4 Health Benefits of Exercise
We’ve all heard how important exercise is for your health. It’s on the telly, in the papers, on social media, on the radio (for those of you who still use one) especially this time of year, everyone joins the gym in january with visions of ‘new year, new me’ and around these few weeks is when people start to come to the conclusion that the old them wasn’t so bad, sound familiar?
Now i know we all want to be “skinny” “toned” or have a “beach bod” for our holidays but what about the rest of the year. There is so many more benefits to keeping fit that you may not realise or had stopped paying attention to in the programme/ post you were looking at. So here’s a few that might keep you from cancelling that membership just yet.
Improved cardiovascular function: You may have heard this before but what does it mean? Basically that your heart and lungs work more efficiently and in the long term this means less risk or heart disease, and all types of diseases associated with the heart and lungs, and in the short term ya won’t be out of breath after a flight of stairs!
Reduction of body fat/ More muscle: This isn't just to look for the holliers (though it is an added bonus) It will also help reduce those risks again for cardiac (heart) related diseases and also increase your BMR (basal metabolic rate) This put basically is the amount of energy your body needs to stay alive, the more muscle you have the more energy is needs so you will burn more just being alive by having more muscle!
Bone Density: This is a big one for the ladies especially. As we get older bone density reduces which can lead to osteoporosis, women are much more liable to end up with osteoporosis. The good news is that exercise, particularly resistance based exercise, helps vastly reduce the risk of this by increasing your bone density.
Feel good factor! This is often overlooked but most important, who has ever come out of a workout of any type the were dreading and felt amazing? That's because exercise release serotonin into the brain making you feel happier then when you started it and who doesn't want to feel happy?
For those of you reading this and thinking “that's great but i hate the gym” Fear not! You DON’T have to go to the gym to exercise (yup a pt not promoting the gym there must be something wrong) There is no point forcing yourself into something you hate, if you don’t enjoy it you will simply give up. Any excuse and you’ll stop, simple as. Find something you enjoy and you’ll keep it up. Join a dance fit class, try yoga or pilates, join a sports team. It can be social too and if it keeps you fit in the meantime, it's a win win situation!