Exercise For Your Health And Longevity
August 19th, 2008The word exercise often brings up thoughts of endless cardio and pumping weights in order to lose the unwanted excess pounds that seem to be hanging around our bodies. Everyday individuals get excited and jump on the weight loss and fitness bandwagon only to get discouraged because things are not happening as quickly as we would like. What would happen if we instead focused on how a change in diet and physical activity would impact our over all health. Physical activity has so many more benefits than are often overlooked because we as a society are so focused on the scale and clothing size. If over all health and longevity became our focus our weight and waist size would fall into place on its own. An important bonus to working out on a regular basis is bone health, most of us do not think twice about the health and strength of our bones, that will however change when you find yourself laying on the floor with a shattered hip bone. We often take our bones for granted until a health issue sneaks up and blind sides us. Exercise is key to the maintenance of your bone health. Any activities that put stress on your bones by working those muscles that attach to them signal your body to maintain these bones. Disuse causes atrophy or as the saying goes, use it or loss it. As we age this becomes increasingly important. Maintaining muscle mass as we age is also important, and again in order to maintain our muscles we must we working them. Muscles themselves have many benefits including: increase metabolism, help maintain posture, and help to maintain balance and stability. Regular physical activity also helps alleviate joint pain. If you are currently overweight or obese as you lose weight less and less stress is put on your joints and at the same time as you exercising the joints themselves will become stronger. The muscles around your joints become stronger, your posture improves and greatly balance is achieved. The health of your heart and cardiovascular system as a whole will improve substantially once you commit to getting active. Your heart because it is a muscle will get stronger and your lungs will become more efficient at bring in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. As a whole your cardiovascular system improves as exercising on a regular basis will help keep your blood vessels open and free of clogs, which in turn helps to correct high blood pressure, high cholesterol and prevent heart attacks and strokes. On an emotional and physical level you will have increased energy, be more focused and alert, and have a greater sense of overall peace and relaxation. The endorphins that are released during physical activity have a tremendous positive effect on over all mood as they directly affect the pleasure centers of the brain. Exercise has been proven to have an over whelming number of benefits for the body including fighting every thing from cancer to dementia. Those individuals who focus on diet and exercise for the sake of their over all health have a much better chance of making permanent changing to their live styles.