10 Health benefits of exercise.
Keeping fit by living a healthy lifestyle, can easily be achieved if you take full advantage of the 10 health benefits of exercise. It is a well-known fact that exercise is very important to our health and when it’s combined with a healthy lifestyle, the benefits go through the roof. So, this post will be focused on the benefits that regular exercise can bring. And looking at how your body can reap the rewards of adding a physical regime to your daily lifestyle.
10 Health benefits of exercise.
There’re many things and ways, you can keep your body in tip-top condition. The first and foremost thing is regular exercise. There are many basic guidelines, to which you are encouraged to follow, to help us maintain good health. We are encouraged to take 10,000 steps each day, drink approximately 2 liters of water each day, get 6 – 8 hours sleep per night and eat between 2,000 – 2500 calories per day!
The list is long, but the advice and logic behind each recommendation is based on sound medical statistics. Which is all based up on keeping your body and mind fit and healthy. Because this post is about the 10 health benefits of exercise, I’ll be looking at which areas of your body stands to benefit the most from a regular exercise regime.
The obvious parts are your:
- Heart – cardiovascular system.
- Control moods.
- Joints.
- Muscles.
- Mentality.
- Skin.
- Rest.
- Improved libido.
- Energy.
- Weight management.
Exercise is a very powerful drug, powerful enough to help strengthen your body against physical ailments and certain diseases. Such as strokes, high blood pressure and arthritis, the benefits of regular exercise speaks for itself. But to be clear on what the 10 health benefits of exercise are, I’m going to look at each point in greater detail, pointing how to best achieve the best results, from each area.
1. Heart – your cardiovascular system.
Let me first start by saying your heart is the most important organ your body contains. It’s a muscle, it’s prime function is to move oxygenated and deoxygenated blood around our body. The whole process is undertaken by this vital muscle which is made up of 4 chambers, 2 on the left and 2 on the right. It is built up from three tissue types, these are:
- Myocardium.
- Epicardium.
- Endocardium.
They surround the heart and are covered by the Pericardium. Chinese medical practitioners, refer to the Pericardium as the protector of the heart. This now all makes perfect sense, because of the role it plays. Like any muscle, exercise will make it stronger and improve the way it performs. But it still needs to be protected during your daily workouts, the simple guideline is:
200 bpm (Beats per minute) – your age = your peak.
This simple formula is the recommended amount of beats your heart should perform during exercise!
2. Moods – the feel good factor.
Have you ever noticed how good you feel after a workout? It’s the best part of a workout, after the sweating as stopped and I’ve managed to catch my breath. I know I’m also getting fitter, with every session, but the feeling of achievement is instantaneous. Whereas everything else will take some time to present itself.
The body and mind benefits from the endorphins released during exercise, leaving you feeling fresh and alive. So, if you’re feeling down and in need of a pick me up, go for a walk or participate in some exercise. Which is a guaranteed way to put a smile back on your face.
3. Joints – improve your mobility and strength.
Taking part in a regular exercise program will deliver many benefits. Your skeletal system and joints are next in line to benefit from the exercise burn. When you workout your heart rate rises, you’ll sweat and your muscles will become dense, your bones will also become dense, which is very important especially as we get older.
The joints that stand to benefit the most from your regular workouts are your hips, knees, ankles and femur. These joints and bones are more important than the others because they are load bearing and as we age are more susceptible to breaks. But bones and joints rely on muscles and muscles rely on bones, it’s a partnership that works very well, if both parties are kept in great shape.
4. Muscles – strength in unity.
Despite what most of us think, we all have some level of muscle density. Muscles are made of strands of tissue, that is bound together and when we exercise or work through our daily chores, our muscles benefits. So, daily or a weekly exercise program will improve your health. Men between the age of 20 and 39 years of age will have a muscle mass of 75 – 89% of muscle. Women of a similar age will have an average of 63 -75.7% muscle mass.
The key factor is your age, the older you become the less muscle mass your body will contain. Exercise can help to build muscle mass and help to keep the aging process at bay. Which in turn will keep you more active for longer, with fewer risks of accidental breaks.
5. Mentality – healthy mind, healthy body.
In the world of fitness having a clear and positive mind set is very important. Being healthy relies on getting the right balance in our lives. The 10 health benefits of exercise, is about addressing this fact and I hope you’ll agree with what you read. When we exercise our body releases the feel-good hormones, which helps us feel to happier about ourselves. It’s also an amazing way to control anxiety, depression and stimulate brain cells, which will also help to fight off mental diseases, such as dementia.
I tend to look at the communication between the mind and the body, in a unique way. For me the mind/brain is what I often refer to as the processor or master chip, if this chip fails, then the whole body fails! The body is important, don’t get me wrong, but it is controlled by the brain, which is so complex, that we are still unaware of its full potential. But what we do know, is that exercise is a very important tonic to keep it healthy!
6. Skin – your protective wrapping.
Your skin covers the whole of our body and is regarded as an organ. It weighs approximately 3.6 kilos and covers around 2 square meters. Our skin does a lot more for us than just making us look good, it shields us from external diseases, it helps to regulate our body temperature, during exercise.
Now, this might not sound important but can you imagine what would happen if your body couldn’t release heat? Well, the result could be heat stroke! So, this organ has a vital role to play in our health, It’s not just ultimate athletes who are at risk, it’s anyone who takes part in any physical activity.
During exercise our skin opens its pores and releases water on to the surface of our skin, this is known as sweat. This process helps to regulate our body temperature and at the same time it helps to remove impurities, that as been trapped in the pores of our skin. Leaving us with a clear fresh complexion.
7. Rest – a time to reset and recharge.
I have found that exercise is a very effective way to reset your sleeping pattern. I’m not saying you have to be an ultimate athlete, all I’m saying is that if you’re struggling to achieve your 6 – 9 hours of recommended sleep. You could try adding an exercise program to your life. The way this works is simple and at the same time, a little weird. I’m guessing you’re already a little tired, especially if you haven’t been sleeping well and I’m suggesting you start an exercise program!
Well, it could be what your body needs. Pushing yourself just a little further will make you tired, it will improve your overall lifestyle but more importantly, it will set your body up, for some quality sleep.
8. Improve your libido.
Did you know that regular exercise can increase your libido? Well, it’s a fact, your body thrives after a good workout and it sets the mood for love. The reason for this is quite simple, when we exercise it helps to diminish negativity and depression. Our blood flow increases and our bodies release feel-good endorphins. This combination makes us feel good about ourselves and in turn increases our desire to make love.
9. Energy – self cultivated power.
Our workout can do a number of positive things for our body, but I’m guessing you wouldn’t have thought it would boost your energy levels. The first thing I’d like to say is, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Let me explain, to workout you need drive, enthusiasm and ENERGY and if you workout regularly you can also increase your ENERGY!
So, do you see what I mean? Although, you don’t need a lot of energy to get the ball rolling, all you really need to do is give 100% of effort to achieve massive rewards. To start all you need to do is workout what it is that you want to achieve, lucky for you the 10 health benefits of exercise can help direct you. Once you know which part of your lifestyle you would like to improve, choose an activity and off you go.
The important thing to bear in mind about exercise is, to gain benefits from your workout routines, you shouldn’t expect results overnight. Monitor your workouts and your food, sleep pattern, over a 3-day period, to measure the results.
10. Weight management – workout a little but often.
One of the main reasons most of us take up an exercise program, is usually to lose weight. Although, it could also be for health reasons. But exercise is a very important part of any weight loss program. To give you a better understanding of an effective weight loss program, I’m going to first of all remind you of the basic calorie intake for men and women.
The health authority guideline, suggests that men should consume 2500 calories and women should consume 2000. This is only a suggestion and recent studies have shown, that consuming the recommended amount of calories, will not guarantee your achieve weight loss. The simple reason for this is we all have different body types, with varied muscle mass. Recent studies have come to the conclusion that the amount of calories we burn, is relevant to our muscle mass.
To make this even clearer let me explain, during exercise our body burns more calories and the larger muscle groups tend to burn even more. So, to keep your weight loss program on track, eat healthily and workout more often.
Different types of exercise.
One of the great things about exercise, is that it comes in so many forms. Yet, it all delivers the same health benefits, admittedly, some forms of exercise will get you fitter, faster than others. Even though improving your physical health isn’t a race. You can achieve different results with different types of exercise, for instance, depending on your fitness levels or sport, you could run. If you’re not physically able to run, you could walk or swim!
To be honest the list is endless! The most important point to bear in mind is, you need to be aware of your physical abilities and from there, choose an exercise program that matches your physical attributes. In order to achieve the best results. Here are a few of the most popular, free and paid for, exercises available:
- Weight training – at home or in a leisure complex near you.
- Swimming – in most leisure complexes.
- Running – track or cross-country.
- Zumba – in a gym near you.
- Insanity – in a leisure facility near you.
- Peloton – paid for online.
- Racket sports.
These are the most popular exercise fads, that have stood the test of time and are available in most areas and online.
The 5 important benefits of regular exercise.
Even though this post is about the 10 health benefits of exercise, I still believe it’s very important to have a grasp of the 5 important benefits of exercise. I believe this would be:
1. Weight loss control.
2. Improved mentality and stress management.
3. Cardiovascular management.
4. Improved libido.
5. Rest and rejuvenation.
I have already spoken about these topics in great depth, so I’ll mention them as my top 5 health benefits of exercise, not in any necessary order.
Getting the best out of exercise.
I have been involved in exercise for over 40 years and I have no doubt, that exercise has been a very powerful tool in helping me to achieve my sporting goals. The best advice I can offer is, to make your exercise routine a part of your daily lifestyle. Enjoy your workouts and never force them! We are unique and that’s what makes every workout program different.
The main concept we should all have is a positive, mental attitude. Train with a goal in mind, a realistic goal, something that is possible to achieve and stick to it. This was how I mentally approached every training session and regardless how my body performed, I’d started out giving nothing but 100%! Remember you can only get out what you put in, so give it your all and in time you’ll reach your goals.
My conclusion of the 10 health benefits of exercise.
Physical exercise means something different to everyone, to me exercise is the best way to get fitter and stay fit. It will involve hard work and I know I’m going to sweat, a lot! But I’m fine with that because, I know what I want to achieve and I have no problems with working hard to achieve it. The 10 health benefits of exercise, puts the finishing touch to something, I’m already willing to perform.
My mind is crystal clear about what needs to be done, to achieve progress. I would like to help you achieve the same state of mind. Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t move forward, until you know where you’ve come from” If you have, then how about this one, “You can’t move forward, until you know where you’re trying to get to”. Both statements are relevant and are used to encourage you research and plan ahead, to minimize failure or injury.
Having read this post, I hope you have picked up vital information and guidance to assist your training or whatever else you are looking for from your workout routines. Remember to keep the basics in mind at all times, seek medical advice if you haven’t worked out in a while and listen to the advice given by your doctor.
As always, I’m here for you and if you have any questions or comments please leave them below and I’ll respond as soon as possible.
To your health and well-being.
