5 Top Workouts

If you’re looking for fitness guidance, you can’t find a smarter source than the Harvard Medical School. Here are its 5 top exercise picks!

If you’re looking for fitness guidance, you can’t find a smarter source than the Harvard Medical School. Here are its five top exercise picks:

• Walking. It strengthens bones, heart, and lungs; burns calories; helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol; and improves mood and outlook. Start slow, with a moderately paced 10- to 15-minute daily walk, then gradually increase speed and distance.
• Weight training. It boosts muscle and bone strength and allows you to do more with less strain and pain. And because muscle burns more calories than fat, you should find it easier to lose or control weight. If you don’t want to join a gym, you can buy a few weights and find help online. (Try dummies.com/ how-to/health-fitness/fitness/weight-training.html.)
• Swimming. The low-impact exercise offers a great cardiovascular workout; strengthens your arm, leg, and core muscles; and doesn’t overstress your joints. And who wouldn’t want a lean swimmer’s body?
• Tai chi . Whether you take a formal class or get your inspiration online, the Chinese martial art can help you build better balance, a stronger heart and a calmer mind, and research indicates that it may also enhance your body’s immune response.
• Kegels. They may not help with anything to do with aesthetics, but these exercises are beneficial nonetheless. By strengthening the pelvic floor, Kegel exercises help prevent bladder leakage and incontinence in both men and women. For a how-to, go to mayoclinic.com and search “Kegel.”