Exercise is defined as any movement or activity you do that burn calories and let muscles work. It can be walking, jogging, dancing, running, swimming, yoga and the like. If done regularly, there are many benefits that you can achieve from it, both for your mind and body.

Benefits of exercise

Below are just few of the many reasons why people are encouraged to exercise daily:

It can give you the feeling of happiness

It has been proven that exercise can improve your frame of mind and mood, and minimise the feelings of anxiety, stress and depression. It creates changes in some parts of your brain that control anxiety and stress. It also increases the brain sensitivity from hormones norepinephrine and serotonin, which release the feeling of sadness and depression.

It can support weight loss goals

One of the usual reasons why people exercise is to lose weight. First off, inactivity is one of the major factors why people gain weight. Exercising regularly can increase metabolic rate, hence burning more calories and assist you in losing weight.

It is ideal for your bones and muscles

Regular exercise plays an important role in maintaining and building strong bones and muscles. Activities like weight lifting, combine with the right protein intake, can encourage muscle building.

It is inevitable that as people age, they may lose muscle function and mass, which may lead to disabilities and injuries. Regular exercise is needed to maintain strength and reduce loss of muscles as you grow old.

While you are younger, exercise can help in building bone density, which you need to prevent osteoporosis sooner in life.

It can improve your memory and brain health

Exercise can protect thinking skills and memory, and can improve your brain function. To start, exercise increases the heart rate, in which promoting the oxygen towards your brain and proper blood flow.

Regular exercise can rouse as well production of the hormones that can improve growth of your brain cells.

And finally, it is proven to minimise any changes in your brain that may be the culprit of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

It can minimise pain

Chronic pain may be unbearable, but it can be reduced by exercise. Actually, before the usual recommendation to treat chronic pain is inactivity and rest, but recently studies proved that exercise can help alleviate chronic pain.

Some studies prove that exercise could control pain associated with different health conditions, like pains in the lower back, shoulder disorders and fibromyalgia. To add, getting used to exercising can increase your pain tolerance and minimise pain perception.

All these and more are benefits of exercise, hence it is a must that you give extra effort to spend time doing so.