Benefits to Exercise

There are Many Physical as well as Psychological Benefits to Exercise

Everyone wants to know the benefits to exercise.  Exercise has been known for literally thousands of years to be beneficial for everybody's psychological and physical health.

Circa 400BC the father of modern medicine Hippocrates once said,

"If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health."

This timeless piece of advice only reveals the tip of the iceberg to the long list of the benefits to exercise.

The SAID Principle explains the Exact Benefits of Exercise

The SAID principle is an acronym for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands which simply means, the type of exercise you perform determines which benefits you will receive.

A simple example is if your workout consists of lifting heavy objects for an hour, the benefits to exercise will be increased strength.  If you jog 5 miles, the benefits to aerobic exercise will be increased cardiovascular endurance.  If you spend an hour stretching your muscles, you will experience increased flexibility.

While these benefits to exercise may be obvious it is important to consider the SAID principle whenever you choose your mode of exercise.

To list the benefits of physical exercise we will separate them into 3 categories:

Aerobic Exercise

What Constitutes Aerobic Exercise ?

Aerobic exercise is synonymous with cardio exercise because it is exercise with the presence of oxygen which is transferred by your heart and lunges.

What are the Benefits to Aerobic Exercise ?

Obvious  

• Strengthen your Heart

Your heart is a muscle and the exercise which strengthens it is aerobic exercise.  Aerobic exercise can increase stroke volume.  Stroke volume is the blood your heart is able to pump each beat.  A more efficient heart needs to beat less which lowers your resting heart rate and helps your heart last longer.

• Improve Lunge Capacity & Boost Stamina

Stamina is all about the efficiency of your lunges and heart to transfer oxygen via blood to your working muscles.  One of the best benefits to exercise aerobically is to improve your ability to perform activities without tiring easily.

• Reduce the Chance against Chronic Disease

Regular aerobic exercise reduces the chance of premature death associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, certain forms of cancer, stroke and high cholesterol.

• Keep Excess Pounds Off

Aerobic exercise uses lots of energy.  Performing bouts of aerobic exercise regularly will burn the excess calories you obtain in your diet reducing the chances of gaining undesirable weight in the form of fat.

Not so Obvious

• Improve your Mood

You may have heard of a "runner's high" before and it is not a myth.  Aerobic exercise causes your brain to release opiates-like chemicals called endorphins which put you in a good mood and can help relieve stresses such as anxiety and tension.

• Improved Sex Life

Regular exercise can leave you feeling energized and looking better, which is one of the benefits of exercise which improves your circulation, which leads to more satisfying sex as well prevents erectile dysfunction.

• Improves Defense against Viruses

Aerobic exercise helps to activate your immune system. This leaves you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.

Resistance Training

What Constitutes Resistance Training ?

Resistance training is synonymous with weight training but it can include exercises with any form of resistance including free weights, weight machines, resistance tubes, thera-bands and body weight.

Weight training is anaerobic which means without oxygen so the activities are short, intense bouts of exercise in which your muscles do the work.

What are the Weight Training Benefits to Exercise ?

Obvious

• Increased Muscular Strength

Weight training will help your body be more neurologically efficient so you actually use more of your muscle fibers to get stronger first.

Secondly your muscles will hypertrophy or get bigger in size to become capable of lifting heavier weights.

• Increased Muscular Endurance

Along with increased strength your muscles will improve the stamina for prolonged muscle contractions.

• Improved Muscle Tone

"Move it or lose it" your parents used to tell you.  It is true as weight training works muscles that otherwise you would not be using much.  If you have low body fat, weight training helps your muscles look more shapely and toned.

Not so Obvious

• Decreased Body Fat, Weight Loss & Increases Metabolism

Even though weight training is a anabolic (muscle building) stimulus, it helps increase your body's metabolism which is how many calories you burn throughout the day.  This will work wonders for anyone trying to lose weight and burn fat while following a proper diet and staying active.

Flexibility Training

What Constitutes Flexibility Training ?

Flexibility training or stretching is a few different techniques for lengthening your muscles and/or moving your joints through different motions to increase range of motion.

What are the Flexibility Benefits to Exercise ?

Obvious

• Increased Flexibility

Flexibility training increases your flexibility, go figure.

• Increased Range of Motion

Flexibility training helps keep the natural range of motion for your joints which is optimal for normal, activities of daily living.

Not so Obvious

• Improved Blood Flow

Flexibility training helps your muscles remain free of the byproducts of muscle metabolism (knots) and enables your blood to flow optimally into muscles for circulation and nutrient delivery.

• Decreased Risk of Injury

Even though there is evidence which shows that stretching directly before physical activity does not reduce the chance of acute injury, flexibility training appears to drastically reduce the chance of chronic, overuse injuries due to muscle imbalances and problems with your posture.

• Improved Muscular Coordination

When your muscles are flexible, they do not interfere with the antagonist (opposite) muscles and motor unit recruitment allowing you to have better coordination.

• Reduce Muscle Soreness

Flexible muscles have good blood flow which allows blood to flow into the muscles with the nutrients to repair the muscles without causing excess muscle soreness from exercise.

• Improved Posture

Your musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles) can be looked at as a kinetic chain where you are only as strong as your weakest link.  Flexibility training can help your muscles remain at the proper length so your body will be in proper postural alignment.

Posture Problems

Learn about the flexibility training benefits to exercise regarding your posture, alignment and muscle balance.

Best Aerobic Exercise
Learn the facts about how your body works.  Take simple information and apply it to your exercise program to get fabulous results.

Best Cardio Machines
You can get the benefits to exercise on any cardio machine provided you enjoy it.  Learn tips that will help you operate the cardio machines properly to get maximum cardiovascular benefits.

All about Body Fat
Since the benefits to exercise include lowering your body fat you should become familiar with everyone's worst enemy.

Exercise Information
Click on the body part of your choice and find all of the best weight training exercises and the methodology behind the movement.

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