What can regular exercise do for you? Exercise is defined as any movement or activity requiring physical effort, carried out to make your muscles work and to sustain or improve your health and fitness. Regular exercise can help burn calories, boost your good -HDL cholesterol, lower your blood pressure and reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol.
Happy Pill – Exercise can increase the endorphin production, which is known to help generate positive feelings and pain perception reduction. It improves our mood by also decreasing the feeling of depression, stress, and anxiety.
Energy Booster – Regular exercise has shown to increase energy levels and reduce the feelings of fatigue. Engage yourself in regular physical activity, it has been proven to boost your energy and even true to people with persistent fatigue and to those suffering from serious illnesses.
Glow – We know that oxidative stress affects our skin health. It is when our body’s antioxidant defenses are unable to repair the damage to our cells caused by free radicals. This damages the internal structures and damages our skin. Thru regular moderate exercise, our body’s production of natural antioxidant will be increased and will help protect our cells. Just the same, regular exercise helps stimulate the blood flow which induce skin cell adaptations and can help delay skin aging.
Calorie Burner – Many studies have shown that lack of physical activity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity. On the other hand, exercise is crucial to support a fast metabolism and to help in burning more calories per day. If a reduced calorie intake thru dieting lowers the metabolic rate, regular exercise has been shown to increase our metabolic rate which will burn more calories and help us lose weight. Remember that our body spends energy in three known ways: exercising, digesting food, and maintaining body functions, such as breathing and our heartbeating. If we fully understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure, it will help us to recognize the effects of exercise in helping with weight reduction.
Muscle Builder – How does exercise help in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones? Exercise helps release hormones which promote our muscles’ ability to absorb amino acids which then will help them grow and reduces their breakdown. As we age, we tend to lose muscle mass and function which can possibly lead to injuries and even disabilities. It is advisable to practice regular exercise because it is essential in reducing muscle loss and it helps maintain the strength we need as we age.
Reduce the Risk of Chronic Disease – Daily physical activity is recommended to decrease the risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. As regular exercise helps improve the insulin sensitivity of the body, it also aids in cardiovascular fitness and body composition. In this case, it is beneficial to decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels in our body.
Brain Health and Memory Enhancer – Exercise increases our heart rate. This will then promote the blood and oxygen flow to our brain. Hence, it can improve brain function and gives protection to our memory and thinking ability. Exercise has also shown to cause hippocampus - the brain’s part which is vital for memory and learning, to grow in size. So for older adults, exercise will help a lot in increasing their mental function. The growth of our brain cells is enhanced by the production of hormones which is stimulated thru regular exercise.
Thru enhancement and improvement of brain cell growth, regular exercise can also reduce changes in the brain which can cause more critical diseases such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.
Better Sleep and Relaxation – The energy depletion which happens during exercise stimulates the recuperative or recovery process during our sleep, this gives us a good quality of doze time. Aside from energy depletion, exercise increases our body temperature, it improves our sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep.
Bottom line is we can acquire incredible benefits thru exercising regularly. It can improve our inner and outer health. It doesn’t matter how you do it, even brief bouts of physical activity offer benefits. Remember that any activity is better than none at all. What’s important is you start now and keep yourself moving!
