5 Benefits of Regular Exercise
Regular exercise is any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories.
There are various types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking, dancing etc.
Being active has many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer.
Here are the 5 ways regular exercise benefits both your body and brain;
1. Regular exercise makes You Feel Happier
Regular exercise improves your mood and helps decrease the feelings of anxiety and stress.
It produces changes in the parts of the brain that majorly regulate stress and anxiety. It also increases the brain’s sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of sadness.
In addition, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain.
Interestingly, it doesn’t matter how intense or long your workout is. It helps uplift your mood and helps you feel lighter throughout the day.
2. Regular exercise helps with weight Loss
Inactivity is one of the major factors of weight gain and obesity.
For full understanding of the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is highly important to know the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure.
Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing.
While dieting, a reduced calorie consumption will lower your metabolic rate and will delay weight loss.
However, regular exercise has been shown to increase metabolic rate which actively burn more calories and help you lose weight.
Additionally, combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off.
3. Exercising Is Good for Your Muscles and Bones
Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones.
Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein consumption.
Exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown.
As you grow older, you tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age.
It helps build bone density which helps prevent osteoporosis later in life.
Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as football and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling
4. Exercising Can Increase Your Energy Levels
Exercising is a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions.
Furthermore, exercise can significantly boost energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses.
Exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses, such as cancer etc.
5. Regular Exercise Improves Relaxation and Sleep Quality
Regular exercise can help you relax and sleep better at night.
The energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep.
Moreover, the increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during overnight.
A study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality.
You can be flexible with the kind of exercise you choose. Aerobic exercises combined with resistance training equally help improve sleep quality.
