Benefits of Exercise

The benefits of exercise are far more than just losing weight or achieving that “beach body.” From making you happier to helping you live longer, regular exercise is key to living a healthy, balanced life. This doesn’t mean long hours in the gym or on the road. 20 mins of push and pull on your long bones, like squats and planks and lunges/squats etc 3 times per week is all you need to keep you fit and healthy.

Exercise helps:

• Boost happiness
• Better sleep
• Natural energy booster
• Increased strength and flexibility
• Build confidence and self-esteem
• Reduce you risk of heart disease
• Improved memory
• Perform better at work
• Live longer
• Reduced risk of picking up illness
• Loose weight and tone up

Boosting happiness/reducing stress

Exercise is a fab choice for boosting endorphins the feel good chemical. Whether it’s mild, moderate or hardcore workout, people who exercise experience more feelings of happiness than those who don’t.

It’s been proven in placebo trials that exercise is more effective than anti-depressants and it’s a natural stress relief. Exercise helps rid your body of cortisol, your stress hormone (fight or flight response).

Sleep better

By strengthening circadian rhythms, exercising can help keep you more bright-eyed during the day and bring on sleep at night. It also promotes better quality sleep.

These affects may not be immediate you have to put some effort in to receive the rewards. But before you know it you will be feeling generally fitter and healthier and be sleeping through the night.

Get an energy boost

When you’re feeling exhausted, the last thing you might want to do is squeeze in a workout. But that’s exactly what you could do to feel better. Even low-intensity exercise, the equivalent of a leisurely stroll will help improve energy levels.

How about walking and talking with a friend rather than meeting for coffee?!

Increase strength and flexibility

Please remember to do strength exercises. Long cardio sessions can actually deplete your adrenal reserves and long-term lead to burn out. Strength training, whether you’re lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises or incorporating yoga or Pilates helps improve muscle strength and flexibility, that is so important as we age and helps protect your bone strength as well as your muscles. Lean muscle helps your body burn fat even for a few hours after your workout.

Increase self-confidence

Exercising can help you feel better about yourself It doesn’t matter what type of exercise it is but it can help you feel stronger and fitter and healthier and help improve your posture so you carry yourself taller and straighter and you know you’ve done something good for yourself today.

Reduce your risk of heart disease naturally

Exercise gets your heart racing and you blood flowing. This increases the flexibility in your blood vessels and reduces the chance of furring arteries. It helps to reduce blood pressure and heart health.

Improve memory

Aerobic exercise helps boost the size of your hippocampus. This is the part of your brain responsible for memory and learning.

Perform better at work

Employees who worked out before work or during their lunch hour reported feeling less stressed and more productive than days when they skipped a workout. So perhaps you could go to the gym, for a walk or for a swim during your lunch break a couple of times per week.

Live longer

Keeping your body happy and healthy will help you live a longer, healthier life, be more mobile and stronger into older age.

Become less susceptible to disease

Regular exercise helps protect your body by getting your metabolism going and moving immune weakening stress hormones and toxins from your body. But this doesn’t mean long training sessions that could potentially cause more free radical damages. Moderation is key. Short sharp, regular bursts of energy.

Loose weight and tone up

I don’t think I need to elaborate on this point.