So, we know we should take exercise to maintain and even improve our health, after all the world we live in is full of gyms, gadgets, technology and online platforms designed to get us active. These are all great, but why? What are the real benefits of exercise?

1. It Can Make You Feel Happy

Exercisehas been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress.It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression.

Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain.

This is especially important at the moment as all of our mental health is being tested by isolation and restrictions.

2. It Can Help With Weight Loss

To understand the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure.

Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing. 

While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which will delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn more calories and help you lose weight.

Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off.

As a personal trainer I insist that people do resistance (weights) work if they are looking to lose weight. It not only burns more calories, can increase your metabolism for a much longer period, it can also be a lot less boring than pounding on a treadmill for hours and hours.

3. It Is Good for Your Muscles and Bones

Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake.

This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown.

As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age.

Also, exercise helps build bone density when you’re younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life.

It is always a policy to increase impact into a workout. This has not only been proved to speed up weight loss but to increase bone density. I always include boxing pad work with clients to increase bone density in wrists, elbows, neck and shoulders, vital areas that are often forgotten.

4. It Can Increase Your Energy Levels

Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions

One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue

Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses

5. It Can Reduce Your Risk of Chronic Disease

Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels

In contrast, a lack of regular exercise — even in the short term — can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death. This to me is the one main point which I have to ask all people, why wouldn’t you exercise?

6. It Can Help Skin Health

Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body.

Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defences cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin.

7. It Can Help Your Brain Health and Memory

Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills.

To begin with, it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. 

It can also stimulate the production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells.

Moreover, the ability of exercise to prevent chronic disease can translate into benefits for your brain, since its function can be affected by these diseases.

Exercise has been shown to cause the hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s vital for memory and learning, to grow in size. This serves to increase mental function in older adults.

Lastly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia).

One of my previous personal training clients is a stunt double in the film industry. She has long fight scenes to remember so we worked a lot on long sequences of exercises to improve her cognitive function as well as her tone and strength, vital aspects of her fitness.

8. It Can Help With Relaxation and Sleep Quality

In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep

One study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality

Another showed that 16 weeks of physical activity increased sleep quality and helped 17 people with insomnia sleep longer and more deeply than the control group. It also helped them feel more energized during the day.

9. It Can Reduce Pain

For many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain.

Several studies show that exercise can help control pain that’s associated with various health conditions, including chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder, to name a few.

The Bottom Line…

Exercise offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of your health from the inside out.

Regular physical activity can increase the production of hormones that make you feel happier and help you sleep better.

It can also improve your skin’s appearance, help you lose weight and keep it off, lessen the risk of chronic disease and improve your sex life. Whether you practice a specific sport or follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week, you will inevitably improve your health in many ways.

For more information about NHPT or to book a session with Neil, contact:
M: 07590 676 205 | E: neil@nhpt.org.uk | W: www.nhpt.org.uk