Exercise is explained as any movement of the body that makes muscles work and helps to burn calories. There are many kinds of physical activity, including running, swimming, walking, dancing, and jogging. Research shows there are immense benefits of exercise, both mentally and physically. It also helps one live longer. Here are a few facts and health benefits of exercise.
12 Health Benefits of Exercise
- Exercise can make you feel happy
Research shows that exercising improves your mood and at the same time decreases the feeling of depression, stress, and anxiety. Exercising regularly brings changes in those parts of the brain that regulates anxiety and stress. It also increases brain sensitivity for the hormones, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which release feelings of depression. Also, exercise can help in increasing the production of endorphins, which produces positive feelings and lessens the perception of pain.
Additionally, exercise is good for people who suffer from anxiety. It helps them become aware of their mental condition and practice distraction from their worries. Interestingly, it does not matter how intense your exercise is. It seems that your mood can improve from exercise no matter the intensity of the workout.
In fact, research on 24 females who had been diagnosed with depression showed that workout of any intensity decreased the feelings of depression in them. The benefits of exercise on mood are so powerful that selecting an exercise or not even makes a huge difference over a small span of time.
- Exercise helps lose weight
Several studies have shown that inactivity is one of the major factors in obesity and weight gain. To understand the effect of workout on weight reduction, it is significant to understand the relation between energy expenditure and exercise.
Our body spends energy in three distinct ways. These are digesting food, maintaining body functions like breathing, heartbeat, etc., and exercising.
While dieting, reduce intake of calories lowers our metabolic rate, which delays weight loss. On the other hand, regular workout has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn extra calories and help you reduce weight. Moreover, studies have proved that combining aerobic exercise with a few resistance training can increase fat loss and maintain muscle mass, which is important for maintaining the weight loss.
- Exercise fights diseases and health conditions
Suffering from heart disease? Worried about how to avoid high blood pressure? No matter how much you weigh, being active improves high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol and it lessens unhealthy triglycerides. One-two punch keeps the blood flowing smoothly, which in turn decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases. Regular workout helps manage or prevent several health issues and concerns, including:
Metabolic syndrome
Stroke
Type 2 diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Depression
Cancer
Arthritis
Anxiety
It also helps in improving cognitive function and lowers the risk of death.
- Exercise increases energy levels
One of the important facts about exercise benefits is it can be an energy booster for healthy people and for those who are suffering from different medical conditions. A study found that regular exercise for continuous 6 weeks reduced the feeling of fatigue among 36 healthy people who were suffering from fatigue. Furthermore, exercise can increase the energy level of people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and other severe illnesses. In fact, exercise seems to be effective at combating CFS compared to other treatments, including passive treatments like stretching and relaxation, or no treatment at all.
In addition, exercise has shown to increase energy levels in individuals suffering from progressive health conditions like HIV/AIDS and cancer.
- Exercise gives you a beautiful and healthy skin
Aerobic exercise improves blood flow to the skin, carrying nutrients and oxygen that enhances skin health and even help a wound heal faster. That is why it is said that when people have injuries, they should move as fast as possible- not only to ensure the muscle does not atrophy, but to ensure that there is a good blood flow to the skin.
Skin also serves as a release point for heat. When you work out, your muscle generates a lot of heat, which you need to give to the environment, so that your body temperature does not go too high. The heat in the muscle gets transferred to the blood, which shuttles it to the skin; then it can go into the atmosphere.
- Exercise boosts energy
One of the important health benefits of exercise is regular exercise can improve your muscle strength and boosts your endurance. Workout delivers essential nutrients and oxygen to the tissues. It helps your cardiovascular system work efficiently. And when your lungs and heart start working efficiently, you will get more energy to do your daily chores.
- Exercise shrinks fat cells
Our body uses both fats and carbohydrates as the main energy sources. But, after constant aerobic exercise training, the body gets improved at burning fat, which needs a lot of oxygen to convert it into useful energy. One of the major benefits of exercise training is that the cardiovascular system gets much stronger at delivering oxygen, so our body can metabolize more amount of fat as an energy source.
- Exercise improves self-confidence
On a basic level, a workout can improve self-esteem. Regardless of size, weight, gender, or age, exercise can elevate a person’s perception of his or her appeal, that is, self-worth. For a boost of self-love, do the workout outside. Exercising outdoor increases self-esteem. Find an outdoor workout that fits your need and style, whether it is hiking, rock-climbing, jogging, or renting a canoe. Also, all that Vitamin D attained from soaking up the sun can reduce the possibility of undergoing depressive symptoms.
- Mental Benefits of Exercise
Those rats might be smarter than we can imagine. Different studies on mice and men have proved that cardiovascular exercise can develop new brain cells and enhance the overall performance of the brain. Studies proved that a tough exercise increases the level of a brain-derived protein in the body, known as BDNF. It helps in decision making, higher learning, and thinking.
- Sharpens memory
Daily physical activity enhances memory and ability to learn new things. Getting sweaty increases the production of cells in the hippocampus. It plays a vital role in learning and memory. For this reason, research has linked kid’s brain development with a level of physical fitness. But exercise-based brainpower is not only meant for kids. Even if it is not as fun-filled, working out can improve memory among the elders too. Several studies have shown that running sprints enhanced vocabulary retention among healthy elders.
- Exercise improves productivity at work
Feeling low or uninspired in the office? The best solution can be jogging or a short walk. Studies show that workers who take time for workouts daily are more productive and have a lot of energy than their sedentary peers. While busy timetables can make it difficult to squeeze in a gym in the middle of the day. According to experts, midday is the apt time for a workout because of the body’s circadian rhythms.
- It promotes a better sex life
One of the major health benefits of exercise is it boosts sex drive. Doing exercise regularly strengthens the cardiovascular system, enhances the circulation of blood, tones muscles and improves flexibility. All these improves sex life. Physical activity can enhance sexual performance and please. It also increases the frequency of sexual activity.
Exercise provides incredible benefits that can enhance each aspect of your health, both mentally and physically. Exercising daily increases the production of hormones that make you feel healthy and helps you sleep better. It also improves your skin’s texture, loses weight, lessens the risk of chronic disease, and improves your sex life.