Is staying active just good for our hearts or is there more to it? Discover why the benefits of regular exercise make it an essential habit for a healthy life.
Exercising regularly can be one of life’s greatest challenges.
After all, fitting it in with work, family and the everyday tasks which fill your time can feel like a constant struggle. Are the benefits of regular exercise even worth the effort?
And yet, most that do work up a sweat a few times a week consider it one of the pillars of a balanced lifestyle.
Many will even swear that exercising has changed their lives for the better.
But what are these life-changing benefits that have converted even the most zealous bed-lovers? Discover the ultimate list below.
Why Exercise is Good for Your Body
1. Keeps you physically active
Perhaps the easiest argument for exercise is it helps prevent obesity and being overweight.
Countless studies have proven how the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases like strokes and heart disease increase the more overweight you are.
Obviously, exercise on it’s own is not the whole solution – a healthy diet is also key.
However, physical exertion boosts your metabolism, which is the speed at which your body burns through calories.
The more calories your body burns, the less get turned into excess fat.
Yeah, your body takes their lead from you. If you can’t be bothered, it won’t bother either.
2. Reduces your risk of chronic disease
Netflix, video games, Amazon… We can pretty much live our lives without ever using our legs.
Whilst that can be just the ticket after a boozy night out, it’s not great in the long term… unsurprisingly.
Our bodies are built like well-oiled machines.
Keep them moving and everything stays in pretty good shape. Don’t, and things start to get rusty and difficult.
“Human bodies are designed for regular physical activity. The sedentary nature of much of modern life probably plays a significant role in the epidemic incidence of depression today. Many studies show that depressed patients who stick to a regimen of aerobic exercise improve as much as those treated with medication.”
So keep your blood flowing, and you’ll find the time well-spent in the long term.
How Exercise Increases Your Energy Levels
3. Helps you relax and sleep
The more tired you are, the more your body welcomes sleep. Probably not news to you.
However, regular exercise has also been shown to increase the time spent in the deep, restorative part of sleep.
This particularly awesome sleep state supports your immune system and cardiac health, and helps control stress and anxiety levels.
Regular workouts have also been found to benefit those with chronic insomnia, allowing those surveyed to fall asleep quicker, and sleep longer and better.
So if you value your sleep, exercising often is a game-changer.
4. Improves your sex drive
People are often divided on whether or not having a good physique is aspirational.
Shouldn’t we be happy with how we look, whatever that looks like?
While this is definitely important, it is also undeniable that exercising makes this road to self-confidence easier.
“Being active leads to a more positive body image. This can raise self-esteem and make people feel more sexy, confident, and attractive and thus more likely to engage in sexual activities.”
Through the endorphins and mental benefits, working out also reduces that famous mood-killer stress.
Quite simply, exercising helps you to feel better about yourself – the more you do, the better you feel.
Consistency is key.
Why Exercise is Great for Your Mental Health
5. A healthy body aids a healthy mind
All of the benefits of regular exercise mentioned above can massively improve your mental health.
An abundance of energy from better sleep encourages you to approach each day with positivity. The lack of serious health conditions speak for themselves.
In fact, we can often take for granted just how lucky we are when we are healthy (practising gratitude can work wonders for this).
At the very least, being healthy allows us to pursue our passions or what makes us happy, like travel.
The more that you can appreciate this gift, the happier you’ll be.
6. Exercise makes us chemically happier
Most people have heard that exercise releases endorphins. Some frequently throw out the phrase “I’m off to get those endorphins flowing”.
However not everyone knows what this means or why it’s a good thing.
Endorphins are natural chemicals produced by our body which reduce pain or stress. After exercise, our brains release more of these chemicals.
This is why you feel less stressed after a workout, and why you may notice a subtle “high”.
As if this weren’t great enough, physical exertion also releases dopamine and serotonin. This brings us nicely onto the next benefits of regular exercise.
7. Prevents or helps treat depression
A healthy balance of dopamine is a vital part of physical and mental wellbeing, studies have shown. In fact, low levels of dopamine have been linked to numerous mental health issues like depression.
The dopamine chemical is the reason why we love fatty foods, or travel (the latter being actually healthy for us).
A recent study done by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health concluded that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26%. In a separate study, exercise was also found to be far more effective than antidepressants in preventing relapse.
So building up a sweat doesn’t only mean a positive body image or healthy bones – it can be fundamental to a happy life.
8. Promotes the value of habits
Habits can revolutionise your daily life.
To succeed and grow in life, you need to stick with things. School, a career, relationships – they all take countless hours of effort.
Regular exercise is maybe the most powerful way to promote a habit mentality.
This is because you can physically see the payoff of your invested time, even if it’s a small change, and this affects your psychology.
Workout = get fit. Beautiful simplicity. And once won’t do anything. 10 times won’t either.
But after a month or two, you notice a change. A flatter stomach. A marginally bigger bicep.
And as anyone who has been through it will tell you, it feels amazing.
You even have multiple resources like workout apps to help you stay on track and show you the correct form
This habit mentality is perhaps the most underrated of all the benefits of regular exercise.
And, as it did with me, it truly has the power to change your life.
9. Increases your confidence
A lack of confidence can often stem from a feeling of powerlessness and inadequacy.
I’ve been there – it can be a truly dark and lonely place.
The great thing about confidence though is that two realisations can be the start of a change.
You are the only one responsible for your self-worth.
And if you can’t value yourself, then how can you expect anyone else to.
Each time you workout, you invest in yourself and say you are worth the effort. Otherwise why would you bother?
As you see the results of this invested time, it becomes exhilaratingly clear and simple that only you are in control.
Not just in control of your body, but your mind.
And you have the potential to be as powerful as you choose.
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