Benefits to exercise
A better quality of life and significantly lower health risks!
When you exercise consistently, you are able to enjoy the most important benefits to exercise: positive physical and chemical changes in your body. Your body adapts to exercise by building stronger muscles and more dense bones. It also decreases fat in the abdomen, lowers blood pressure, and improves the strength of the heart and lungs.
All of these changes (among many others) can make your body more physically capable and more resistant to injury and disease.
The 3 most significant benefits to exercise:
1) A longer life!
Studies have shown that regular moderate physical activity will give you a longer life. The chart above is based on 2 studies of 50-year-old men and women. Another study on 65-year-olds showed life span increases of 3.5 and 5.5 years. *See references (7-9)
2) Improved quality of life!
Once you have exercised enough to improve your fitness, you will begin to notice a tremendous difference in your quality of life. Fit people with a healthy weight have a completely different life experience compared to those who are out of shape. See the facts on the benefits of physical fitness.
If you're only half convinced by the possibility of extending your life and having better physical ability through regular exercise, you'll be happy to know there's much more to gain from being active. In fact, there are real life stories, backed by statistics that will show you more critical
reasons to exercise. Exercise lowers your risk of serious medical conditions and premature death. It will even impact your budget!
3) Feel better now!
There are also immediate benefits to exercise. During your workouts, increased blood flow warms up your muscles and joints, helping relieve the stress and tension in your body. Extra oxygen for your brain will help you feel more alert, and of course, you are burning extra calories.
One of the best known effects of exercise is a boost in mood (runner’s high), which comes from the release of endorphins. Recently, scientists have been taking this knowledge a step further. Research has shown that exercise is effective in relieving anxiety and depression, and now exercise is being studied for use in clinical therapy (12-16)!
What you can do to enjoy the many benefits to exercise:
Though any exercise will help, you need at least 3 hours of moderate or vigorous exercise per week to substantially lower your risk of health concerns and improve your physical capability.
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