Exercise can be a simple and rewarding way to help you reach your goals for health. The benefits of exercise go beyond the physical – it can also improve your mood, fight depression and anxiety and even slow down the cognitive decline that comes with age.
The key to a successful fitness plan is to choose activities that you enjoy and fit them into your schedule. Start with just a few minutes of physical activity on most days and gradually increase the amount you do.
Do aerobic exercises to keep your heart and lungs healthy, like brisk walking, biking or swimming. For additional health benefits, do muscle strengthening, or resistance training, at least two times a week.
Strengthen and tone muscles, which can help prevent injury and make you more limber. Examples of strength training include lifting weights, using a resistance band, and doing various stretches.
Regular exercise has been shown to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It may also reduce your risk of developing some cancers. It can help you maintain a healthy weight, and it increases your endurance, which can lead to better performance in sports and activities that require physical stamina.
It is recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week. It is also important that adults do muscle-strengthening activities, that involve all major muscle groups, on at least two days a week.
You should also do a variety of balance and flexibility exercises to reduce your risk of falls. These may include tai chi, standing on one leg, or other exercises that help you walk more steadily.
If you are new to exercise, it is best to start slowly and build up to a higher level of intensity over time. Doing too much too quickly can be dangerous.
Try a progressive muscle relaxation technique to relax your muscles before, during and after exercise. This involves sequentially tensing specific muscles and then relaxing them, starting with the legs and working your way up to the entire body.
Doing this before and after every workout will help you focus on the positive results of your work out. It is also a great way to reduce stress and relieve tension.
In addition, exercising releases “happy” chemicals that boost your mood. These are called endorphins, which can give you a sense of well-being and happiness that lasts for hours after your workout.
This is especially useful for people suffering from depression or anxiety. It can also boost your immune system and help you cope with stressful situations.
For more information, see our fact sheet: Exercise – how to get started.
Exercise helps your brain develop new cells, making it less likely that it will suffer from age-related brain changes. It also stimulates the release of proteins and other chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain. It helps you think and learn more clearly, and it can even help you sleep better.
We all have heard of the numerous benefits that exercise can give to our bodies and minds, from reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke to boosting our mood and mental state. But what exactly are the health benefits of exercise?
The primary benefit of exercise is that it plays a major role in maintaining a healthy weight. This is because exercise helps burn off the calories that come from food and increases muscle mass, which helps the body burn even more calories even when at rest. This can reduce the risk of obesity, which puts individuals at higher risk of developing health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Speaking of heart health, exercise has also been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Exercise can strengthen the heart muscle and increase the strength of the heart’s pumping action, reducing the stress on the heart due to excess fats in the body. Additionally, exercise increases the levels of good cholesterol in the body and can reduce blood pressure.
In addition to aiding heart health, physical activity can also help improve overall mental health. When exercising, the body releases hormones such as endorphins, which are known to improve mood and reduce stress. Exercise also increases blood flow to the brain, helping reduce fatigue and increase clarity of thought. All of these factors make physical activity an integral part of managing mental health.
Exercise can also help keep the bones strong, decreasing the risk of developing osteoporosis later on in life. This is because physical activity helps strengthen the bones, delaying or preventing their thinning.
Thus, it can be concluded that exercise has numerous health benefits and external physique-related gains. Therefore, it is recommended to develop a regular exercise routine and make physical activity part of everyone’s life.
