Bee Active Week
This week is national BeeActive week 5th -12th April
So, here is a reminder of the main 10 reasons you should stay active
#BeeActiveBeeHealthyBeeHappy.
The Top 10 Benefits of Regular Exercise
Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories.
There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking, dancing & exercise classes to name a few.
Here are the top 10 ways regular exercise benefits your body and brain.
1. It Can Make You Feel Happier
Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress
It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormone’s serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression
Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain
Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms in people suffering from anxiety. It can also help them be more aware of their mental state and practice distraction from their fears
Interestingly, it doesn’t matter how intense your workout is. It seems that your mood can benefit from exercise no matter the intensity of the physical activity.
The effects of exercise on mood are so powerful that choosing to exercise (or not) even makes a difference over short periods.
2. It Can Help with Weight Loss
Some studies have shown that inactivity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity
To understand the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure.
Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing.
While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which will delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn more calories and help you lose weight
Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off
3. It Is Good for Your Muscles and Bones
Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones.
Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake.
This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown
As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age
Also, exercise helps build bone density when you’re younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life
Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling
4. It Can Increase Your Energy Levels
Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions
One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue
Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses
In fact, exercise seems to be more effective at combating CFS than other treatments, including passive therapies like relaxation and stretching, or no treatment at all
Additionally, exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis
5. It Can Reduce Your Risk of Chronic Disease
Lack of regular physical activity is a primary cause of chronic disease
Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels
In contrast, a lack of regular exercise — even in the short term — can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death
Therefore, daily physical activity is recommended to reduce belly fat and decrease the risk of developing these diseases
6. It Can Help Skin Health
Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body.
Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin.
Even though intense and exhaustive physical activity can contribute to oxidative damage, regular moderate exercise can increase your body’s production of natural antioxidants, which help protect cells
In the same way, exercise can stimulate blood flow and induce skin cell adaptations that can help delay the appearance of skin aging
7. It Can Help Your Brain Health and Memory
Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills.
To begin with, it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain.
It can also stimulate the production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells.
Moreover, the ability of exercise to prevent chronic disease can translate into benefits for your brain, since its function can be affected by these diseases
Regular physical activity is especially important in older adults since aging — combined with oxidative stress and inflammation — promotes changes in brain structure and function
Exercise has been shown to cause the hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s vital for memory and learning, to grow in size. This serves to increase mental function in older adults
Lastly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia
8. It Can Help with Relaxation and Sleep Quality
Regular exercise can help you relax and sleep better
In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep
Moreover, the increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep
Many studies on the effects of exercise on sleep have reached similar conclusions.
A study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality
What’s more, engaging in regular exercise seems to be beneficial for the elderly, who tend to be affected by sleep disorders
You can be flexible with the kind of exercise you choose. It appears that either aerobic exercise alone or aerobic exercise combined with resistance training can equally help sleep quality.
9. It Can Reduce Pain
Chronic pain can be debilitating, but exercise can actually help reduce it
In fact, for many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain
A review of several studies indicates that exercise helps participants with chronic pain reduce their pain and improve their quality of life
Several studies show that exercise can help control pain that’s associated with various health conditions, including chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder, to name a few
Additionally, physical activity can also raise pain tolerance and decrease pain perception
10. It Can Promote a Better Sex Life
Exercise has been proven to boost sex drive
Engaging in regular exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve blood circulation, tone muscles and enhance flexibility, all of which can improve your sex life
Physical activity can improve sexual performance and sexual pleasure, as well as increase the frequency of sexual activity
A group of women in their 40s observed that they experienced orgasms more frequently when they incorporated more strenuous exercise, such as sprints, boot camps and weight training, into their lifestyles
Also, among a group of 178 healthy men, the men that reported more exercise hours per week had higher sexual function scores
What’s more, a study demonstrated that women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome, which can reduce sex drive, increased their sex drive with regular resistance training for 16 weeks.