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Why Exercise is Healthy

Exercise for kids is not only a cool thing to do, but it's very healthy! You are exercising without even thinking about it. Being active includes running around outside or playing kickball at school. Everything from playing any kind of sports, doing push-ups, dancing, and even reaching down to touch your toes counts for exercise!

Exercise helps build a strong body so you can move around and do all the fun stuff you want to do. Be active every day and your body will be strong even when you're older!

Your heart stays happy through exercising because it's a muscle, too. It works hard to pump blood every day of your life. You can help this important muscle get stronger by doing aerobic exercise.

Aerobic means "with air". This type of exercising forces your body to breath faster than normal, meaning you need lots of oxygen. Aerobic activity can get your heart rate to race faster, make you sweaty, and quicken your breathing.

When you give your heart this kind of workout on a regular basis, your heart with get even better at its main job - delivering oxygen (in the form of oxygen-carrying blood cells) to all parts of your body. You don't want to be gasping for air, but you want to work your way up to your goal speed.

If you're wanting to do some aerobic exercise starting today or tomorrow, then try swimming, basketball, ice or roller hockey, jogging (or walking quickly), in-line skating, soccer, cross-country skiing, biking, or rowing. And don't forget that skipping, jump rope, and playing hopscotch are aerobic activities, too!

Fun exercising such as push-ups, pull-ups, tug-of-war, rowing, running, in-line skating, and bike riding strengthens your muscles. By using your muscles to do powerful things, you can make them stronger. For older teens and adults, this kind of workout can make muscles bigger, too.

Can you touch your toes with no problems? Most kids are pretty flexible, which means that they can bend and stretch their bodies without much trouble. Just like a big stretch in the morning after waking up, this kind of exercise feels really good most of the time. Being flexible is having "full range of motion," which means you can move your arms and legs freely without feeling tightness or pain. It's easy to find things to do for good flexibility such as dancing (especially ballet!), martial arts, yoga, tumbling and gymnastics, and simple stretches such as touching your toes or side stretches.

Calories come from food which gives your body energy. Just like a car needs gas to go, you need food to go! Your body needs a certain amount of calories every day just to function, breathe, walk around, and do all the basic stuff. But if you're active, your body needs an extra measure of calories or energy. If you're not very active, your body won't need as many calories. Whatever your calorie need is, if you eat enough to meet that need, your body weight will stay about the same. If you eat more calories than your body needs, it will be stored as excess fat.

It feels good to have a strong, flexible body that can do all the activities you enjoy - like running, jumping, and playing with your friends. It's also fun to be good at something, like scoring a basket, hitting a home run, or perfecting a dive. But you may not know that exercising can actually put you in a better mood.

When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called endorphins, which may make you feel happier. It's just another reason why exercise is cool!