Why Is Exercise Important And What Are The Benefits?

First of all you need to know what exercise is; Exercise is any physical activity carried out to maintain your health and improve your fitness. In simpler terms, exercise is any activity in which your body is required to work more as compared to its normal routine.

Exercise can be done for various reasons, regular exercising increases your muscle strength and enhances your endurance. It also boosts your energy. It includes all healthy working activities of your body from gentle walking, light weight lifting to aggressive running, fast swimming or martial arts training. It helps in keeping you fit and improving your health conditions, by exercising regularly you can avoid many health problems like cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, etc.

How does it work?

All type of exercises use your body muscles. Whenever you exercise your body shows different types of responses. Like if you are doing strength training nearly every muscle in your body is working, all this working by muscles create higher energy demands and in order to meet these demands other functions of body either slows down or shuts down for example your heart will beat faster so it can pump more blood to the muscles where as the stomach shuts down to avoid any energy wastage.

When you are exercising or working out your muscles behave somewhat like biochemical motors i.e. they’re taking in energy and using it to make force. The energy for your muscles comes from a chemical called ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). They make energy by burning ATPs, using oxygen, eliminating metabolic wastes and heat (that the working muscles generate). For your muscles to continue exercising, they must be provided with oxygen and removal of waste materials. If these demands are not fulfilled the exercise will eventually stop i.e. you will become tired. The more strenuous the exercise the more are the muscular demands. To meet these needs of muscles your body has managed to develop a proper response including your circulatory, nervous system, lungs and skin.

Benefits of exercise:

Exercise has many benefits, it not only helps to improve your physical appearance but it’s good for your health too. Below are some of the benefits of regularly exercising;

Makes you feel happier:

Exercising improves your mood. It changes your feelings of stress, anxiety and depression by creating changes in that part of your brain which regulates stress and anxiety. It increases brain sensitivity for hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, these hormones soothes feelings of depression which is proved by research.  Exercise increases the production of endorphins these hormones help to produce relaxing and positive feelings and reduce the sense of pain. Exercising has extraordinary results a study in 24 women who had been diagnosed with depression showed that exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression.

In short, exercising regularly helps in improving your mood and keeps you positive.

Helps to maintain your weight

Whenever you exercise you are burning your excessive calories. Exercising helps us in maintaining our body weight. If you exercise regularly you don’t gain extra weight as you are continuously burning your extra calories through physical exertion. You don’t have to do aggressive workouts in order to maintain yourself, instead making nominal changes in your everyday routine can help in achieving your desired fitness goals; like you can start taking the stairs instead of elevator or you can try walking to your workplace. These little changes will give very fruitful results.

Good for your muscles and bones:

Exercise plays a vital role in building strong muscles and it also helps in maintaining your bones. Exercises like weight lifting help the growth of your muscle by releasing hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids, which helps them grow and reduces their wear & tear.

As you age you tend to lose muscle mass and function, this can lead to serious injuries and even disabilities. In order to avoid such extreme conditions it is best that you start caring about yourself from start. By doing even light exercises regularly will help you maintain your muscles and bones. You can start by keeping some basic exercising machines in your home like powered treadmill or indoor bike but what to consider for choosing your indoor bike, if you are having joint problems or having pain in your lower limbs than its best that you choose a recumbent bike; its more comfortable and easier to you as compared to an upright bike.

Reduces risks of chronic diseases

Exercising regularly helps in keeping you fit and healthy. Studies have showed that if you are exercising regularly, you have low risk of having diabetes type 2, heart diseases and muscular problems.

The major cause of heart disease is cholesterol, but if you exercise regularly your cholesterol levels will be maintained, hence, reducing the risk of cardiac problems.

Boosts your energy:

Exercising enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, thus, increasing their efficiency. This results in higher energy levels in your body making you feel fresh and full of energy. Regular physical activity will improve your muscle strength and magnify your endurance.

Improves your physical intimacy:

Regular physical training will improve and increase your energy levels and it also makes your physical appearance better; by keeping you in shape. All these factors help in making your sexual life more pleasant and enjoyable.

Research has shown that people who exercise regularly are less likely to have erectile dysfunctional syndrome .

Exercise enhances sleep:  

Regular exercise will help you relax and it will improve your sleep.  The energy depletion that occurs during exercises helps you to sleep soothingly. Studies have shown that regular physical activities during the day will help you sleep better at night, and also keep you energized during the day.

Improves your memory:

Exercising regularly improves your brain function, protects memory and magnifies your thinking skills. It increases your heart rate which results in better supply of blood to the brain. It also helps in releasing certain hormones which are essential for the growth of brain cells.

Conclusion:

From all the above discussions it is clear that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle you should try to make exercising an essential part of your life. Exercising offers astounding results that can improve nearly every aspect of your life.