Interested in improving your overall health, gaining more energy, and even adding years to your life? Simply said, exercise.
Regular exercise and physical activity provide several health advantages that are difficult to overlook. Everyone, regardless of age, gender, or physical ability, may benefit from regular physical activity.
Do you need any more encouragement to start moving? Take a look at these seven health benefits of exercise that may help you become a happier and healthier person.
Jump to:
- 1. Physical activity helps you lose weight
- 2. Physical activity helps to prevent and treat health issues and illnesses
- 3. Exercise has been shown to boost mood
- 4. Physical activity increases one's energy level
- 5. Exercise helps you sleep better at night
- 6. Exercise might help you rekindle the fire in your sex life
- 7. Exercising may be enjoyable... and sociable!
1. Physical activity helps you lose weight
Exercise may aid in the prevention of excessive weight gain as well as the maintenance of weight reduction. When you participate in physical exercise, you are burning calories, which is beneficial. The intensity of the exercise determines how many calories you burn.
Regular excursions to the gym are beneficial but don't be concerned if you can't find a significant amount of time to exercise on a daily basis. Any quantity of physical exercise is preferable to none at all. To gain the advantages of exercise, just increase your level of activity throughout the day — for example, by taking the stairs instead of the elevator or increasing the intensity of your domestic tasks. The importance of consistency cannot be overstated.
2. Physical activity helps to prevent and treat health issues and illnesses
Are you concerned about heart disease? Trying to keep your blood pressure under control? No matter what your present weight is, being physically active increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, also known as "good" cholesterol, while simultaneously lowering harmful triglycerides. When combined, this one-two punch helps to maintain your blood flowing properly, lowering your chance of developing cardiovascular disease.
Regular physical activity may help prevent or manage a variety of health conditions and concerns, including the following:
- Metabolic syndrome and stroke
- High blood pressure is a medical condition.
- Kind 2 diabetes is a type of diabetes that affects the pancreas.
- Depression
- Anxiety
- There are many different forms of cancer.
- Arthritis is a debilitating condition.
It may also aid in the improvement of cognitive function as well as the reduction of the risk of mortality from any cause.
3. Exercise has been shown to boost mood
Do you need an emotional lift? Or do you need to de-stress after a particularly hectic day? A workout at the gym or a quick stroll might be beneficial. A variety of brain chemicals are stimulated by physical exercise, and this may result in you feeling happier, more relaxed, and less stressed.
Exercising frequently may also help you feel better about yourself and your looks, which can help to enhance your confidence and improve your self-esteem, among other benefits.
4. Physical activity increases one's energy level
Are you exhausted from grocery shopping or domestic chores? Physical exercise on a regular basis may help you build muscular strength and increase your endurance.
Exercise helps your body's tissues get more oxygen and nutrients while also allowing your cardiovascular system to function more effectively. Additionally, when your heart and lung health improves, you will have more energy to do your everyday tasks.
5. Exercise helps you sleep better at night
Have trouble falling asleep? Regular physical exercise may assist you in falling asleep more quickly, getting better sleep, and sleeping for longer periods of time. Just be careful not to exercise too close tonight, or you may find yourself too energetic to sleep.
6. Exercise might help you rekindle the fire in your sex life
Do you think you're too weary or out of shape to enjoy physical contact with someone? The benefits of regular physical exercise include increased energy levels and increased self-confidence in one's physical appearance, both of which may help enhance one's sexual life.
However, there is much more to it than that. Women's arousal may be increased by engaging in regular physical exercise. Guys who engage in regular physical activity are also less likely than men who do not engage in physical activity to have erectile dysfunction.
7. Exercising may be enjoyable... and sociable!
Exercise and physical exercise may be pleasurable activities to engage in. They provide you with an opportunity to relax, enjoy the outdoors, or just participate in things that make you happy. Physical exercise may also help you interact with family and friends in an enjoyable social situation by providing an outlet for your energy.
Take a dancing class, go trekking, or join a soccer team to keep yourself entertained. Find a physical activity that you like and put forth the effort to do it. Bored? Try something new, or get together with friends or family to do something fun.
The bottom line on physical activity
Exercise and physical exercise are excellent methods to improve your mood, improve your health, and have a good time. The United States Department of Health and Human Services recommends the following exercise recommendations for the majority of healthy adults:
- Physical activity that is aerobic in nature. At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity per week, or a mix of moderate and vigorous activity, should be completed each week. In accordance with the recommendations, you should carry out this activity over the course of a week. It is advised that you exercise for at least 300 minutes each week to give even greater health benefits and to aid with weight reduction or maintenance of weight loss. Even little quantities of physical exercise, on the other hand, are beneficial. Being physically active for little amounts of time throughout the day may have a cumulative positive effect on one's health.
- Strength training is important. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least twice a week, or more if possible. Concentrate on doing just one set of each exercise with a weight or resistance level that is heavy enough to exhaust your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.
A moderate amount of aerobic exercise may be obtained by activities such as brisk walking, bicycling, swimming, and mowing the lawn. Among the activities that qualify as vigorous aerobic exercise include jogging, hard yard work, and aerobic dance, among others. Strength training may be accomplished via the use of weight machines, your own body weight, heavy bags, resistance tubing, or resistance paddles in the water, or by sports such as rock climbing and mountain climbing.
If you want to reduce weight, achieve particular fitness objectives, or get even more advantages from moderate aerobic exercise, you may need to increase your level of activity even more.
Never begin an exercise program without first seeing your doctor, particularly if you have any worries about your fitness, haven't exercised in a long time, or have chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis.
