How to Exercise Safely

Here's why you should bookend each workout with a warm-up and a cool-down - plus other exercise safety tips.

    Your fitness level depends on getting regular exercise, but how you approach an exercise program will determine whether it enhances your well-being or actually causes a problem - the exact opposite of your intention. Push yourself too hard or use the wrong equipment, even the wrong shoes, and you can injure yourself.

Fitness Glossary

How knowledgeable are you about fitness and exercise? Learn the definitions of fitness terms.

If you’re going to walk the walk of regular workouts, you also need to talk the talk. Get started by becoming familiar with some of the basic terms of fitness and exercise.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

It depends on whether you want to lose weight, increase endurance, or reach other fitness milestones. Learn about exercise guidelines and the importance of determining your exercise goals.

    Before you make a decision on how much exercise you need, you should have a good idea of your exercise goal or goals: Are you exercising for physical fitness, weight control, or as a way of keeping your stress levels low?

Exercise and Physical Activity: What's the Difference?

Learn the difference between physical activity and exercise, and how each can contribute to physical fitness.

    Physical activity is defined as movement that involves contraction of your muscles. Any of the activities we do throughout the day that involve movement - housework, gardening, walking, climbing stairs - are examples of physical activity.

The Lifelong Benefits of Exercise

Stop procrastinating and start exercising! The benefits of physical fitness are too great to ignore.

    Feel younger, live longer. It's no slogan - these are actual benefits of regular exercise. People with high levels of physical fitness are at lower risk of dying from a variety of causes, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.