Why Should People Exercise

With the magic of technology and life-prolonging miracle drugs all around us, why should people exercise in this day and age? Not a week goes by without new reports about designer drugs that melt off fat and cure the kind of ailments that typically go with a sedentary lifestyle, so why bother?

Of course, exercise will never go out of style. Here are five arguments for those who want to stay on the couch and bet on medical science rather than hit the jogging trail.

A muscle that gets a lot of use adapts to the demand placed on it, growing gradually stronger over time so as to better handle the workload. This doesn't just apply to biceps; the heart works the same way. Give it a couple of thorough workouts per week on a regular basis, and it'll have little trouble handling the occasional sprint to catch the bus or moving the new couch up the stairs.

Of course, there are a number of side benefits beyond just strengthening the heart and extending your life. Your lungs become more efficient at processing air. Blood pressure, a key factor in serious incidents like strokes, goes down. Even the blood itself makes subtle changes to its composition, increasing the amount of red blood cells, which makes it even better at transporting oxygen.

Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes are on the rise. Part of the blame lies with sugar-rich foods and beverages, but exercise is another very important component of dodging this bullet. In a nutshell, the body takes damage from too high levels of blood sugar. To combat this, it releases insulin, a powerful hormone that "force feeds" the muscles and liver with excess sugar.

Now, this kind of diabetes sets in when your body stops responding to the insulin because the insulin receptors simply can't handle it anymore. Exercise, on the other hand, works like a tune-up for the insulin receptors. Exercise isn't a license to gorge on donuts and soda, of course, but it's a key part of the prevention.

Your bones tend grow brittle with age -- osteoporosis -- especially for women. Calcium supplementation goes a long way towards keeping the skeleton in shipshape, but regular exercise (weight training in particular) can further tilt the odds in your favor.

Office workers don't get much exercise at their desks, and while the field of ergonomics has made great strides over the past couple decades, there are plenty of aching necks and poor postures out there. In many cases, the cause is lack of muscle tone in the neck and upper back area. This in turn triggers muscle pains, headaches, pinched nerves and gradual deterioration of the whole structure. Likewise, blue collar workers benefit greatly from core training (abs, lower back, hips) since this is the best insurance policy there is against back pain and injuries caused by insufficient muscular support when lifting things.

Finally, exercise is an excellent way of fighting winter depression. It is very difficult to put in a tough Tae Bo workout and feel all blue and listless as you hit the shower. The effect isn't just psychological either; the workout triggers a burst of endorphins, similar in nature to morphine, raising all-around well-being.

Then there's the mental boost of seeing your efforts paying off. Stepping on the scale and finding you've lost three pounds rarely bring a frown to anybody's face. There's a distinct confidence that comes with being or making progress towards being physically fit that just can't be achieved any other way. This confidence can in turn help your career, social life and general self-esteem in a way no magic pill can, effectively answering the question: Why should people exercise?

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