Benefits of Regular Exercise

Some of the benefits of regular exercise are more obvious than others. This is good to keep in mind when things starts hurting, or just pounding the treadmill for hours and hours makes boredom a decidedly plausible cause of death.

Five Benefits of Regular Exercise

Here are some benefits of regular exercise to keep in mind when things get tough and the thought of a return to the couch potato lifestyle beckons.

Better Cardiovascular Health

Training a muscle regularly makes it stronger. This applies to the heart and lungs as well, making your cardiovascular system more efficient the more you use it. That means lower blood pressure, slower resting heart rate, healthier arteries and many other benefits you don't see with the naked eye. It's also nice to not sweat and wheeze when the elevator is busted and you have to walk a dozen flights of stairs to get to your floor.

Lower Risk of Disease

Cardiovascular disease prevention aside, there are many other nasty ills you can combat through regular exercise. For example, type 2 diabetes is a disease on the rise in the western world, caused by excess junk food intake coupled with poor exercise habits. This diabetes occurs when your system is constantly bombarded by sugar to the point that the insulin receptors lose their sensitivity, thus causing the body to be unable to properly regulate blood sugar levels.

Not only is it easier to stay on a good diet when you're doing it as part of a diet/exercise strategy, but you also revitalize the insulin receptors, effectively firing off a round in the right direction every time you hit the gym.

Healthier Joints

Knees, hips and other key joints and ligaments are made to last a lifetime. Problem is, they're not made to hold you plus 30 or 40 lbs as you walk, stand, jump and otherwise move around. Try holding a 30 lb weight for a while and you'll find it gets uncomfortable and awkward in a hurry; putting it down is a relief. If you're 30 lbs overweight, the weight is distributed all over, but the net effect is the same as far as your knees are concerned. Do them a favor, lose the excess weight and keep it off through regular exercise.

However, if you're prone to joint problems such as having a family history of arthritis and the like, make sure your exercise doesn't potentially cause more harm than good. If you're in the danger zone for knee problems, opt for safe forms of exercise like swimming or elliptical trainers rather than high-impact exercise like running or step classes.

Better Appearance

Let's not beat around the bush on this one -- exercise makes you look fit and healthy, which is universally seen as a good thing in social contexts both at work and in personal life. This in turn provides a boost to confidence and self-esteem, which can further the career and social life of regular exercisers. Naturally, this brings us to…

Mental Health

Just plain feeling good is always a plus, but regular exercise can do a lot more to stabilize life. For one thing, working off excess energy, stress, aggressions and other tension that accumulates over a normal workday can be a great way to avoid bringing problems home with you. Restlessness, depression and anxiety tend to be hard to hold onto as the endorphins flow towards the end of a hard workout. Simply put, exercise can be a great mental reset-button in many ways.

Conclusion

It doesn't really matter if you prefer jogging, tennis, spinning or weight lifting -- the important thing is that you make it a regular, scheduled activity at least a couple days a week. Hopefully, you can grow your health care regimen from there, but step one is always to create and maintain that fundamental habit of breaking a good sweat on a regular basis. Once you're in the habit, the aforementioned benefits are yours for the taking. Good luck!

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