Exercise and Sports for Health Promotion, Disease, and Disability

cation: grant nty council’s tion. Discloconsultancy edish health ltancies on rants/grants rious public es and founding service h; royalties, ook chapter; enses, CARF We are honored to present this issue on Exercise and Sports for Health Promotion and Disability on behalf of PMR reduce t developing Alzheimer dementia; reduce the incidence of heart disease and hig pressure; lower the risk of stroke and developing type II diabetes; aid in weight weight maintenance; and decrease depression as effectively as antidepressant medi behavioral therapy. Conversely, a low level of physical activity can expose a pe greater risk of dying than even the risk from smoking, hypertension, high chole obesity. It is better to have cardiorespiratory fitness and be overweight than un lower percentage of body fat. The introduction of exercise into the workplace shown to reduce health care costs, missed work, and hospitalization. Despite these however, a significant majority of adults in the United States and other parts of the not meet the minimum physical activity requirements for health and fitness. Wh measures are examined, physical inactivity has been found to be the leading cause in the United States [1]. Despite this impressive data, many physicians do not “walk the talk” when it their own physical activity and also with respect to counseling patients. A rece showed that 40% of primary care physicians in the United States and approximatel U. S. medical students do not meet the 2008 Centers For Disease Control Physica Guidelines [2]. In addition, physically inactive doctors have been shown to be less provide exercise counseling to their patients, and they present themselves as less role models. One study reported that only 34% of adults in the United States repo received exercise counseling at their last medical visit [3]. The physiatrist is ideally suited to be the perfect prescriber of exercise but trad has focused on therapeutic exercise for disease, injury, and disability. A great need physicians with the motivation, desire, and skills to prescribe exercise for “wellnes maintenance, cardioprotection, weight loss, injury “protection,” and optimal mus etal and cardiovascular fitness, as well as for injury and disease treatment and man The physiatrist has the training and knowledge base to be this physician. We hope volume can provide essential information regarding exercise and sports in the c health promotion, as well as in disease treatment and disability. The initial articles of this supplement introduce basic principles of exercise ph and principles regarding the main forms of exercise prescribed by the physiatrist medical professionals. Basic exercise physiology is discussed in the context of und ing the human body’s response to an acute bout of exercise, with endurance exer as an example of this response. Long-term adaptations induced by endurance ex some physiological systems also are addressed. Exercise science has greatly advan the years, but there is still a large amount of “tradition” that may interfere with th application of exercise techniques. Strength training, flexibility, and stability tra reviewed with respect to evidence-based recommendations regarding the prescr each. Physiatrists are uniquely qualified to be the optimal providers of an exercise tion for healthy persons, as well as those with medical conditions, and the ess appropriate exercise prescription are addressed.