The Benefits of Exercise
1. Exercise helps your brain
Exercise is linked to less depression, better memory and quicker learning. Studies also suggest that exercise is, as of now, the best way to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Exercise improves blood flow to the brain, feeding the growth of new blood vessels and even new brain cells, thanks to the protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BDNF triggers the growth of new neurons and helps repair and protect brain cells from degeneration. It may also help people focus better on tasks, according to recent research.
2. Exercise makes you happier
Countless studies show that many types of exercise, from walking to cycling, and strength training make people feel better and can even relieve symptoms of depression. Exercise triggers the release of chemicals in the brain—serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, dopamine—that dull pain, lighten mood and relieve stress. The psychological benefits are outstanding!
3. It slows the aging process
Exercise has been shown to lengthen lifespan by as much as five years. A study in the Journal Sciences Advances suggests that moderate-intensity exercise may slow down the aging of cells. As humans get older and their cells divide over and over again, their telomeres—the protective caps on the end of chromosomes—get shorter. To see how exercise affects telomeres, researchers took a muscle biopsy and blood samples from 10 healthy people before and after a 45-minute ride on a stationary bicycle. They found that exercise increased levels of a molecule that protects telomeres, ultimately slowing how quickly they shorten over time. Exercise, then, appears to slow aging at the cellular level.
4. Your skin will look better.
Aerobic exercise revs up blood flow to the skin, delivering oxygen and nutrients that improve skin health and even help wounds heal faster. If people get injured, they should get moving as quickly as possible so there’s good blood flow to the skin which accelerates the healing of the injury. Train long enough, and you’ll add more blood vessels and tiny capillaries to the skin too.
5. Less is more with amazing benefits
Emerging research suggests that it doesn’t take much movement to get the benefits. A 10-minute workout could be, compared to the typical 50-minute, could be just as effective. A recent three month study consisted of three exhausting 20-second intervals of all-out, hard-as-you-can exercise, followed by brief recoveries of 3 minutes each. The short workout was compared against the standard one (50 minutes) to see which was better. Amazingly the workouts resulted in identical improvements in heart function and blood-sugar control, even though one workout was five times longer than the other.
6. Reduce Fat cells
The body uses both carbohydrates and fats as energy sources. After consistent aerobic exercise training, the body gets better at burning fat, which requires a lot of oxygen to convert it into energy. One of the benefits of exercise training is that our cardiovascular system gets stronger and better at delivering oxygen, so we are able to metabolize more fat as an energy source.