Regular Exercise even jonas INTRODUCTION First Thoughts Regular exercise provides many health benefits to those who engage in the activity(1-3). In addition to its direct benefits, regular exercise is an essential part of healthy weight management and any effective program to lose weight The broad public health implications of exercise therefore include its pivotal importance in dealing with the obesity epidemic (see Chapter 8 for mor details The following definitions apply to the commonly used term exercise Physical activity is "any body movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in a substantive increase over the resting energy expenditure Leisure-time physical activity is"an activity undertaken in the individual's discretionary time that leads to any substantial increase in the total daily energy ex penditure Excrcise is a form of leisure-time physical activity that is usually performed on a repeated basis over an extended period of time(exercise training with a specific external objective such as the improvement of fitness, physical performance, or health""(1) It is important to note that regularity, exercising on a repeated basis over an extended period of time, is included in the standard definition for exercise. Sessions, workouts and going to the gym are terms that are used interchangeably with regular exercise throughout this chapter ounseling The most recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on counseling for regular exercise, issued in 2002(4) concluded that "there is insufficient evidence to determine whether counseling patients in primary care settings to promote physical activity leads to sustained increases in physical activity in adult patients. "More 148