And of course, make sure to get medical clearance from your doctor before stepping up (no pun intended) your cardiovascular exercise regimen.

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In addition, don't forget to get regular cardiovascular exercise in addition to strength training to help get, or keep body fat levels down.

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For cardiovascular exercise, weight-bearing, higher-impact activities such as walking, jogging and aerobics are better than nonweight-bearing or lower-impact exercise such as swimming, cycling and elliptical machines, which put less strain on your muscles and bones.

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Not only are you healthier as a result, your comprehensive exercise program, which includes cardiovascular and weight-bearing exercise, is preventing further weight gain and allowing you to maintain muscle mass so your metabolism does not drop significantly as you get older.

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"It's true that the majority of cardiovascular protection comes from exercise at more moderate levels, but there is compelling evidence that there's no upper limit, " said Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine in Dallas and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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