What Are The Benefits Of Regular Exercise?
Sep 04, 2024
Even though exercise is recommended for all walks of life, nearly half of women and a third of men in the UK do not exercise regularly. But how come exercise is so important? And what are the benefits of regular exercise? Continue reading to learn more!
Exercise can help improve mental health
Exercise is an excellent tool to improve mental health and manage mood! Exercise releases endorphins, which helps relieve stress, alleviate pain, and promotes well-being. It has even been found to help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, and improve mood in people of all ages. Although a quick workout is unlikely to resolve any clinical mental health problems, exercising regularly is a great way to improve overall wellbeing and regulate mood over time!
Exercise supports weight management
Although diet and calorie intake is arguably the most important part of weight loss, exercise can help burn extra calories, which can contribute to a caloric deficit. Regular exercise can also help us maintain our weight and prevent muscle loss as we age. Additionally, muscle mass burns more calories at rest compared to fat mass, which means that we can consume more calories overall!
Exercise is beneficial for bone health
Weight management isn't the only benefit to having a higher muscle mass - as we age, our bone mineral density reduces which can increase the risk of osteoporosis. By exercising and building skeletal muscle, it can ensure we have extra support as we age, which can reduce the chances of falls and fractures. One meta analysis found that regular exercise could also improve bone mineral density, which can further help prevent the development of osteoporosis!
Exercise plays an important role in energy and sleep
Exercise has been found to improve sleep, because it stimulates restorative processes during sleep! One study found that stretching and resistance exercise improved sleep quality and duration, and also reduced the amount of time it took for participants to fall asleep. Better sleep can also help us stay more energised throughout the day. Exercise can also help improve cardiovascular function and lung function, which can help us feel more energised as our hearts become more efficient in moving oxygen into your blood and exercise will be less demanding on your lungs over time.
Exercise can prevent chronic diseases
Studies have shown that regular exercise is beneficial in reducing the risk of a variety of chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and hypertension. Exercise can improve markers such as blood pressure and inflammation which contributes to the development of chronic diseases, therefore regular exercise can help relieve, treat, or delay the onset of those diseases!
How to get started
Improving your health through exercise does not have to involve any major lifestyle changes, it can involve implementing short exercise sessions throughout the day. Some examples of exercises include:
- Walking
- Running
- Yoga
- Weight training
- Cycling
- Pilates
The best part is that you don’t have to train like a professional athlete, you just have to find an activity you enjoy, that also gets your blood pumping and your muscles working. There is no right or wrong way to exercise if you want to promote better health, the most important part is to stay consistent, and best time to start exercising is today!
