Exercise: a practical guide for helping the patient achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Starting patients on an exercise program can accomplish more than many other efforts a physician undertakes. The wide range of physical and psychological benefits of exercise suggests that physicians should make a greater effort to motivate patients to begin such programs. Through a combination of personal role-modelling, patient education about exercise physiology and the benefits of exercise, and appropriate use of the exercise prescription, physicians can make a major impact by converting patients from a sedentary to an active lifestyle.