By : Cathy White
Exercise is good for you. That is a statement that everybody hears more than enough times in their lifetime. Unfortunately, in a world where most people spend more than half a day sitting in the office or driving home, exercise has become a luxury. Lack of physical activity combined with poor diet has led to many cases of obesity, high cholesterol, back pains and diabetes. For those people who think they don’t need to exercise regularly, here are a few reasons why they should start:
Emotional Benefits
Improve Mood. One of the greatest benefits of exercise is improving someone’s mood and reducing feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression. When someone works out for a few minutes; stress reduction hormones known as serotonin and norepinephrine increase, and help them to feel happy and relaxed.
Reduce Anxiety and Tension. Exercise also increases the production of endorphins that help one to feel positive and feel less physical and emotional pain. People who choose to work out in the morning tend to have a very upbeat and energetic day while those who work out in the evening release any tension in their body before going home.
Physical Benefits
Enhance Fitness. There are countless physical benefits of exercising. To begin with, exercise helps a person to maintain flexibility in the joints and muscles hence reducing the chances of injuries and enabling them to move freely and stay fit. Fitness means you are able to do your daily activities, climb stairs and walk long distance without losing your breath or getting a stitch.
Strengthen Muscles. Through repetitive workouts, the muscles break down and rebuild hence increasing muscle strength and tone. A strong person is not only able to lift heavy things, but they are more confident and have enhanced bone density and good overall health. By improving muscle strength, flexibility and endurance, exercise enables a person to have better posture, prevent back and neck pain and to avoid bone loss.
Prevent Diseases. Exercise is the most fabulous vaccine against many diseases like coronary heart diseases, stroke, cancer, osteoarthritis, dementia, and diabetes. Some of these conditions are brought about by too much cholesterol, or bad fat and sugar in the body, and exercise helps to control and reduce body fat. Exercise also helps to strengthen heart muscles and improve blood flow hence preventing heart issues, stroke, and hypertension.
Enhance Weight Loss. A good number of Americans are obese due to eating junk and living a sedentary life. Exercise is the best way to shed excess fat and gain a great body the healthy way. Activity increases metabolism and helps the body to burn fat faster and, in turn, the person becomes thinner and more energetic.
Mental Benefits
Control Depression. The mind plays a huge role in the day to day living so, if the brain is tired or depressed, everything else will be falling apart. Regular exercise is highly beneficial to maintaining a healthy mind and alleviating symptoms of depression. Instead of taking antidepressants and sleeping pills, exercising every day can help the mind to relax, so you get better quality sleep and be more productive and energetic.
Enhance Mental Clarity. There is a reason why people are advised to take a break and walk around every two hours instead of staring at your computer all day. Any form of exercise, be it walking, swimming or jogging helps to clear the mind and give you a better perspective, intuition and assertiveness. In fact, the best time to come up with great ideas and inventions is during a workout as the brain is creating space for creativity.
Improve Happiness. On top of improving your mood, regular exercise helps one to have higher self-esteem, better body image and confidence and all those things combined lead to contentment and happiness.
Spiritual Benefits
Overall health involves the body, mind and the soul and there are many spiritual benefits of exercise. As you take a walk or jog around the neighborhood, it is impossible not to take notice of the beautiful trees, sky and everything else around you.
Some practices like yoga are directly connected to spirituality because as you stretch and do those postures, you are required to connect with your energy and your spirituality.
According to a study in New England Journal of Medicine, exercise can increase someone’s life by seven years. Luckily exercise doesn’t have to be going to the gym. Walking, swimming, dancing, taking the stairs and jogging are all fun ways to get a workout.
