Benefits to Exercise

Some of the benefits to exercise are:

• stress reduction
• improved attitude
• sharper focus
• flexibility
• weight loss
• benefits your brain

Exercise for stress relief

Exercise has many benefits – the main one to me is exercise reduces stress. I’m reading a lot of studies stating that stress is the cause of 85% of diseases (dis-ease).

Feeling better from the inside out can change your entire outlook on life. Exercise helps build a solid foundation to a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise can help you to release those pent-up frustrations

Let’s say that you had a trying day at work. You missed a deadline you forgot about and your boss chewed you out. You scrambled all day to make up for it and by the end you couldn’t handle another thing.

Now, add an exercise class to that. Spending time performing aerobics, kickboxing, boxing or some form of martial arts can help you let out that stress. Stress is mostly pented up energy. Exercise provides you a healthy way to burn that energy up.

Exercise releases endorphins in the brain.

Whenever you want to improve your attitude, go for a walk, a swim or lift some weights. You are not only working your body and getting healthy but you will notice how much better you feel after.

Exercise clears the mind and sharpens your focus.

The brain utilizes more oxygen than any other part of your body. As you exercise regularly, your lung capacity will increase as you learn to breath.

This puts more oxygen into circulation in your bloodstream. That clarity combined with a change in mood, can help you arrive at a solution to a problem that has been causing you stress. You didn’t see it before because you were foggy with emotion and tenseness but you see it now.

Exercise increases your productivity.

Maybe part of your stress was stemming from being unhealthy. You were always tired and couldn’t meet the demands of your day. Now that you are working out on a regular basis, you have more energy. After a day at work, you can still come home and help with dinner for your family or sit and enjoy time together instead of falling into bed.

Stress increases the amount of cortisol, a stress hormone, released into your body. Cortisol leads to weight gain. Exercise can limit cortisol production and help you lose weight also.

Are you shying away from exercise for various reasons? One really important reason (or rather four) to get moving is how much better you will feel and handle stress.

Yoga and Pilates increase flexibility

Yoga and Pilates both increase your flexibility. Even just moving around in your chair gently or touching your toes will help with your flexibility.

Exercise helps with weight loss

Weight loss is usually one of the main benefits to exercise that actually causes us to finally exercise. We’ve all heard the more “muscles” you have the more calories you will burn. You don’t have to do heavy weight lifting to build muscle. Any kind of resistance on your muscles will help to build them. Even walking will help build your thigh, hip and leg muscles. The key is to finding something you enjoy. Then fitting it into your routine so exercise is automatic.

For me seeing the sun out and hearing the birds singing is a call to go for a walk and enjoy the day. What is your call to action?

An overview of the benefits of exercise to your brain.

From the book Change Your Brain Change Your Body
by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

Exercise increases the blood flow to the brain.  This supplies more oxygen, glucose and nutrients to the brain, which enhances your overall brain function.

Here are some of the headings from his book:

Benefits to exercise on your brain:

• Exercise encourages the growth of new brain cells
• Physical activity enhances cognitive ability at all ages
• Exercise enhances your mood
• Exercise helps alleviate depression
• Exercise calms worries and anxiety
• Exercise helps prevent, delay, and lessen
  the effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
• Exercise eases symptoms of ADD
• Physical fitness sparks better behavior in adolescents
• People who exercise regularly sleep better
• Exercise helps women cope with hormonal changes

Read his book to get the details on the how and why of the
benefits to exercise on your brain.

Also check out www.amenclinics.com for more information.

---

www.success-with-weight-loss-programs.com – provides some great information on weight loss exercises.

---

www.cellulite-treatment-options.com – Cellulite Treatment Options provides information on all cellulite treatment and removal methods, including good nutrition, exercise, home remedies, creams, body wraps, massage techniques, mesotherapy, and liposuction.

---

Healthy Living Tips:

Exercise is a key factor to a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to join a gym or take up jogging. Even taking just a 10 minute walk a day will help you start to feel the benefits to exercise.