The Benefits Of Regular Exercise

It may sound hokey saying that exercise puts more years on your life and life to those years, but it’s absolutely true. Not only does exercise help you live longer, it makes those extra years a blessing, allowing you to live on your own and function fully. There are benefits of regular exercise besides longevity. For instance, it can help you deal with giving up bad habits like drinking too much, quitting smoking and even drug addiction. The stress from quitting those things is reduced and you’ll get a high from the workout to replace the stimulation from the addictive substances.

Most people consider exercise as a way to aid weight loss.

That’s very true. It does help you control your weight. Not only does exercise help increase the calories you burn, it also can permanently boost your metabolism. You’ll build muscle tissue when you workout and muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does. That means it boosts your resting metabolic rate, burning more calories around the clock, even when you don’t exercise.

You’ll increase your heart health and help manage diabetes with regular exercise.

Exercise gets your blood pumping and makes your heart work more. Just like any muscle, it gets stronger. That extra effort improves circulation, which increases the oxygen levels in the body. Exercise lowers the risk of heart disease, lowers blood pressure, regulates cholesterol levels by reducing bad cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and a heart attack. Exercise also reduces insulin resistance, a precursor of diabetes. In fact, one of the treatments for insulin resistance is to switch to a healthy diet and get regular exercise.

You’ll improve your attitude and reduce stress with exercise.

Stress kills. It causes the brain to send chemical messengers, hormones, to parts of the body to make changes to prepare it for fighting or running. When you don’t, those changes actually affect your health if they’re not burned off with exercise. Studies show that exercise can also be beneficial in reducing anxiety and depression. In fact, mental health specialists often use it as a complementary therapy. It also increases circulation, sending nutrients to the brain and stimulates the body to increase the release the chemicals and proteins that improve brain structure and functioning.

• Osteoporosis causes weaker bones, particularly in seniors. Exercise helps improve muscles that tug on the bone and make the bone uptake calcium to strengthen it, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and even reversing some of the effect.
• You can reduce your risk of some types of cancer when you exercise. These include breast cancer, uterine cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.
• Sleep is important for heart health and mental health. A program of regular exercise can help you sleep at night and get a higher quality of sleep.
• If you want to be better in the bedroom, consider exercising regularly. It can help reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction in men and improves sexual arousal in women.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness