This Article is a Guest Post.
The gym rats couldn’t be convinced otherwise anyway, to them, exercise is as vital as the air we breathe.
Some of us aren’t as sold on the benefits of exercise though and for us, it takes lots of motivation to get into the fitness gear, and one or two reminders from the gym to see us out the door and actually engaging in exercise.
To further buttress our excuses, we have a growing body of research evidence which proves that exercise is not exactly directly tied to weight loss, and to lose weight, what we take in and how often we eat matters more than how hard we work to shed off the extra pounds. So why bother? However, when you checked the article on SleepDelivered comparing Saatva vs. Casper mattress, you promised yourself to get in some quality exercise before purchasing a quality mattress. You know you wouldn’t feel justified to sleep well at night if you have not settled this whole exercise business.
That said, there is strong evidence detailing the actual benefits of exercise, and we thought knowing them might keep you longer on that treadmill, and earn you your prize mattress:
1. Exercise helps reduce inflammation rate
If you’re already turning up your nose because well… “how does this even affect you?”, I’m glad to tell you that inflammation is implicated as one of the major underlying causes of several common diseases: diabetes, cancer, and so on.
Regular exercise has been found to reduce the number of inflammatory markers in the body e.g. C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6, which are directly linked to lots of diseases.
According to research evidence, having a workout session for about 20 minutes (moderate intensity) has notable effects on the body’s immune system; leading to a reduction in the amount of secreted stress hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine. It has also been discovered that with increased physical fitness, there is even better regulation of inflammatory activities in the body- and the benefits are mostly noted with consistent workouts as opposed to doing so ‘once-in-a-while’ because then, hormonal levels would return to baseline.
Perhaps, a regular exercise routine is all you need, to beat down those doctor appointments.
2. Exercise Leads to Reduced Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
Love your heart? Then you need to engage in lots and lots of exercise. Research shows that exercise helps control our cardiovascular numbers- namely our blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, etc. With 30 minutes of performing these exercises per day, you are able to keep your heart in shape.
Knowing that high blood pressure and increased low-density cholesterol levels heighten one’s risk of having a stroke or a heart attack, it would be valuable to the heart to engage in exercise. Your heart will thank you for it!
3. Exercise Reduces Rate of Aging
One of the secrets to aging well is to be reasonably engaged in exercise. Exciting scientific proof about how exercise is linked to longer caps (telomeres) at the end of chromosomes means things are getting clearer about how exercise helps in slowing down the aging process. These caps (telomeres) are known to reduce in length as part of the normal aging process, with people who live longer and in better shape tend to have longer telomeres (up to 140 base pairs longer than for sedentary folks). An expert goes as far as saying that people who are involved in high levels of physical activity age at least nine years less than their counterparts.
Who wouldn’t love to age backward? I sure would!
4. Exercise Increases the Rate of Growth of New Brain Cells
You know, not too long ago, neuroscientists assured us that brain cells were a given number; and that no new brain cells could be grown. We all but accepted that if anything happens to our brain cells, we could do nothing about it!
However, exciting evidence shows that the brain cells can actually regenerate, and new neurons can be birthed. Amongst other activities, the one which stands out the most in enhancing this regeneration of brain cells is aerobic exercise; with the hippocampus coming out tops as the area of the brain that responds the most to exercise. How relieving that it’s this same area of the brain that’s most affected in cases of dementia! This helps us know that preventing dementia is possible, and curing it is also in the works, with exercise helping significantly.
Having new brain cells also means you get to engage in fun activities- for as long as you want (provided you don’t get tired of the ‘younglings’)
5. Exercise Helps in the Prevention/Treatment of Depression
Mental health is one of the often-overlooked aspects of health generally. Thankfully, more people are owning up to their mental woes and sorting out those issues in order to have meaningful relationships.
One good means of preventing and treating depression, one of the leading mental illnesses and a cause of disability worldwide, is to engage in meaningful exercise. Studies have shown that while physical activity helps to lift moods, reduced activity levels are a big risk factor for sliding down into depression. There is a medical explanation for this antidepressant effect of exercise, as serotonin is produced in increasing amounts during exercise (serotonin is a brain chemical, and often used in treating depression clinically). The brain’s increased plasticity is also enhanced during exercise and this further helps to handle depression.
However, it is quite true that anyone experiencing a bout of depression wants to do nothing- exercise is often the last thing on his or her mind. how do you get around to doing something that so obviously drives you nuts at that moment?
Perhaps getting an instructor would help for these crucial moments- never underestimate the impact of someone else motivating you and cheering you to participate in the exercise.
6. On Alzheimer’s Disease and Exercise: Is there any proof in favor of exercise for patients with dementia?
People with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease/dementia are often scared of how they’d end up in old age. It is frightening to imagine that you might be unable to remember basic facts about your own self!
It is particularly exhilarating to realize that you can do something about it, instead of twiddling your thumbs and going berserk each time you forget where you put your keys.
Exercise, even for those who catch the bug pretty late in life, is noted to have very beneficial effects on people with increased risk of Alzheimer’s; reducing their risk and helping those with progressive features get better. This is owing to the increased brain volume associated with lots of exercises. According to a researcher in the field, exercise also increases synaptic plasticity and the strength of nervous impulses in the brain, furthermore, having a positive effect on the hippocampal area of the brain. With exercise, there is hope for our brains!
Now That You Know the Health Benefits of Exercise; How Much of Exercise Should You Be Engaged in?
Now that you know how beneficial exercise is to your health, there’s so much excitement, right? I hope so.
You’re perhaps wondering how much is enough, to cash out maximally from these eye-opening benefits of exercise. While it is true that close to half the deaths from cancer can be prevented with regular exercise, according to recent research, the amount needed is not so clear.
Usually, it is recommended that an individual need about 150 minutes/week of moderate exercise activity, but there’s no hard or fast rule. One important thing to note is that you need to have regular exercise, and even if you’re only exercising for about 15 minutes per day, ensure it’s regular. There’s no point exercising on and off because those might not result in the cardiovascular and neurological benefits you require. Remember that these benefits are often reaped over the long term, hence the need for commitment to an exercise routine or plan.
Start from the ground up; build yourself to become tolerant to different forms of exercise, at varying paces, until you become a hardcore fitness enthusiast. It’s okay to fail at the beginning; heck, it’s okay to fail every once in a while- the key is to keep pushing until it becomes such a part of you that you don’t even feel okay without a daily dose of exercise.
Wrapping Up
Engaging in an active exercise regimen will test your resolve. It will test everything you’ve got, and giving up will soon begin to look like the best possible option, but you know it isn’t. While you push your will to its limits, fiercely continuing on this path to a better body in all ramifications, remember how important this singular act of exercise is for your heart, brain, skin and all other parts of your body. You are not just a fitness enthusiast; you are a warrior, pushing through boundaries until you get to the finish line. Way to go champ!
This Article is a Guest Post.
