Benefits of Regular Activity
How many calories do you burn?
Low-intensity activities, burning 150-240 calories an hour:
. Strolling, 1 mile per hour (mph)
. Cycling on a level surface, 5 mph
. Gardening

Medium-intensity activities, burning 300-460 calories an hour:
. Walking, 3.5 mph
. Cycling, 8 mph
. Tennis (doubles)
. Raking leaves or hoeing

High-intensity activities, burning at least 500 calories an hour:
. Jogging, 5 mph
. Cycling, 12 mph
. Basketball
. Cross-country skiing, 4 mph

Regular activity has a number of proven, positive health effects, especially on heart health. Vigorous exercise strengthens the heart as a pump, making it a larger, more efficient muscle. Even moderate activity can boost HDL ("good") cholesterol, aid the circulatory system, and lower blood pressure and blood fats. All these effects translate into reduced risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

Exercise can also offer other benefits, including strengthened muscles, increased flexibility, and stronger bones, which can help ward off the bone-thinning condition called osteoporosis.

Regular activity also promises mental-health benefits, like relieving stress and anxiety. It can help you sleep better and renew your energy. If exercise could be bottled, it would be a best-selling potion at the local pharmacy.

Activity is for everyone
Virtually everyone can get health benefits from activity. But every few years, surveys confirm the well-known fact that most people aren't active enough. Unfortunately, we pay for it. The American Heart Association attributes about 250,000 deaths a year in the U.S.-about 12 percent of total deaths-to lack of regular physical activity.

The reasons for inactivity aren't hard to figure out: Most of us have jobs where we sit most of the time, so chances are limited to be physically active at work. We also rely heavily on modern, labor-saving devices-cars, appliances, and power tools-to spare us manual effort.

But there's another reason why many people, especially the overweight, avoid activity. Check out the firm, supple bodies shown exercising on television or on magazine covers. They give the impression that exercise is sweaty, strenuous work best reserved for the young, super-fit, and athletic. But the latest research is proving that picture false: Benefits can be gained even from low-intensity activity, like gardening.

Activity and weight management
If you burn more calories than you consume, then you'll shed pounds. For every extra 3,500 calories you spend, you'll drop one pound. Do strenuous exercise, and you'll burn calories in a hurry. And you can burn the same number of calories with gentler activity: You just have to do it longer and/or more often.

Gardening If you're not familiar with the number of calories burned during exercise, you may be discouraged when you first learn about it. For instance, if you weigh 150 pounds and go on a brisk, 1-mile walk for 20 minutes, y...

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