Why Exercise?
- Exercise boosts a hormone that increases energy. It doesn’t take more than a few workouts before strength and the lungs’ capacity to provide oxygen to working muscles improve, increasing stamina.
- Improved ability to fall asleep and sleep well.
- Just one simple workout can ease stress and anxiety. Exercise enhances the flow of brain chemicals, such as serotonin, that are related to positive mood. Because it also increases core body temperature, it can be as relaxing as a good soak in a hot tub.
- Exercise can even spark creativity.
- Resistance training such as weight lifting improves muscular strength and endurance and increases bone density, which is especially important for older adults to prevent falls and injuries.
Physical activity boosts levels of high-density lipoproteins, or HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, by as much as 20%. HDL helps rid the body of low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, the artery-clogging kind. Exercising converts triglycerides into fatty acids—the form in which fat can be burned for energy. You also lower your level of triglycerides in the blood, and thus lower your risk of heart disease. - Better mental health and ability to cope with stress. People who are fit have less anxiety, depression, and stress than people who aren’t active.
- The moment you begin exercising, your heart starts pounding and your blood pressure surges, sweeping disease-fighting immune cells out into the blood, where they’re able to detect troublemakers like cold or flu viruses.