It’s back to school time for the kids and grandkids, so here at SilverSneakers, we’ve decided to jump into education as well, giving you interesting exercise facts to enrich your life and improve your workouts.

General Exercise Facts

• All forms of exercise, performed appropriately, can improve mental health and can help fight depression. Abruptly ending a habit of exercise can create feelings of depression or agitation.
• Contrary to popular belief, exercise does not turn fat into muscle, nor does inactivity turn muscle into fat. As exercise creates muscle, fat can be reduced, and as muscles atrophy, fat can build up, but muscle is never converted to fat.
• Exercise is recommended for people of all ages. There’s no one standard for exercise, and different people get different amounts of results from exercise.

Flexibility Facts

• Flexibility is an important part of exercise. A good range of motion in muscles can lead to a higher quality of life.
• Stretching gets easier over time, not only because muscles become looser, but because nerves are trained to relax the muscles more as stretches are performed.
• The ability to stretch can be affected by one’s mental attitude, clothing, the weather or a number of other factors.

Aerobic Exercise Facts

• Aerobic exercise is essential to heart and lung health. It burns calories and can increase a person’s energy.
• As aerobic exercise is performed, a person’s resting heart rate gradually becomes lower and their lung capacity increases. More red blood cells are created as well, which facilitates the transportation of oxygen in the body.

• Other benefits of aerobic exercise include an increase in your muscles’ ability to store energy, which in turn increases endurance.
• Some forms of aerobic exercise can stimulate bone growth and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. These exercises are high-impact, however, and should not be undertaken by those who are experiencing symptoms of osteoporosis or joint pain.
• Aerobic activity can also decrease appetite.

Strength Training Facts

• Strength training improves posture, can prevent and even reverse the muscle loss associated with age, and can provide support for joints and bones.
• During all high-intensity exercise, lactic acid builds up in the body, especially in the muscles. Though lactate buildups are a result of muscle use, they are not responsible for muscle soreness, contrary to popular belief.
• Strength training builds muscle cells, which require energy to maintain. Because of this, strength training can help people burn more calories when resting.
• It’s not just lifting weights that builds muscle, but the act of lowering them slowly can do just as much, if not more. This type of weight training is called “eccentric training.”

Thanks for reading, SilverSneakers members—now go share these facts with your friends! Good health is a gift that is meant to be shared.