Health Benefits of Exercise

What are the health benefits of exercise? First of all, it’s good for us.   If your like me though, that is not enough to keep us motivated into actually doing it on a regular basis.

Do you need a little inspiration to get you started on a simple exercise program that will improve your life?  If so, you are in the right place.

In future posts, I’ll be sharing about all the different ways that you can exercise.  Many of them do not require membership to the gym.  I’ve been exercising for more than 30 years and I’ve only been a member of a gym for a few of those 30 years. 

Gym membership is not a requirement for getting plenty of good and healthy-for-you exercise. 

Let’s dig in and talk about many of the benefits of exercising.

10 Health Benefits of Exercise

1) More Energy

It’s true that exercise can be tiring.  But, one of the major benefits of exercising is the fact that when you are done, you’ll feel more energized.  

Studies show that regular exercise helps reduce fatigue.  That sounds unlikely, but it’s true.  So if we want to have more energy, exercising is well worth our time and effort.

2) Improve Your Mood

When we are physically active, our body releases endorphins that help make us feel good. Exercise really will give you a natural high!  On days when we are feeling down, exercising will help us feel better.  It will improve our mood. 

Many people who deal with depression, commit to exercising on a regular basis.  They know that they need to have those endorphins released to help keep them from sinking into a deep depression.

3) Improve Your Health

Oh, the many health benefits of exercise! One of the most common ones is losing weight. Because, when we lose weight it typically improves our health in many other ways.

Truly, this list is so long, that it’s impossible to list them all here.  But, here’s just a short list to get your thinking about all the possible improvements to your health when you are active:  getting fit will help you reduce the risk of diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and so much more.

4) Improve Your Appearance

Have you ever heard someone say about someone else “she has such a pretty face?”  If so, they were probably referring to an overweight person who they thought would be even prettier if she lost some weight. 

If you feel that your extra weight, or the fact that you do not have a toned body, has a negative effect on your self-esteem and your appearance, then exercising will help you look and feel better.

5) Play with Your Kids or Grandkids

Whew!  It takes a lot of energy to keep up with kids. Last summer, we were blessed to spend some time with our grandchildren, ages 18 months and 3 years.  We loved every minute of it, but it didn’t take long for us to begin to lose energy.  We had thought we were in good shape.  But, the reality was, we needed a bit more improvement in that area. 

By losing weight and getting fit, you’ll be able to run around with your children or grandchildren without constantly getting out of breath or needing a rest. 

In short, enjoying life more is one of the most rewarding benefits of exercising.

5 More Health Benefits of Exercise

6) Sleep Better

There have been times in my life when sleep has not come easy.  It was a battle.  Oftentimes it was caused by stress.  I have found a four-fold answer to helping me get the sleep that I need.  Exercise is one part of the answer, using essential oils, reducing my stress and eating healthier are the other three parts. 

You can read more about reducing stress naturally in this post.

Working out is one of many things you can do to get a good night’s rest.   This is a wonderful addition to the energy boost that you’ll get from exercise in the long term.

7) Increase Your Strength and Stamina

Do you find it hard to go on long walks, even though you want to? Or maybe even carrying shopping bags up the stairs is a struggle? Exercise more and you’ll eventually be able to handle these activities with ease. This is just one more health benefit of exercise.

When we lived in Virginia, we loved to go hiking.  Hiking in Virginia is quite a challenge because most of the hikes involved hills or even mountains.  We loved to hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  When you get to the top of a mountain or to the top of a waterfall, it is an amazing sight! 

But, in order to do these types of hikes you need to have the strength and stamina that only comes from exercising on a regular basis.

8) Reduce Stress

Exercise is a huge help to reducing stress levels.  Exercising is a great way of assisting you in dealing with stress, or even mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.  You can read more about the mental health benefits of exercise here. In fact, regular exercise can help to reduce your symptoms and by releasing those much needed endorphins.

9) A Sense Of Achievement

We all like to see our hard work pay off.  When you start to exercise that is what we are looking for.  You’ll be able to see the improvements you’re making week after week.  You’ll see toned muscles, dropped pounds, increased energy and better sleep just to name a few. 

This will be an exciting adventure!  You will begin to feel successful as you reach your goals and achieve something worthwhile!

10) Keep Your Independence Later In Life

It is never too late to start benefitting from exercising.  The more you workout now, while you’re still able, the more you can reduce the impact of certain health problems later in life.  I have met so many people over 50 that are dealing with health issues.  They would not have needed to deal with some of these issues if they had started exercising and taking care of themselves much earlier.

But, even if you are in your 40s or 50s or 60s, remember that keeping fit and healthy now is going to help you to keep your independence as late into life as possible.  That’s a big encouragement!

You can get Started Reaping the Health Benefits of Exercise today

I’m sure you are wondering exactly how much will you need to work out to feel the benefits of exercising. Honestly, that all depends on your current fitness level.

If you haven’t exercised in a long time, start out slow and small.  Talk with your Doctor and make sure that the exercise program you are thinking about starting is a good fit for you. 

There are some excellent 10 minute workout programs available that I love.  You can do them from the comfort of your home.  These have 3 segments of 10 minutes each. 

This one is one of my favorites! You can start out doing just one of the segments and then, as your fitness level improves, you can add a second one, and then eventually a third.

Or, just start out with a 10 minute walk and build up from there.  If you want to do it from inside your home that’s possible. Here’s a walking dvd just for that.

Or, how about a 10 minute bike riding?  Bike riding is one of my favorite out-of-the-house exercises. The benefits of bike riding are awesome! It is so good for you.  Fresh air and sunshine and just gliding along….

In fact, my husband is out riding his bike even as I type.  Typically we ride together, but he is visiting one of his nearby friends to talk about some construction type issues of which I understand very little. Thus, I stayed home to write this post. 

Here’s the good news – just 30 minutes of exercise or physical activity a day is enough to improve your health drastically.  But starting at 10 minutes is just fine.  Start at whatever number of minutes is comfortable for you.  Add more minutes as you can.

What are you waiting for? Start reaping the benefits of exercising today! You can do this!

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