Why is exercise important for your body?

Everyone knows exercise is important for a healthy lifestyle. Most people will tell you it helps you maintain a healthy body weight and stay in shape, but most people don’t know the effects regular exercise has on the other systems of the body. Or why it is vital to a long, healthy life.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC.gov) recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle which equates to 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.

We have all heard the phrase: Healthy Lifestyle. This term is continuously used when mentioning why exercise is important in our daily lives, but no one ever goes into detail about how it helps or what it specifically does to our body systems.

Here is a list of the ways regular exercise improves your body:

  1. Improves Overall Health
    • Cardiovascular System: 
      • strengthens your heart
      • decreases blood pressure
      • the heart is a muscle, the more exercise it receives, the more efficient it becomes in pumping blood to your body which in turn improves circulation to the rest of your body. 
      • increased endurance to complete your activities of daily living (ADL’s). No more shortness of breath when completing a simple task.
    • Musculoskeletal:
      • Stimulates muscle building and reduces the fat mass in your body
      • Reduces injury
      • Builds bone density which will help decrease the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
    • Brain function:
      • Protects and improves memory
      • Secretion of hormones that enhance brain cell regrowth
    • Digestive system:
      • Improves the ability of your organs to digest and process foods, allowing for regular bowel movements. I know this is not something most of us want to talk about, but it does help, and it is important for your overall health.
  2. Mood and attention
    • Increases the secretion of the hormones dopamine and norepinephrine which help to regulate a person’s attention. 
      • My first year of PT school, I thought it was more important for me to spend my time studying than working out. That was the hardest year of my life. My second year, I made it a priority to work out at least 5 times a week. This helped me to focus and do better with my school work (PT school was still hard but I was able to manage better)
    • According to childmind.org exercise has been shown to improve the mood and attention in those with ADHD. 
  3. Appetite
    • Increased overall hunger for the improvement and maintenance of weight
    • Suppression of appetite immediately following a workout as to not allow the body to overeat. 
  4. Sleep
    • Energy depletion throughout the day with exercise included in the daily activity allows the brain to relax and body to sleep. 
      • Other than as a baby, I have never been a great sleeper. If I do not get in a workout, I do not have good quality sleep and my day is a wreck.
    • According to the sleep foundation, studies have shown it help those suffering from insomnia to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
  5. Decreased pain
    • With regular exercise the brain secretes the body’s natural opiates to elevate pain. 
      • This can happen with as little as 15 minutes of cardio.

I get it can be hard to begin a consistent exercise regimen, most of us have been there. But the pros out way the cons in this situation. 

Understand that you do not have to be a high level, world champion athlete to get these effects. A simple walking routine or resistance training program are effective ways to start. It will happen with everyone, so just get started!

And remember, do not go out there and start an exercise program if you have any underlying conditions, unless your physician has given you approval!