can improve your concentration, productivity and mood. And, you guessed it - physical activity is sometimes the key to better sleep. Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. But be careful: if you exercise too close to bedtime, you may be too energized to fall asleep. If you're having trouble sleeping, you might want to exercise earlier in the day.

6. Exercise enhances your sex life.

Do you think that athletes, with their hard bodies and never-ending stamina, have better sex lives than couch potatoes? Well, duh! Sex is a physical activity, and the better shape you're in, the better sex you're likely to have. So if you don't feel like training for a marathon, train for a better sex life instead!

Regular physical activity can lead to enhanced arousal for women, and men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than men who don't exercise - especially as they get older.

7. Exercise makes you look better!

Everybody looks more attractive with bigger muscles and less fat. And the only sure-fire way to accomplish that is with exercise. So, if you won't exercise for your health - how about for your vanity?

Exercise doesn't have to be drudgery. Like "Dancing with the Stars?" Take a ballroom dancing class! Check out a local climbing wall or hiking trail. Push your kids on the swings or climb with them on the jungle gym. Sign up for a Kung Fu class, or try swinging a kettle bell. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and go for it! If you get bored, try something new. It doesn't matter what you do - if you're moving, you're helping to protect your health!

Copyright 2010, Positive Health Publications, Inc.

This magazine is intended to enhance your relationship with your doctor - not replace it! Medical treatments and products should always be discussed with a licensed physician who has experience treating HIV and AIDS!