Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories. There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking and dancing, just to name a few. Activity has been shown to have many physical and mental health benefits. It can even help you live longer. Here are the top 10 ways in which regular exercise is good for your body and brain.
1. Exercise can make you feel happier
Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and reduce feelings of depression, anxiety and stress. It produces changes in the part of the brain that regulates stress and anxiety. It can also increase the brain's sensitivity to the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which can ease depression.
In addition, exercise increases the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. Interestingly, the intensity of your exercise does not matter. Regardless of the intensity of your physical activity, exercise seems to benefit your mood. In fact, in a study of 24 women diagnosed with depression, exercise of any intensity significantly reduced feelings of depression.
The effect of exercise on mood is so powerful that the choice to exercise (or not to exercise) can even have an impact in a short period. A review of 19 studies found that active people who regularly stopped exercising had significantly increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, even after only a few weeks.
2. Exercise helps with weight loss
Several studies have shown that inactivity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity. To understand the impact of exercise on weight loss, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure (exertion).
Your body burns energy in three ways.
- Digesting food
- Exercise
- Maintaining body functions such as heart rate and breathing
When dieting, reducing your calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, thus temporarily delaying weight loss. In contrast, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which in turn burns more calories to help you lose weight.
In addition, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can minimise fat loss and maintain muscle mass, which is essential for weight loss and maintaining lean muscle mass.
3. Exercise is good for your muscles and bones
Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones. Activities such as weight lifting combined with adequate protein intake can stimulate muscle building.
This is because exercise helps to release hormones that promote the ability of muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown. As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can increase the risk of injury. Regular physical activity is vital to reduce muscle loss and maintain strength as you get older.
Exercise also helps to increase bone density when you are younger, in addition to helping to prevent osteoporosis later in life. Some studies suggest that high-intensity exercise (such as gymnastics or running) or specific impact sports (such as football and basketball) may help promote higher bone density compared to non-impact sports such as swimming and cycling.
4. Exercise can boost your energy levels
Exercise can be a real energy booster for many people, including those with various medical conditions. An earlier study found that 6 weeks of regular exercise reduced fatigue in 36 people who reported persistent fatigue. Let's not forget the wonderful benefits of exercise for heart and lung health. Aerobic exercise strengthens the cardiovascular system and improves lung health, which can dramatically increase energy levels.
When you move more, your heart pumps more blood and delivers more oxygen to your working muscles. With regular exercise, your heart becomes more efficient and better at delivering oxygen to your bloodstream, making your muscles more efficient. Over time, this aerobic training reduces the demand on your lungs and requires less energy to perform the same activity - one reason why you are less likely to be short of breath during strenuous activity .
In addition, exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people with other diseases, such as cancer.
5. Exercise can reduce the risk of chronic disease
Lack of regular physical activity is a major cause of chronic disease. Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, heart health and body composition. It can also lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. More specifically, exercise can help reduce or prevent the following chronic health conditions
Type 2 diabetes. Regular aerobic exercise can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. It also has considerable health benefits for people with type 1 diabetes. resistance training for type 2 diabetes includes improvements in fat mass, blood pressure, lean body mass, insulin resistance and blood sugar control.
Heart disease. Exercise can reduce cardiovascular risk factors and is a treatment option for people with cardiovascular disease.
Multiple cancers. Exercise can help reduce the risk of many types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, lung, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, thyroid, stomach and oesophageal cancers.
High cholesterol. Regular moderate-intensity physical activity can increase HDL (good) cholesterol while maintaining or offsetting increases in LDL (bad) cholesterol. Research supports the theory that high-intensity aerobic exercise is needed to lower LDL levels.
Hypertension: Participation in regular aerobic exercise can lower resting systolic blood pressure by 5-7 mmHG in people with hypertension.
In contrast, a lack of regular exercise - even in the short term - leads to a significant increase in abdominal fat, which may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
This is why regular physical activity is recommended to reduce abdominal fat and lower the risk of developing these diseases.
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