Everyone benefits from regular physical activity. No matter your age, weight, or current health, regularly exercising provides the mind and body with countless health benefits. From helping to avoid chronic illnesses to improving mental health, there are countless benefits to be gained from regular physical activity, giving us all the encouragement that we need to start working out.
Moreover, regular physical activity doesn’t mean splashing the cash for a gym membership or buying fitness equipment. In fact, it’s possible to regularly exercise without spending a thing, with things like running, jogging, and home workouts costing literally nothing.
If you’re looking for any more motivation to start working out, check out these seven benefits of regular physical activity:
#1. Managing a Healthy Weight
Weight management is perhaps the most obvious benefit of regular physical activity yet still one worth mentioning. From losing a few pounds to reach a healthy weight to maintain your current weight, regular exercise is the most effective way to manage your weight.
Doing any form of aerobic exercise that gets the heart pumping helps to burn calories in the body. If you burn enough calories when exercising to create a caloric deficit (i.e. you burn more than you consume), you will lose weight at a healthy rate, usually a few pounds per week.
If you want to avoid gaining weight, regular physical activity helps burn off those additional calories that your metabolism doesn’t burn off naturally. This is an effective way of avoiding weight gain, which is something most of us want to do!
#2. Lowering Health Risks
When the body remains inactive for regular periods it increases the risk of developing a host of health conditions. This ranges from chronic illnesses to life-threatening diseases, so by exercising regularly we can significantly reduce the risk of developing a variety of diseases throughout our life.
Simply put, the more regular physical activity you take part in, your body remains healthier for much longer. In fact, you’ll likely increase your lifespan when regularly exercising as you age.
For instance, if your regular physical activity includes a lot of aerobic exercises (e.g. running, walking, cycling) then you can lower cholesterol and blood pressure for a healthier heart, reducing the chances of heart disease, a stroke, and diabetes.
The chances of developing countless diseases and health risks are significantly reduced with regular physical activity, including:
- Stroke
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Cancer
#3. Improving Mental Health
The importance of good mental health is becoming more apparent, with many looking to exercise to help manage their mental health. For instance, regular physical exercise is known to improve your mood, meaning you’ll feel much better after just a single bout of exercise.
Not only that, but regular physical activity also stimulates the brain in a variety of ways, helping to reduce stress and anxiety, two major mental conditions that have an adverse impact on our mental wellbeing. Various chemicals are released during and after exercise, which is why we always tend to have an improved mood post-workout. Increased mental health can also lead to increased brain power, for playing your favorite online bingo sites like Trusted Bingo UK or reading your favorite ebook on a Kindle for example.
Also, the more physically active you are the more your physical appearance improves. Whether losing weight, building muscle, or toning up, the results of regular exercise can have a significant impact on our self-confidence. When you look good, you naturally feel good!
#4. A Good Night’s Sleep
The importance of a restful night’s sleep is overlooked by many. Not getting enough good sleep results in a variety of long-term and short-term problems, from constantly feeling fatigued and struggling to focus on developing chronic issues such as cardiovascular disease.
A simple yet effective way to get a better night’s sleep is more physical activity throughout the week. When exerting energy during exercise our body becomes naturally more tired and fatigued, resulting in a deep, restful sleep.
In fact, exercise is known to increase our deep sleep cycles, meaning the quality of sleep significantly improves. You feel alert and focused the next day, while the body benefits from an improved immune system and reduced feelings of stress and anxiety.
So, if you’re constantly struggling to sleep and sick of feeling lethargic in the morning, consider some exercise to help improve your sleep!
#5. Feeling Energised
Physical activity produces a variety of reactions in the brain, such as releasing feel-good hormones that reduce stress and improve our mood. Another notable effect of exercising regularly is the release of a hormone that naturally boosts our body’s energy.
More impressively, this can have an impressive impact on the energy levels of people suffering from chronic diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). A study on people with CFS noted that regular physical activity resulted in a substantial increase in energy levels, making exercise one of the most effective treatments for CFS.
You don’t need to suffer from disease to notice the difference in energy levels from exercising though! It boosts energy levels for anyone that is regularly working out, so be sure to try this is out if you’re constantly low on energy.
#6. Build Strength and Endurance
Who doesn’t want to feel stronger and be able to work out for longer? With regular physical activities, you can expect just that, with exercise improving our overall strength and endurance. The more you exercise the more strength and endurance you build.
This isn’t just about developing impressive muscles from exercising – which is never a bad thing – but rather about how increasing strength benefits our physical health.
For instance, your muscles, bones, and joints get stronger with more exercise, helping us stay stronger as we age. It also reduces the risks of long-term conditions such as lowered bone density, weak joints, and chronic muscle ache.
More endurance makes life in general much better too. Our bodies have more energy to do things, from walking longer distances to working out more often.
#7. Bettering Your Relationships
If you suffer from unfulfilling relationships, then consider increasing your physical activities, as this can have a notable benefit on your overall happiness and relationships. Because you have more energy, strength, and endurance, your relationships will tend to be a lot more fulfilling with regular exercise.
Your blood circulation gets better, you can build or tone muscles, lose body fat, and get much more flexible. All of this makes improves your life in all areas!
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