8 Benefits of Exercising
What are the benefits of exercising and what kind of exercises are we talking about? Keeping fit, working out, training, exercising, whatever you prefer to call it, often includes different types of physical activities.
In general we speak of five components of fitness: Cardiovascular endurance, muscle endurance, muscle strength, body composition and flexibility.
Depending on the exercise, a combination of different components are involved. We could write an article about the benefits of each single one of them, but we will keep it simple and focus on the advantages of the first four components combined.
Since flexibility is the little ‘misfit’ of this group, because it is the least active component and also the only one that doesn’t require active muscle contraction, we wrote a separate article about the benefits of stretching.
But let’s get to the point. There are many reasons why everybody should work out. These are the most important benefits of exercising: (Please note that we are only referring to training that is done regularly and properly, by which we mean at least 2-3 times a week.)
1) IMPROVES OVERALL PHYSICAL HEALTH
That exercising improves strength, endurance and range of movement is common knowledge. What most people don’t know is that physical training promotes the circulation of synovial fluid, which lubricates our joints. Apart from that, being active also stimulates bone growth, which therefore increases bone density and makes them less likely to break.1
2) IMPROVES OVERALL MENTAL HEALTH
Working out promotes the release of chemicals such as endorphins, norepinephrine and serotonin that regulate and boost our mood. We also learn how to set and achieve goals, which gives us a deep sense of satisfaction. And last but not least, if we are part of a shared physical activity, we fulfil the human need of socializing, which contributes a big part to our happiness.
3) REDUCES RISK OF DISEASE
Exercising can reduce the risk of developing a heart disease2, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. One main reason is the improved blood circulation especially during cardiovascular training which reduces the risk of clot development or artery blockages. Exercise can also prevent or reduce high blood pressure and raise HDL levels, the so-called good cholesterol.
4) INCREASES ENERGY LEVEL
Besides the increased blood flow, our metabolism becomes more active and our heart muscle stronger which gives us more energy throughout the day.
5) IMPROVES WEIGHT CONTROL
The idea that exercising helps with weight control is not rocket science. If we eat more calories than we burn, we put on weight. If we increase our training hours and eat healthier, we most likely burn more calories than we consume and we start losing weight. To maintain our body weight, calorie intake and consumption have to be equal. Simple. On top of that, if we focus on training that promotes muscle growth, our body will need more energy to sustain our muscles and therefore even burn calories when we aren’t active at all (during sleeping, relaxing, sitting, etc.).
6) IMPROVES COORDINATION
“The definition of coordination is the ability to execute smooth, accurate, controlled motor responses (optimal interaction of muscle function).“3 It’s a fairly complex process and therefore needs a lot of practice. Team sports, gym, running or dance fitness classes mainly improve our intermuscular coordination (different muscles firing in coordination with each other), whereas for example barbell and balance pad exercises increase our intramuscular coordination (different muscle fibers firing in coordination within one muscle).
7) DECREASES PAIN
Many of our muscles are either over or under used which leads to a bad posture. Exercising can help to correct these imbalances and physical dysfunctions by strengthening the weak and stretching the short muscles. Pain reduction is a natural outcome.
8) IMPROVES RELAXATION & SLEEP
It is very normal that muscle fibres can get torn (which causes post-exercise muscle soreness) during a tough training session and that they need to be repaired afterwards. Most of the recovery happens during our sleep and our body is literally begging for rest. Working out requires a lot of energy and naturally makes us fall asleep quicker because of physical exhaustion. Exercising not only boosts our sleep duration and quality, it can also help significantly with insomnia.4
If you are not already working out, we hope this article will motivate you to start getting active regularly and change your lifestyle for good. Living healthy is a choice.
Stay tuned & love your body!
