You can probably come up with plenty of reasons (excuses) for why you are not more active. You are too busy, too old, too tired or you are in pretty good shape - for your age, but these excuses are pretty flimsy. There is no excuse for being sedentary whatever your age unless you happened to be paralyzed from the neck down or in a coma.

We constantly hear about the benefits of exercise, no one can say they are not aware of the need for the human body to be very active on a regular basis. Yet many of us don't really make a commitment or make the time for exercise regularly. We get busy, we get lazy and we have other much more important things to do in our lives.

We know that exercise is good for us and would make our life so much better, but it seems like too much trouble and too much work so we end up not bothering. With four out of five people not doing enough exercise to stay healthy and one in four not doing any exercise at all the situation is becoming a worldwide health issue. Health campaigners say we could be losing years off our lives through increased risk of cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

So what is going to get us up and moving and how do we make space in our hectic lives for exercise? First of all we need to change our attitudes to our own health and wellness. The experts say proper exercise needs to become a priority in the 21st century, and should be rated as important as family and friends, and our social and work lives.

So the next time you think about getting fit, don't ask "Who has time for all that?" Instead, ask yourself "Who doesn't want to be healthy or feel better?" Or better still "If I don't take care of myself who else is going to?" We all need to embrace a can do attitude as it is all about what we should prioritize and what could be more important than our health?

We are often given advice to check with our doctor when we are considering starting an exercise program but should we also check with our doctor if we remain inactive or sedentary? Are the health risks greater if we live a no exercise lifestyle?

A sedentary life is defined as being physically inactive both at work and at home and failing to participate in a vigorous exercise program that includes strength building and maintaining activity several times per week. If you plan on living a life like this here are some hazards to your health you should become aware of.

You increase your risk of developing a serious life threatening disease such as one of the "big three" heart disease, cancer or diabetes. A sedentary life accelerates muscle tissue loss in adults and eventually adequate strength to function properly is also loss which leads to disability and dependence on family or the community.

Inactive people are more likely to become down in the dumps so staying strong and fit is good for your mental health as well as your physical health. A no exercise lifestyle makes you more likely to gain excess body fat. If you don't exercise, you are highly likely to become overweight which leads to a host of other health problems.

This is a dangerous road to be heading down; it would be much easier and safer to consider getting started on a proper exercise program that includes strength training exercise and get yourself a whole new lease of life.