Exercise In Your Life

Ok, let’s start the discussion by busting a myth or two along the way. Contrary to popular belief sneaking in a little housework during commercial breaks doesn’t count as exercise. It won’t be enough to lose the excess pounds you gained over the years.

For exercise to be of any long-term benefit you have to raise your heart rate for at least 30 minutes at a time for at least 3 or more times per week.

Would you believe that some people don’t consider walking around the neighborhood or up several flights of stairs as significant exercise? It may be low impact but it is better than doing no exercise at all and whether you realize it or not still burns calories.

When you think of exercise what images do you conjure in your mind?

Is it of sweaty bodies squeezed into a tiny spaces jumping to pounding music? Exercise doesn’t have to be torture; it can be enjoyable especially if shared with your family or friends. Exercise can be going for a walk, chasing after your children, mowing and raking the lawn.

Anything that gets your heart rate up for an extended period of time is considered exercise.

Exercise And Its Far Reaching Benefits

Exercise, why even do it? Whether you like it or not it’s the only way we can burn the excess stores of energy we have accumulated over the years, otherwise known as fat. Our body has stored the fat but thankfully our bodies can rid itself of the fat too and in order to do that, we’ve got to move. It’s the only way our lean muscle tissue can grab the surrounding fat to burn as energy.

Long after your exercise session, whether it is walking, running, swimming, biking, etc., your metabolism continues to burn calories even when you are at rest. The effects of exercise can be experienced long after the actual exercise itself. This is evident in that you sweat a little easier which means your body is behaving like a fat burning furnace, any exercise you do after that point just turbo charges the exercise you’ve already done and burns extra calories.

                                        Exercise has so many benefits:

Exercise prolongs your life and keeps your heart healthy. Don’t forget that the heart is a muscle and needs exercise too. That’s why you should resist taking the easy way by starting a diet or going to those spas that claim you can lose weight by doing nothing other than sweating. Sure you lose inches but they find their way like a magnet back onto your body with the next glass of water you drink. Resist gimmicks, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Exercise, get your heart rate going, it’s the best thing you can do for yourself and your heart will thank you for it.

Exercise also releases your body's natural “feel good” chemicals known as endorphins (a combination of the words endogenous and morphine), which naturally relieve stress. Endorphins are thought to be as powerful as morphine yet they are not addictive and are produced naturally within the body. They are also the body’s natural pain relief.

Exercise has so many additional benefits including increased agility and stamina, improved memory and reaction time, increased bone density, keeps your arteries supple and flexible for blood to flow through. Exercise also reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke as well as creating a stronger immune system and deeper, restful sleep.

Exercise helps you to live longer, people who do 30 to 60 minutes of exercise 3 or more times per week will generally live longer than those who don’t.

I don’t know about you but that builds a pretty strong case in favor of exercise.