1. Better Mood
Within five minutes of cardiovascular exercise, you can feel happier! Once you get moving, your brain releases serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine as well as possibly others. These make you feel good! So, even if you don’t feel like doing anything, just going for a walk can make you happier!
2. Decreased Stress
According to one online poll, only 14 percent of people use regular exercise to cope with stress. As previously mentioned, it only takes five minutes to start feeling better and it doesn’t have to be intense exercise. In fact, low- to moderate-intensity exercise is better than high-intensity for stress reduction. I recently read an article in Runner’s World regarding how exercise affects post traumatic stress disorder. Walking, running and yoga tend to be the favourite choices.
3. More Mental Resilience
On the tougher side of the coin, when you exercise in a way that pushes you physically, you get mentally tougher. When you are mentally tougher, you can handle more stress. For some people, the feeling of developing mental resilience is addictive. You reach your goal and start wondering what else you can do! People train to take themselves further and further in sports like running, martial arts, cycling, etc. This mental toughness helps in other aspects of your life. You can handle more of anything.
4. Life Feels Easier
If you could get through your day in a physically easier way, wouldn’t that be nice? If lugging groceries and children, or moving items around the house were easier, wouldn’t you be happier? Exercise can do that for you! Increase strength, improve your cardiovascular fitness and life just feels easier! Let’s not even talk about shoveling snow.
5. Improved Immune System
There are several speculations on how exercise improves your immunity. Exercise can help by flushing out bacteria from the lungs and may also flush out carcinogens by increasing the activity of your lymphatic system, which drains waste from your body. When your blood is pumping, you are also increasing the rate at which antibodies and white blood cells run through the body. They detect and attack illness. Why wouldn’t you want more of that happening inside you? When you exercise, the release of stress-related hormones is slowed down. Stress is not just emotional – it is very physical. By decreasing those hormones, you improve your health. There can be too much of a good thing though. Mild to moderate exercise improves your immune system. Heavy, intense exercise lowers immunity and increases those stress hormones. If you are battling a cold, doing light exercise like a walk or jog for a short amount of time is a good idea. If you are training for a marathon and just finished a long run or a speed work session then you should be careful not to hang out with sick people for several hours afterwards. Use that time to give yourself proper post-workout nutrition and rest.
6. Participate in Life
Happiness can come when you feel healthy enough to do anything you want to do. When you can engage in play with kids and grandkids, join friends for various sporting activities, and do more things with your significant other, life is amazing. When you don’t even have to think about whether you are fit enough for basic activities, that is a great place to be. Life is short; make it fun!
7. Healthy Aging
Exercise helps with maintaining a healthy weight. As you age, this becomes harder and harder to do without exercise. It also helps maintain mobility in your spine. When your spine is happy, your body can move properly. Having muscles that are able to react to your environment (think snow, ice, hills, heat, cold, etc.) makes life a whole lot easier as we age.
8. Better Sleep
9. Increased Energy
I must say, from personal experience, my most productive time comes AFTER I exercise. I get the most work done and feel good doing it. Treat your body like a savings account; pay yourself first! If you are new to exercise you might feel a little more tired for a week or so but then you start feeling better, and better! Stick with it!
10. Reduced Depression and Anxiety
“There’s good epidemiological data to suggest that active people are less depressed than inactive people. And people who were active and stopped tend to be more depressed than those who maintain or initiate an exercise program,” says James Blumenthal, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Duke University. “Exercise seems not only important for treating depression, but also in preventing relapse.” So there you have it! No more excuses. Go for a five minute walk, take up yoga, try running, and be happy!
