Exercise Benefits

Why do you need to exercise if you’re in body weight range? Have you ever been asked this? I know I have!

People who are in their weight range usually do not feel the pressure to exercise. However, not exercising has clinically been shown to be as harmful as smoking two cigarettes a day! The drawbacks of no regular exercise get translated in the following ways inside your body:

1. The heart and blood vessels become stiffer

2. The heart fills with blood more slowly

3. The stiffer arteries are less able to expand when more blood is pumped through them. Thus, blood pressure tends to increase

4. The ageing brain cells do not get rejuvenated

5. Due to lack of exercise, weight bearing bones tend to become weaker and the muscles around them are not fit enough to support them, causing unexplained aches and pains and the risk of osteoporosis

6. Muscle mass declines leading to higher levels of fatigue and an inability to do daily tasks well

7. Sleep is disturbed due to all the above and this makes the body's ability to repair itself much lower, leading to memory loss, higher sugar levels in the blood and a faster ageing process

8. Balance and agility are affected and the imbalance can lead to spine issues, vertigo, and the risk of falls

9. There is lower circulation, leading to sluggish liver and kidneys and slower release of toxins and waste from the body.

10. The above issue leads to brain fog, constipation, slow digestive system and lower absorption of nutrients from food, hence leading to lower immunity.

If the above 10 drawbacks of not exercising are still not exciting you to assign the time to improve your health, here are some really beneficial reasons for why you should exercise even if you don't need to lose weight:

1. Regular moderate exercise is an anti-inflammatory practice, which reduces the risk of all diseases and ageing.

2. It reduces high blood pressure, high cholesterol, reduces heart rate (and pulse) hence lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease.

3. It dissolves plaques in various parts of your body (brain included) thus reducing atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries).

4. It reduces blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of diabetes.

5. It reduces anxiety and stress levels in the body, thus reducing digestive issues and the risk of lifestyle diseases.

6. It helps expel toxins from the body faster, making risk of cancer much lower.

7. Moderate consistent exercise like walking has shown to  regenerate neurons, thus enhancing memory and reducing the risk of dementia Alzheimer's. 

8. The consistency of moderate exercise protects muscles from wasting, thus protecting bones & keeping BMR high, which leads to higher strength & lower fatigue. 

So what constitutes regular moderate exercise? Just 30 minutes of continuous walk everyday and body weight bearing stretches 10 minutes a day. This can easily be done when you are in office, just before lunch, when you are on a call. Or it can be done just before dinner when you reach home. You don't need to spare specific time, get a gym membership, purchase expensive running shoes to get this kind of exercise into your daily schedule. You can do continuous walking while talking to your colleagues, loved ones, children; the trick is that while having a conversation, you should not stop in between in response to something. You just need to continue working at a moderate pace for 30 minutes to avail of all the benefits listed above and reverse all the negatives of not exercising.

So many benefits with just 30 minutes a day? Isn’t that awesome? Now go live a long and healthy life!