Exercise, Fitness, and Health

Moderate exercise is a common prescription for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, and the available evidence indicates that it has beneficial effects. In general, researchers are referring to aerobic exercise of sufficient intensity to produce stable physiological benefits. Aerobic exercise comprises exertions such as walking, running and swimming in which oxygen uptake and heart rate are increased in order to facilitate the extra physical work undertaken. Physical fitness and exercise, it has been suggested, may afford protection against the effects of psychological stress. J. R. Turner et al. recorded heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen consumption while twenty-four healthy young males were exposed to two psychological stressors, a video game and challenging arithmetic and undertook graded exercise on a bicycle. The available evidence suggests that exercise and activity are factors in CHD. Finally, exercise may operate by affecting acknowledged CHD risk factors.