Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 09, Issue 44: Why You Should Exercise Regularly

We all know that exercise is important to maintain a healthy weight. But what about the other benefits of exercise? Many people don't have issues with their weight and therefore see no reason to exercise. Let's consider health benefits of exercise that go beyond your weight and that go beyond the way you look. We need to find motivation to make exercise a priority because it's all about taking care of ourselves and investing in our long term health. Your exercise today is going to pay off in the future when you are older. The benefits of exercise are obvious, but I was interested in sharing the science backed reasons for exercise provided by Ria of The Whole Happy Life channel. Let's get started. I have laid it out exactly the way Ria presented it in her video.

1. Healthier skin

Regular exercise can make such a big difference to your skin. Why exactly is it that exercise helps with skin health? One is better circulation. When you work out, you get better circulation and better blood flow, and as result of that, your skin is healthier because it's getting more of the nutrients from your blood. Two, is reduced oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the type of stress that your body experiences, and it can cause skin wrinkling and aging. Regular moderate exercise can reduce this type of stress on your body and it can help your body boost its natural antioxidants. As a result of that, your skin looks younger for longer.

2. Improved memory and brain health

When you exercise, your heart rate increases, and as result of that, there is better blood flow to the brain. This then means that there's more oxygen to the brain which definitely has an impact on brain health. When it comes to memory, exercise also makes a difference. There's a part of the brain known as the hippocampus. This part of the brain is associated with memory and learning. Exercise happens to increase the size of this part of the brain, so definitely it is something that is worthwhile, something that you should be doing.

3. Increased energy levels

You will note that when you are working out more regularly, you have a lot more energy and you can get a lot more done in your day than when you are not working out. Several studies have shown that exercise can help with fatigue and energy levels. Exercise can help reduce fatigue, but there is a fine line between exercising enough and over exercising. If you are venturing into overexercise, it can cause a lot of tiredness and a lot of fatigue. So you need to recognize when you are overexercising.

4. Lowered stress levels

Stress is an inevitable part of life, you can't escape it, but you can manage it. Exercise is one way to help manage your stress. Exercise basically helps your body deal with stresses a lot better. It makes your body stronger, not immune but generally better at dealing with stress. Bear in mind that when you are exercising, you need to exercise within your limit, and not overexercise, as overexercise can increase oxidative stress. The right amount of exercise teaches your body how to deal with stress.

5. Increased happiness and better mood

Exercise increases our production of endorphins, which are chemicals that your body produces that can help you feel good and reduce the perception of pain. If you want to increase endorphins in your body, a good way to do it is through exercise. Exercises also helps with better mood, eases anxiety and depression.

6. Better sleep

Exercise can help with improving the quality of your sleep. Work out more often if you want to sleep better. There are studies that show that there's a link between sleep quality and exercise.

7. Better bone health

You might be thinking you don't need to worry about bone health because you are young. Here's the thing about bone health - when you reach the age of 35, you start to lose a lot more of bone mass than you rebuild. So your bone health is in decline after 35. So you really should consider starting to take care of your bones early on. Even if you are older, it's never too late to start taking care of your bones. One way to do this is through weight-bearing exercises. So find something that you enjoy that can actually help with your bone health.

8. Lowered risk of heart disease

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in both men and women across the globe. There's one thing that you can do to reduce your risk, and that is moderate exercise on a regular basis. Studies have shown that people who have higher levels of physical activity have a 20% lowered risk of coronary heart disease.

9. Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes

You can reduce your risk of diabetes with exercise. It's obviously not the only thing but it's definitely an important thing. A 2016 study found that 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise reduced the risk of diabetes by 26%. That's actually a substantial decrease in the risk just from 5 days a week of working out for 30 minutes per day. It's something that is definitely doable, and if you can work out even more, you can get some more health benefits, depending on how you do your exercises.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi