More of the incredible benefits of exercise….

Today's post: Tuesday, 8-7-2007

On Sunday, 8-5-2007 Parade magazine had an article I thought so important, I decided to give you a report on it.

Our regular readers already know that exercise helps you lose or keep off excess fat, release growth hormone to slow aging, keep or even restore most of your youthful strength, prevent or improve insulin resistance & type II diabetes, protect your heart, & even grow new brain cells to counteract aging or stress.

The Parade article highlighted a set of reasons why exercise also helps keep you feeling good or can help you feel better.

*Exercise helps reduce stress & anxiety.

Michael O’Shea, who wrote the article points out that vigorous exercise is often a “mini-vacation” from stress. “(It’s hard to obsess about your to-do list when you’re concentrating on your next push-up.)” -- as he puts it. I can testify this is true from my own experience.

He also says the American Council on Exercise reports that exercise tends to clear stress hormone & chemicals from your blood.

To that I’ll add that by dropping your resting heart & breath rate as you get in shape, it helps increase the amount of stress needed to make you feel physically stressed. Since you speed up breathing & heart rate during exercise & tense & use your muscle, when you stop & your body recovers, you get physically relaxed which also lowers stress. And, when you do get stressed enough to raise your heart rate both you & your heart can handle it because of the exercise & training you’ve done.

*Exercise improves mood.

Regular exercise even lifts mild depression & can take effect in as little as 3 weeks or even less after beginning it. Even the anti-depressant drugs that work can take longer than that.

This thought to be because exercise increases endorphins & reduces cortisol & other stress hormones.

He adds that even a short walk can help immediately at times. And, since social interaction helps depression too, he suggests exercising with a friend or taking an exercise class.

(I’ve found going to a gym & being friendly with the other regulars works very well for this too.)

*Improved self-image.

This, I think is one way exercise relieves stress. You experience in your exercises that you can overcome difficulty successfully and persist in your efforts-- & while exercising, you are focusing on what you can do or are gradually doing better instead of more negative thoughts about yourself.

Many people find that the confidence they get from exercise helps them do better in all the rest of their lives also.

*Much better sleep.

When you exercise during the day, your muscles relax more I think. And, your body is programmed by evolution to put you in rest & repair mode to compensate for your exercise that you did.

It also helps often that exercise reduces stress & stress hormones that can keep you awake.

So, if you aren’t doing regular exercise now. Please consider beginning to. (Even a few sort walks or set of a few pushups or squats at home during the week will help get you started.)

You’ll feel better –or at least stop feeling quite so horrible if things are bad now.

You’ll recover far faster from setbacks. Your whole life will improve.

And, that’s in addition to all the health benefits.