In addition to making your heart and muscles stronger and strengthening your immune system against diseases, moderate exercise can also improve your mental and emotional state of mind, many people experience as a daily boost in their productivity and improved relationships. Where as no one can guarantee you’ll get all of the benefits from starting your exercise program, not doing exercise can speed up the unwanted side effects of aging.
Here are the top 5 lesser known hugely beneficial outcomes people report experiencing from being more physically active.
While a few laps around the block can’t solve serious emotional difficulties, researchers know moderate physical activity successfully improves cognitive function. Regular exercise has the performance benefit of releasing of mood-lifting hormones, which can relieve stress and promote a sense of well-being. In addition, the rhythmic muscle contractions that take place in almost all types of exercise can increase levels of various brain chemicals like serotonin, which is thought to combat negative feelings.
The health benefits of regular physical activity are pretty well known, but some of the major benefits are still worth mentioning as many people forget exercise works on the inside of our body as well as the outside. When you work on your major muscles groups research suggests you are assisting your body in the prevention of cardiovascular and heart disease, assist with chronic health conditions, problems with blood pressure, it promotes good lung function, gives you control cholesterol levels, burn more calories so you can better control your weight and it can relieve stress which we deal with in our daily lives, but don’t always realise can cause many internal problems.
Physical activity obviously enhances physical performance, but did you know it also boosts blood flow to the brain, which may help maintain brain function and energy levels. Exercise has been shown to be a key factor in older adults whose memories and mental acuity remain strong as they age. While all types of physical activity help keep your mind sharp, many studies have shown that aerobic exercise, in particular, successfully improves cognitive function.
Regular aerobic exercise provides three important sleep benefits: it helps you fall asleep faster, spend more time in deep sleep, and awaken less during the night. In fact, exercise is the only known way for healthy adults to boost the amount of deep sleep they get and deep sleep is essential for your body to renew, recover and repair itself. If you want to wake up refreshed from a good night sleep, add some regular exercise into your daily schedule.
Regular exercise can slow the natural decline in flexibility, mobility and muscle strength that occurs as you age. By staying even moderately active, older adults can actually keep their cardiovascular fitness, metabolism, and muscle function in line with those of much younger person. Many studies have shown that people who were more active at midlife and continued as they age were better able to maintain or improve their mobility — and therefore, their ability to take care of themselves with greater ease.
In conclusion: The benefits of exercise go well beyond the ones mentioned in this article, but even these few can give you a head start on developing healthier habits that will lead to a higher quality of life.
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