Exercise can help you lose weight and improve your physique, but sometimes those reasons aren’t enough to pull you off your busy schedule to do sit-ups. The good news is that exercise has all sorts of benefits outside of fitness. And you don’t have to work out like those athletes or social media influencers to reap those benefits. Even with just short workouts at regular intervals, you can experience most of these positive effects.
Still not convinced? Here are the advantages you’ll be missing:
Mental Health
According to Help Guide, exercise is as effective against mild to moderate depression as antidepressant medication, minus the side-effects. Physical activity promotes neural growth in the brain and reduces inflammation. It also releases endorphins that ultimately makes people feel good. In fact, according to Harvard TH Chan’s School of Public Health, exercise doesn’t only help treat depression, but it also works to prevent it in the first place. Karmel Choi, a postdoctoral fellow at the school, claims that even a little amount of exercise can go a long way in fighting depression.
Regular workouts have also been found to significantly help regulate stress by changing parts of the brain that are associated with it. Exercise also helps people become more aware of their anxiety and ultimately encourages them to practice distraction against the feeling.
Overall, exercise promotes better moods through psychological and chemical changes in the brain.
Aging
According to Time, regular exercise has been found to extend the lifespan of humans by as much as five years. After a study of people riding stationary bikes for 45 minutes, the researchers found decreased aging potential at the cellular level. This gives your body more time to recoup and regenerate, slowing down the aging process.
Aerobic exercise also reinvigorates blood flow to the skin, which improves the supply chain of oxygen and nutrients to the body’s largest organ. With regular training over a longer time, exercise also eventually adds more blood vessels and capillaries to the skin. With your skin looking more vibrant, the rate of aging is also slowed.
Bones
According to the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center, weigh-bearing and resistance exercises can also help your bones. By doing these kinds of workouts, the bone density and strength grow over time. They also prevent falls that cause fractures by improving muscle strength, coordination, and overall balance.
Exercise is also a proven treatment against scoliosis. The Schroth scoliosis treatment method is a nonsurgical alternative for people suffering from the condition. It’s essentially a customized program that curves the spine into a more natural position.
Fatigue
As counterintuitive as it may sound, exercise helps fight fatigue by strengthening the endurance of one’s body. According to Web MD, regular workouts are even more effective than stimulants at boosting energy levels. The article also mentioned that it helps people suffering from chronic medical conditions such as cancer and heart disease fight fatigue related to their illness.
There’s so much more to gain from exercise than just getting in shape. It’s amazing how holistic the benefits are for a person’s well-being. The next time you’re making excuses to yourself not to go for that run, remember this article.
