Benefits of Exercise

If you’ve been searching high and low for that miracle drug to lower the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, cancer and strokes by as much as 50% and boost your life span as well, you’ve come to the right place. What’ more, this drug is available for free and you don’t even need your doctors before getting some of it for yourself. If you’re still wondering what we are talking about, its exercise. Exercise is one of the most underrated cures simply because of the fact that it is available for free and requires one to dedicate some amounts of time and efforts. However, science has actually proved that being physically active can do wonders to boost your life span and keep you free from a number of diseases. Furthermore, physical exercises are also known to boost your self confidence, make you feel happier and energetic, reduce stress and ward off depression. In fact, if exercise were a pill, you’d be rushing off to the chemist to buy one right now. Here is a list of some of the main benefits of exercise.

Boosting happy chemicals throughout the body

Exercising might be tough and tiring, but it is definitely worth the effort. Your body releases a chemical known as endorphins during exercises. This chemical is known to create feelings of euphoria, ward off depression and make you feel happier. Therefore, exercises are one of the most commonly prescribed ailments for those suffering from anxiety or depression. And it doesn’t take too much of your time either. All you need to do is spend about 30 minutes in the gym about 5 – 6 days a week.

Reducing Stress and Anxiety

Getting over a rough day in school, college or at work can be quite difficult, but not when you have exercises to fall back on. One of the best benefits of exercises and workouts is that they help in reducing stress and anxiety. They moderate the stress levels by increasing the concentration of norepinephrine in the body. Norepinephrine is a chemical that moderates stress responses and boosts the ability to deal with mental tension.

Sharpening the Memory

Studies have shown that regular exercises help humans to boost their memory and enhance their ability to grasp and learn new things. Exercises are known to increase the production of cells in the hippocampus, the component responsible for learning and memory. This is one of the main reasons why children are encouraged to take part in regular physical exercises. And it’s not just the children. Grown ups can also benefit a great deal with exercises. In fact, according to a recent study, regular exercises helped adults to boost their vocabulary retention powers.

Health benefits

Numerous studies have proved that exercises can bring about a number of health benefits with them. Exercising is considered to be essential for those looking to live a happy life later on in their life. According to reports, exercises reduce the chances of heart related diseases and strokes by 35% and the type 2 diabetes and colon cancer by 50%. Furthermore, the chances of early death are reduced by 30% and the chances of breast cancer are reduced by as much as 20%.

Controlling addiction

The human brain releases a chemical known as dopamine in response to a form of pleasure, be it from drugs, sex, alcohol or exercises. Many people are known to become addicted to dopamine and substances like drugs and alcohol that help in producing it. Studies have shown that exercising can help one to control these addictions and help with addiction recovery as well. Furthermore, exercising also allows people to regulate their sleeping patterns which makes them sleep at the right time.

What counts as exercise?

You might feel happy in the knowledge that a few squats are helping you improve your health, but you’re not getting anything out of them. Exercises need to have a moderate intensity wherein you raise your heart rate and also break a sweat. Some of the most common moderate intensity exercises include bicycling, brisk walking, jogging, tennis and water aerobics. Remember, your daily chores cannot count as a form of exercise, except when you use the lawn movers to clear your backyard.

Recommended exercise levels

• Children under the age of 5 should be doing 180 minutes of exercises each day.
• Children between 5 – 18 should be doing 60 minutes of exercises each day.
• People between the age 19 – 60 should be doing 180 minutes of exercise each week.
• Adults over the age of 60 should be doing 150 minutes of exercise each week.