50 compelling reasons to exercise and be more active, convincing enough to get anyone started. 50 reasons to exercise. LoveThisPic is a place for people to come and share inspiring pictures, quotes, DIYs, and many other types of photos. The user 'Dreamer' has submitted the 50 Reasons To Exercise picture/image you're currently viewing.
Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories.
There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking and dancing, to name a few.
Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer (1 ).
Here are the top 10 ways regular exercise benefits your body and brain.
Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress (2 ).
It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression (1 ).
Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain (1 ).
Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms in people suffering from anxiety. It can also help them be more aware of their mental state and practice distraction from their fears (1 ).
Interestingly, it doesn't matter how intense your workout is. It seems that your mood can benefit from exercise no matter the intensity of the physical activity.
In fact, a study in 24 women who had been diagnosed with depression showed that exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression (3 ).
The effects of exercise on mood are so powerful that choosing to exercise (or not) even makes a difference over short periods.
One study asked 26 healthy men and women who normally exercised regularly to either continue exercising or stop exercising for two weeks. Those who stopped exercising experienced increases in negative mood (4 ).
Summary: Exercising regularly can improve your mood and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.
Some studies have shown that inactivity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity (5 , 6 ).
To understand the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure.
Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing.
While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which will delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn more calories and help you lose weight (5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ).
Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off (6 , 8 , 9 , 10, 11 ).
Summary: Exercise is crucial to supporting a fast metabolism and burning more calories per day. It also helps you maintain your muscle mass and weight loss.
Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones.
Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake.
This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown (12 , 13 ).
As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age (14 ).
Also, exercise helps build bone density when you're younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life (15 ).
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Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling (16 ).
Summary: Physical activity helps you build muscles and strong bones. It may also help prevent osteoporosis.
Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions (17 , 18 ).
One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue (19 ).
Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses (20 , 21 ).
In fact, exercise seems to be more effective at combating CFS than other treatments, including passive therapies like relaxation and stretching, or no treatment at all (20 ).
Additionally, exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis (21 ).
Summary: Engaging in regular physical activity can increase your energy levels. This is true even in people with persistent fatigue and those suffering from serious illnesses.
Lack of regular physical activity is a primary cause of chronic disease (22 ).
Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels (23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ).
In contrast, a lack of regular exercise — even in the short term — can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death (23 ).
Therefore, daily physical activity is recommended to reduce belly fat and decrease the risk of developing these diseases (27 , 28 ).
Summary: Daily physical activity is essential to maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk of chronic disease.
Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body.
Oxidative stress occurs when the body's antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin.
Even though intense and exhaustive physical activity can contribute to oxidative damage, regular moderate exercise can increase your body's production of natural antioxidants, which help protect cells (29 , 30 ).
In the same way, exercise can stimulate blood flow and induce skin cell adaptations that can help delay the appearance of skin aging (31 ).
Summary: Moderate exercise can provide antioxidant protection and promote blood flow, which can protect your skin and delay signs of aging.
Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills.
To begin with, it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain.
It can also stimulate the production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells.
Moreover, the ability of exercise to prevent chronic disease can translate into benefits for your brain, since its function can be affected by these diseases (32).
Regular physical activity is especially important in older adults since aging — combined with oxidative stress and inflammation — promotes changes in brain structure and function (33 , 34 ).
Exercise has been shown to cause the hippocampus, a part of the brain that's vital for memory and learning, to grow in size. This serves to increase mental function in older adults (33 , 34 , 35 ).
Lastly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia (36 ).
Summary: Regular exercise improves blood flow to the brain and helps brain health and memory. Among older adults, it can help protect mental function.
Regular exercise can help you relax and sleep better (37 , 38 ).
In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep (38 ).
Moreover, the increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep (39 ).
Many studies on the effects of exercise on sleep have reached similar conclusions.
One study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality (40).
Another showed that 16 weeks of physical activity increased sleep quality and helped 17 people with insomnia sleep longer and more deeply than the control group. It also helped them feel more energized during the day (41 ).
What's more, engaging in regular exercise seems to be beneficial for the elderly, who tend to be affected by sleep disorders (41 , 42 , 43 ).
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You can be flexible with the kind of exercise you choose. It appears that either aerobic exercise alone or aerobic exercise combined with resistance training can equally help sleep quality (44 ).
Summary: Regular physical activity, regardless of whether it is aerobic or a combination of aerobic and resistance training, can help you sleep better and feel more energized during the day.
Chronic pain can be debilitating, but exercise can actually help reduce it (45 ).
In fact, for many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain (45 ).
A review of several studies indicates that exercise helps participants with chronic pain reduce their pain and improve their quality of life (45 ).
Several studies show that exercise can help control pain that's associated with various health conditions, including chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder, to name a few (46 ).
Additionally, physical activity can also raise pain tolerance and decrease pain perception (47 , 48 ).
Summary: Exercise has favorable effects on the pain that's associated with various conditions. It can also increase pain tolerance.
Exercise has been proven to boost sex drive (49 , 50, 51).
Engaging in regular exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve blood circulation, tone muscles and enhance flexibility, all of which can improve your sex life (49 , 51).
Physical activity can improve sexual performance and sexual pleasure, as well as increase the frequency of sexual activity (50, 52 ).
A group of women in their 40s observed that they experienced orgasms more frequently when they incorporated more strenuous exercise, such as sprints, boot camps and weight training, into their lifestyles (53 ).
Also, among a group of 178 healthy men, the men that reported more exercise hours per week had higher sexual function scores (50).
One study found that a simple routine of a six-minute walk around the house helped 41 men reduce their erectile dysfunction symptoms by 71% (54 ).
Another study performed in 78 sedentary men revealed how 60 minutes of walking per day (three and a half days per week, on average) improved their sexual behavior, including frequency, adequate functioning and satisfaction (55 ).
What's more, a study demonstrated that women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome, which can reduce sex drive, increased their sex drive with regular resistance training for 16 weeks (56 ).
Summary: Exercise can help improve sexual desire, function and performance in men and women. It can also help decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction in men.
Exercise offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of your health from the inside out.
Regular physical activity can increase the production of hormones that make you feel happier and help you sleep better.
It can also improve your skin's appearance, help you lose weight and keep it off, lessen the risk of chronic disease and improve your sex life.
Whether you practice a specific sport or follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week, you will inevitably improve your health in many ways (57 ).
Maybe you’ve been meaning to start but just haven’t found the right routine … or even the right exercise hack. Perhaps you’re recovering from an injury or haven’t gotten around to it. Whatever your excuse, I’m here to tell you that today is the day to start working out.
That’s because the benefits of exercise are far more than just losing weight or achieving that “bikini body.” Exercise benefits everything from your sleep quality to your energy level, and even your memory. From making you happier to helping you live longer, regular exercise is key to living a healthy, balanced life.
11 Reasons You Should Start Working Out Today
1. Boost happiness levels
Whether we’re fully conscious of it or not, we’re always looking for how to be happy. And exercise is one of the most obvious steps to take, as it’s not a coincidence that you feel better after a good workout: It’s science. A Penn State University study found that people who exercised, whether it was a mild, moderate or vigorous workout, had more pleasant feelings than those who didn’t. (1)
These same people were also happier on days when they were more physically active than usual, meaning that upping the ante on workouts can provide even more of a happiness boost. The takeaway? Working out can make you happy long term; adding extra intensity can make you feel even better.
Another experiment used a smartphone app to have participants track their activity, location and happiness levels throughout the day. It received more than 3 million responses a year — and users were at their second-happiest post-workout. (2)
2. Learn to set — and achieve — goals
Whether it’s deciding to run a 10K, increasing the amount you can deadlift or increasing your bike mileage, setting and achieving fitness goals is an incredible self-confidence boost. But if you find your resolutions falling to the wayside, science has uncovered the secret to success: setting clear intentions.
A 2002 study examined three groups of people. Group one, the control group, was told to track how often each person exercised throughout the week. The second group, the motivation group, was given the same instructions, but also read a motivational speech. Group three, the intention group, added on to the previous groups by asking people to create a plan that set a specific day, time and place to exercise.
Guess who was most successful? Group three had a much higher rate of actually following through, at a tune of 91 percent, while the control group exercised at least 38 percent of the week. The motivation group actually exercised the least, with just 35 percent. (3)
By discovering the power of goal setting by committing to reaching an exercise milestone and then working out just how you’ll achieve it, you can enjoy the benefits of exercise and the confidence that comes along with it.
3. Reduce your risk of heart disease naturally
Get out of the medicine cabinet and reduce your risk of heart disease the natural way. A meta-review of a variety of studies and trials conducted by researchers in 2013 — encompassing 305 trials with more than 339,000 participants — found that no statistically detectable differences existed between those who exercised and those who were given medications in the prevention of coronary heart disease and prediabetes. (4)
In fact, in those patients who already had suffered a stroke, physical activity interventions were more effective than drug treatment. Work with your doctor to set up an exercise plan that works for you.
4. Sleep better
If you can’t sleep and instead are prone to tossing and turning, exercising can help you sleep better. By strengthening circadian rhythms, exercising can help keep you more bright-eyed during the day and bring on sleep at night. (5) It also promotes better quality sleep.
While the effects may not be an immediate quick fix — a recent study found that it can take up to four months for those beginning an exercise routine to have a positive effect on sleep — starting a working out plan is the only way to ensure you’ll sleep soundly every night. (6)
5. Get an energy boost
When you’re feeling exhausted, the last thing you might want to do is squeeze in a workout. But, according to experts, that’s exactly what you should do. They found that low-intensity exercise, the equivalent of a leisurely stroll, experienced a drop in fatigue levels and a 20 percent energy boost.
Even more exciting is that the low-intensity exercise group’s fatigue levels dropped more than the higher-intensity group, great news for those who might skip a workout because they don’t have time or energy for a more intense session. Both groups reported steadily increased energy over the span of the six-week experiment. (7)
6. Increase strength and flexibility
If strength training and stretching aren’t a part of your fitness routine, it’s time to incorporate them. Though many adults engage in cardio activities, quite a few stay away from resistance training and building muscle — and that’s a mistake.
Strength training, whether you’re lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises or incorporating yoga moves, helps improve muscle strength and muscle mass, particularly important as we age. (8) It also keeps bones strong, thus serving as a great natural treatment for osteoporosis. Plus, increased muscle helps your body burn calories more efficiently long after your workout is over.
And don’t forget about stretching: It increases your body’s flexibility, helping everyday tasks become easier. It also sends more blood to your muscles, improving circulation, and can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Just a few minutes a day of deep stretching can make a difference.
7. Improve memory
Are you constantly misplacing your keys or struggling to recall names? Exercising regularly can help jog your memory. A 2014 study found that aerobic exercise, like running or swimming, boosts the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning, in women with a recognized risk factor for dementia. (9) Besides looking to brain food to boost your memory and mental skills, start breaking a sweat!
8. Increase self-confidence
Feeling down on yourself? Exercising can help you feel better about yourself — no matter what type of workout you do or how fit you are. One study found that “the simple act of exercise and not fitness itself can convince you that you look better.” (10) With so much emphasis on our outward appearances in society today, it’s comforting to know that one of the benefits of exercise helps people feel better about themselves and how they look naturally.
9. Perform better at work
Could the key to being more productive and happier at work lie in exercise? One study thinks so. It found that those employees who worked out before work or during their lunch hour reported feeling less stress and being happier and more productive than days when they skipped a workout. (11) Not only that, but they also performed better on exercise days. It’s the perfect excuse for a lunchtime stroll or walking meeting.
10. Become less susceptible to disease
From fortifying your immune system against future cancers to reducing the risk of breast cancer, regular exercise helps protect your body. (12) Although researchers aren’t entirely sure how exercise boosts immunity, theories range from bacteria being flushed out of the body to a reduction in stress-released hormones that might increase the risk of illness. (13)
While we wait for the science to catch up, it’s clear that engaging in moderate to intense exercise benefits your body in ways we’re not even sure of yet.
11. Live longer
Being there for our loved ones and enjoying as many special moments together as we can — that’s what life really is all about. Keeping your body happy and healthy to help you live a longer, fuller life is one of exercise’s biggest benefits. Therefore, it’s great news that research published in 2012, which studied more than 650,000 people, found that 150 minutes of moderate exercise (or about half hour five days a week) increases your life span by 3.4 years. (14)
So short of moving to a blue zone, exercising for just 10 minutes a day, or 75 minutes a week, can earn you an extra 1.8 years. The findings held true even for those individuals who were overweight or obese; adding exercise helped them live longer, while being obese and inactive decreased life span by up to 7.2 years. The benefits of adding more exercise increased and then plateaued at about 300 minutes of weekly exercise (or an hour five days a week) adding an extra 4.2 years of life.
So the next time you think you’re too busy, think about it this way: You’re shaving off years of life. Is that TV show really worth it?
Read Next:20 Exercise Hacks to Sneak More Fitness Into Your Day
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