You know how the saying goes, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Well, what the saying doesn’t mention is that exercise is also a great way to stay healthy. Most of us at least try to exercise on a regular basis, but a lot of times life gets in the way.
But, you don’t need that much time to get in an effective workout. In all honesty, you only need about 25-30 minutes to get in a great workout. And, you don’t need to go to the gym in order to do your workout. There are plenty of great home workout programs, such as the P90X3 workout program, the INSANITY workout, and so on. The point is that you don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment to get the job done. If you want to find a good source for health and fitness information, check out http://gethealthylab.com/.
So, what are the long-term benefits of exercising? And why should you be making it a priority to exercise?
Exercise Reduces Stress
We all know that life can be stressful. Family and work are constantly taking a toll on your life, leaving you stressed out. Stress has been shown to directly affect one’s thinking, which makes things much harder than they need to be.
Stress also affects you sleep patterns, which could leave you tired the next morning. When confronted with being stressed, a lot of people seek medical help in the form of medication. However, some medical prescriptions can have side effects that could affect your health in a negative way.
Exercising is one of the best ways to help deal with stress. Exercise releases endorphins, also known as the “feel good” hormone. That’s why you almost always feel better after a workout than you did before starting it. Exercise can also be therapeutic for a lot of people, like an escape from life.
Exercise Regulates Your Weight
This is an obvious benefit of exercise, but none the less it’s worth mentioning here. When you exercise, you burn off extra calories that would otherwise not be used. If you have bad eating habits, are lazy, or both, then there’s a good chance that you have some extra weight to lose.
If you’re not careful, your body fat percentage could get to unhealthy levels which could make everyday tasks a challenge.
Being overweight can be a stress in itself. So, maintaining a healthy weight is important to controlling your stress, and your overall health.
Improved Confidence
Touching on the last point of keeping your weight under control, exercise can also be a great way to boost your confidence. Achieving a better-looking body can give you many emotional benefits, as well as physical. Being more confident in yourself and having that self-assurance is a great way to lower anxiety and stress. People like to look good, it makes them feel better about themselves, and exercise is a great way to achieve that goal.
Improves Social Life
It’s fairly well known that positive social encounters are important to maintaining good mental health. Exercising is a great way that you can increase the number of positive interactions that you have on a daily basis. Some great ways to create positive interactions is to join an exercise group at a local gym, or perhaps your work. You could also link up with a friend and get in a workout, or go for a run.
If you prefer to do your workout alone, then simply seeing other people and smiling at them can be a very positive experience.
Calms the Mind
After having a stressful day at the office, exercising can be a great way to clear your mind. Exercise can be anything, it doesn’t mean go to the gym. It could be a walk through the neighborhood, a run in the park, a home workout, any sort of physical activity that elevates your heart rate. The point is, you’d be surprised what a change in scenery can do for your mental state.
Improves Sleep
Research has shown that exercising on a regular basis can help improve your sleeping habits. If you have difficulty sleeping at night, you may have noticed that you’re more tired during the day, which may be causing anxiety and stress. When your body’s sleep patterns are off, your stress levels can begin to rise. Exercise can help fix both the problem of being stressed out, and your sleep patterns at the same time. Exercise can help you to fix this pattern of behavior, which will make you feel more in control of your life, and relieve stress.
References:
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax
- https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/
