Why Should I Exercise? Top 5 Benefits

Alongside nutrition, regular physical movement is key to a healthy lifestyle. Even if you don’t have a specific health or fitness goal, exercise is still essential.

Regular exercise provides you with many benefits that are key to living a happy and healthy life. Here are the top five benefits of exercise.

It Makes You Feel Happier

Exercise causes the release of endorphins, such as serotonin and dopamine. These neurotransmitters are responsible for making you feel happier and more motivated and reduce the perception of pain.

Exercise can boost mood, and potentially decrease the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Interestingly, studies show that the mood-boosting effect of exercise doesn't appear to be dependent on the intensity of the exercise.  Not only can exercise contribute to long term wellbeing, you can also experience a positive shift in mood within the first 5 -10 minutes of moderate exercise.

It Reduces Your Risk of Disease

Regular exercise can keep your cardiovascular system healthy, which reduces your risk of various diseases, including heart disease, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

It Promotes Healthy Weight

Exercise, along with good nutrition, plays an important role in maintaining a healthy weight.  We all know that exercise burns calories, but there is more.  As we strengthen our bodies we shift our fat to muscle ratio, and muscle tissue burns more calories than fat.

It Enhances Muscle and Bone Strength

Exercise causes the release of anabolic hormones that promote growth and prevent muscle and bone tissue breakdown.

In particular, a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise appears to be most effective for strength. Lifting heavy weights can stimulate the growth of your muscles, which in turn boosts your bone mineral density. This reduces your risk of muscle weakness or bone disorders, such as osteoporosis.

It Promotes Better Sleep

Exercise is associated with not only falling asleep more readily but also staying asleep for better overall sleep quality.  Research is still determining the exact amount of exercise needed but aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise.  As to the time of day and activities - the best advice is to pick the time and exercise that works best for you, although leave the high-intensity exercise for earlier in the day.