Exercising is a habit beyond keeping ourselves physically fit. Surely you have received comments from your coworkers or your partner, who does not understand the need to be so active daily. Physical exercise is an experience that has beneficial effects on the body and mind, so those of us who practice it know why it is really worth sweating.
Physical activity can change your mind, body, metabolism, hormones, bone structure, lung capacity, blood volume, sexual desire, cognitive function, and much more.
As recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), adults should do less and etween 150 and 300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week, plus two sessions of strength training. You can break it down into at least five days of 30-minute workouts. If you prefer vigorous intensity aerobic exercise, like HIIT or running, aim for 75 to 150 minutes a week.
The important thing is to vary the workouts. It is very easy to fall into the routine of going for a run every day, or lifting dumbbells without stopping. But cross training will expose your body to new challenges. A well-balanced exercise routine includes aerobic exercise and resistance training, as well as recovery and mobility days.
What are the benefits of exercise?
Once you have an established exercise routine, you will begin to reap the many benefits of regular activity.
Workouts can have a compounding effect on each other, and after several weeks, people will see clear benefits. But the benefits of exercise extend beyond stronger muscles and more endurance. You can also lose weight, improve your mood and energy levels, and improve your heart health.
Life expectancy increases
There are many studies that assure that the effects of exercise can prolong life expectancy. A study published in the BMJ in July 2020 found that people who exercised regularly, including a combination of cardiovascular and strength training, had a greatly reduced risk of mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.
The good news is that you don't need to do any specific type of exercise. Walking at a cadence of 100 steps or more per minute is associated with cardiovascular benefits.
If weight lifting is what you most passionate about, science shows that pumping iron can also help protect your life. Lifting weights at least twice a week had a 46 percent lower risk of cancer from any cause and cardiac death compared to those who did not lift weights.
Improves cognitive function
Exercising can improve your concentration and attention, as well as increase your motor reaction time. Exercise has the ability to improve brain anatomy, physiology, and function after just one workout, even a walk.
Doing some type of physical activity, especially an aerobic workout , improves blood flow and delivers oxygen directly to brain tissue.
Starting to sweat also releases brain-derived neurotropic factors, or growth factors, which stimulate the birth of even more new brain cells. These new brain cells allow the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory and learning, to grow while increasing memory function.
Exercise does not cure Alzheimer's disease or aging, but the more you exercise, the more cells and connections are formed and the longer it takes for aging processes to take effect.
Cheer up
Exercise can also improve your mood by reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. That's because every time you exercise, it's like you're giving your brain a bubble bath of mood-enhancing neurochemicals.
When you move, your body releases endorphins , which are feel-good chemicals, and serotonin , which can ease depression, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve emotional well-being.
Also, when we exercise, we focus less on negative and troublesome thoughts that can be related to both anxiety and depression. It has also been shown to improve self-esteem and cognitive function and reduce social isolation, which can also improve mood.
Exercise is even as effective as medication for mild to moderate depression. Although its effectiveness depends on the amount of exercise and the type of depression that each person has.
Protects your heart
The heart is a very important muscle. It is the center of your circulatory system that pumps blood, which in turn transports oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body.
Cardiovascular exercises, whether you prefer running, swimming, cycling or jumping rope, help the heart to be more efficient and better able to pump blood throughout the body. This means that it expels more blood with each beat, allowing you to beat more slowly, relaxing your arteries and keeping your blood pressure under control.
But they are not the only benefits of exercise. It can also help improve your cholesterol and triglyceride profiles, as well as your blood sugar and insulin levels. Plus, it can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce overall inflammation , which helps lower your risk of heart disease.
Helps to lose weight
There are many factors that affect weight loss, but you need to be in a calorie deficit. The input side of the equation is the food we eat and the output side is physical activity.
To be in a calorie deficit, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn off with exercise. When you incorporate more movement into your day, you are increasing your chances of expending more calories than you take in.
Additionally, physical activity has the greatest influence on overall metabolism. As we age, we tend to reduce physical activity. So it can negatively affect basal / resting metabolic rate and body mass.
Exercise can help boost a slow metabolism, which leads to increased calorie burning and will help fuel weight loss . It can also reduce feelings of hunger, especially if vigorous intensity exercise is included in the exercise regimen.
Reduces the risk of cancer
Many cancer risk factors are beyond your control, but your activity level is one that can alter. Physical activity is associated with a lower risk of 13 types of cancer , including colon, breast, endometrial and liver.
S udar is also related to better results during remission. An April 2020 study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that people with breast cancer who followed national physical activity guidelines before being diagnosed and after chemotherapy treatment had lower rates of recurrence and death than people who did not meet exercise guidelines.
Reduce your risk of diabetes
This is a condition in which your body resists the effects of insulin, the hormone that regulates the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood, or does not make enough of what is necessary to maintain normal levels.
But exercising regularly is linked to a 26 percent reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes , according to an October 2016 analysis in Diabetologia. That's because increased strength and conditioning improves insulin function and sensitivity.
Improve your night's rest
If you have trouble falling asleep and falling asleep at night, exercising during the day can help you fall asleep more easily.
Physical activity appears to improve sleep quality by reducing sleep latency, or the time it takes to fall asleep, and the number of interruptions during the night. It also increases the time spent mos in deeper stages of sleep, allowing more restful sleep.
Exercising also reduces the severity of obstructive sleep apnea , a common sleep disorder that stops breathing at night. Although if you have trouble falling asleep, it might be best to avoid exercise close to bedtime. Studies suggest that exercising in the morning may be more beneficial for some people because it can allow your body's sympathetic nervous system to relax before bed.
Strengthens bones
Another benefit of exercise is that it helps keep bones strong by increasing levels of bone mineral density. Bone mineral density refers to the average concentration of mineral in a defined section of bone and correlates with bone strength.Most people reach peak bone mass by the age of 30 , and levels decline steadily from then on, especially in sedentary people.
The best exercises for strong bones are strength training and dynamic weight-bearing activities such as walking, running, dancing, and plyometrics.
Experts also suggest doing bodyweight exercises , such as squats, lunges, and step-ups, for older adults and anyone new to an exercise routine. Any movement that allows the joints to support the weight of the body helps strengthen the bones.
Improves mobility
Think of training as your daily dose of vitamins and supplement your ability to perform daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, carrying food, lifting luggage, moving a sofa or playing with your children.
The more you do it, the more your risk of disease, musculoskeletal problems and pain will decrease. And when the body is strong and conditioned, it increases its ability to tolerate loads, forces and stressors, and allows the different systems of the body (bones, muscles, nerves and endocrines) to communicate better with each other and function better in general.
Ideally, create training routines around functional movements , such as the squat, hip lift, and multi-directional lunges. And if you can, you should also do push exercises, press moves, rotations, and carries.
In addition to these basic movements, it is also better incorporate mobility exercises that focus on the rotator cuff, the middle part of the back, the outside of the hip, groin, middle and calves because they have a therapeutic purpose for joint health.
