8 Reasons to Start Exercising Today

The newest studies are saying that sitting is the new smoking (1). With work stress and increased office hours, it's no wonder that obesity and diseases of lifestyle are on the rise. Most people think of exercise as only being important for losing weight or having a toned muscular body. It turns out that the benefits of a good workout far outreach weight control and having a better body.

Start Exercising Today to Reap These Incredible Health Benefits:

1) Reduced Stress Levels Unfortunately, the reasons for you being stressed won't simply disappear after a good run. What you can expect, however, is that the stress will have far less of an effect on your mental state. Exercise naturally works to lower stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol and increases your happy hormones, e.g. serotonin. Lower stress hormones and boosted happy hormones translate to a happier state of mind and the ability to shrug things off more easily when facing any sort of stress. 2) Increased Libido (Sex Drive) With juggling busy schedules, kids and a fast-paced lifestyle many people complain of a decreased sex drive. When you climb into bed at the end of a long day the last thing on many couples' minds is being intimate with their significant other. Luckily exercise can go a long way towards helping to combat this. Regular exercise increases blood circulation to the body and lifts your mood. Of course feeling more toned and confident also goes a long way in in terms of lifting your libido. For men who risk suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), the effect of exercise can be even more dramatic. A study found that regular vigorous exercise is associated with a 30 % decrease in ED, this in comparison to sedentary males (2). 3) Improved Sleep Quality We have put this benefit at the top for a good reason. Sleepless nights can be extremely detrimental to our health and wellbeing. In fact, poor quality and duration of sleep can be linked to weight gain (3), decreased cognitive function (4) and an impaired immune system (5). The good news is that even a single episode of moderate physical activity has been linked to a reduction in the time it takes people to fall asleep as well as increasing the duration they were asleep. 4) Nature's Antidepressant Various studies since the 1980's have found that exercise can and does help with mild episodes of depression. In some cases replacing the need for medication. Exercise boosts the production of two very important 'happy hormones', endorphins and norepinephrine that are directly linked to our moods (6) Aside from the natural production of the essential mood stabilising hormones, exercise also builds confidence and self-esteem. Both of which contribute to a happier, healthier self. 5) Healthier Heart Did you know that your heart is a muscle? Exercise not only helps with toning all your visible muscles on the outside of your body, it works to strengthen your most important muscle, your heart! A stronger heart muscle means more blood being pumped around the body along with an increase in the oxygen levels in your blood. The offshoot of this being lowered blood pressure and less chance of developing Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) or suffering from a stroke (7). Regular cardiovascular exercise is essential for a healthy heart and living to a ripe old age. 6) Stronger Bones Unfortunately one of the side effects of aging is a thinning and weakening of our bones. In severe cases, we refer to this as osteoporosis. The good news is that nature has a natural antidote to this process, exercise! It is important to choose specifically weight bearing exercise when caring for your bones. Weight-bearing exercise is any exercise involving your own natural body weight like Pilates, yoga, running or walking. Additionally, any exercise involving some sort of resistance training like swimming or lifting weights. This benefit is most relevant to women who have already gone through menopause as not only does the exercise prevent bone density loss, but also decreases the potential risk and severity of falls (8). In a nutshell, being fitter holds off the effects of aging. 7) Decreased Risk of Cancer Frequent exercise is thought to have a positive effect on many different hormones that are linked to cancer. In woman specifically, exercise acts to reduce estrogen production. The benefit of this is a decreased risk of certain cancers like breast or womb cancer that are linked to estrogen levels (9). In men and women frequent exercise has been linked to a decreased risk of bowel cancers. Individuals who increase the intensity and duration of their exercise are 30 to 40 % less likely to develop colon cancer, this especially in comparison to those who are inactive (10). 8) Exercise Combats Fatigue Too tired to exercise? The surprising thing about this benefit is that the answer to fatigue and exhaustion is often exercise. While it may sound counterintuitive, getting up and getting moving actually boosts energy levels and helps with both mental and physical exhaustion. Firstly, exercise acts to strengthen your muscles and your overall body so that tasks like household chores are no longer taxing on the body. Secondly, as we already mentioned above, exercise strengthens your heart muscle, which in turn means boosted blood circulation of oxygen to the rest of the body. Essentially more oxygen flowing to the muscles means that they become more efficient at producing an important chemical: Adenosine TriPhosphate or ATP (11). Hello energy, good-bye fatigue!

Start Improving your Fitness Without Going to the Gym

Being healthy and fit does not have to be about hours spent in the gym. Exercise does not have to be seen as boring or as a punishment. If the gym scares you or you do not own any running shoes, start with little daily steps:
  • Park as far away as possible from the shopping mall entrance
  • Take the stairs as often as possible
  • Ask a good friend to become your walking partner
  • Put some music on and spring clean the house
  • Make exercise a daily family routine by walking the dog
  • Try something new, you might just like it!
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