Why Should You Exercise or Workout?
There are many, many benefits to regular physical fitness. Benefits of exercising range from the obvious:
- lower body weight
- decreased risk of diseases
- lower body fat
- improved physical appearance
And the less known benefits:
- reduced instances of depression
- more positive self-esteem
- better sleeping patterns
- more energy & stamina
Read below for some highlights of why working out and exercising is so important and beneficial to everyone at any age!
Strength Training helps increase your metabolism because muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn every day, not just when you are exercising. Resistance training provides many benefits.
Your metabolism slows as you get older. This is primarily due to a decrease in muscle tissue. After the age of 30, your body gradually begins to lose it’s muscle. If your activity level stays the same and the amount of calories you eat stay the same, you will still gain weight because your metabolism has slowed down. However, if you exercise with weights and do some type of aerobic activity on a regular basis, you probably won’t notice much of a change in your metabolism as you age.
Strength Training helps your bones. Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density by 13 percent in six months. So strength training is a powerful tool against osteoporosis.
You can lose 1 pound simply by cutting out 300 calories a day for one week and exercising for just 30 minutes just four times? And cutting out 300 calories a day is as simple as not buttering your roll/bread (just 3 Tbsp. of butter = 300 calories) or drinking two glasses of water instead of two cans of cola.
Exercise provides benefits not only for you physically but also for your mental well-being. Regular exercise has been linked to helping reduce depression.
Regardless of your body appearance, regular fitness helps improve your self-esteem.
Working out increases your anaerobic threshold. This allows you to work or exercise longer at a higher level.
Strength training prevents muscle loss. Dieting (reducing calories) tends to cause a loss in muscle. You can help avoid this by lifting weights while reducing your calorie intake. Strength training will help you preserve muscle, while also losing fat.
Exercise helps reduce some symptoms of menopause (like hot flashes, irregular sleep and irritability) and it helps lower the long-term risks of cardiovascular disease.
Regular exercise helps improve cholesterol levels. It helps decrease total cholesterol levels and increase “good” cholesterol levels.
Working out can provide cardiopulmonary improvements. It helps decrease blood pressure and lower resting heart rate.
Regular exercise gives you a leaner body. Physical fitness increases your lean (fat-free) body percentage (and of course decreases your body fat percentage). So, the more muscles you build from strength training, the more calories you will burn (even at rest). Plus, building muscles will also help keep your metabolic rate constant. Without strength training, typically a person gradually loses about 5% of their metabolic rate every decade.
Reduced Risk Of Injury. All forms of exercise (but especially flexibility training exercises) help reduce the risk of injuries.