Active Living and Your Body

The term "Active Living" is used to describe "a way of life in which individuals make meaningful and satisfying physical activities an integral part of daily living".

But what does active living do for your body? What is so special about physical activity?

There are many health benefits to be gained from incorporating physical activity into your daily activities. Some of the health benefits you will notice in your physical and mental well being, while others may only show when you visit your doctor.

There is no guarantee that being physically active will prevent disease and illness in the years to come.

However, being physically active can enhance the quality of your life, and may help you more effectively cope with the ups and downs of daily life and ill health should it occur.

Spending too much of your day being inactive may have the opposite effect, but for many of us being sedentary has become a fact of life.

Technology and machines have made our lives easier, but at the same time encourage us to be less physically active.

Past to present

Up until the middle of the 20^th century owning a car was the exception rather than the rule.

People led more physically active lives because they walked or cycled to their destinations.

However, two decades into the 21^st century, computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devises decrease our need to move our bodies at work and at home to get jobs done.

All too frequently we choose to use escalators, elevators, and modes of transport which will get us closest to our destination in the quickest amount of time.

At home, the TV remote control is at our fingertips to save us the time, and energy, of getting up to change the TV channel. Apps for our mobile phones make things even easier.

Essentially, many of us live sedentary lives.

Sedentary literally means "sitting down" and for many of us that is what we do for many hours a day for a variety of reasons.

Sedentary is also used to identify physical inactivity and while we do move our bodies on a daily basis to get from A to B, most of us do not move enough to provide...link to the full article to learn more.