If you're one of those people who only sweats when the air
conditioner breaks down, get moving....
it’s time you discovered the hidden
benefits of regular exercise!
1. Rediscover Playfulness:
Have you ever noticed how children enjoy movement? Whether running, jumping,
skipping or hopping, children just can’t get enough activity. For them,
play and exercise are the same thing. As we age, we tend to equate exercise
with work, losing the simple joy of movement and activity. Rediscover the
joy of play with an activity that meets your fitness level - walking, tennis,
ice skating, dance, hiking, swimming, bowling, bicycling, yoga and the
list goes on.
2. Overcome Addictions:
The easiest way to overcome a bad habit is to replace it with a
good one. When people start exercising they often begin to lose their desire
to take harmful things into their body.
3. Control Moods and Decrease
Tension: Anxiety disorders, chronic worry, insomnia,
bodily tension are the most prevalent psychological disorders in America.
Exercise is called a "wonder drug" because it burns stress-causing chemicals
that accumulate in the body, provides a time-out from daily tensions and
offers a feeling of release.
4. Control Anger;
Many popular expressions capture what anger does to the body - such
as "blow your stack", "have a heart attack" and "lose your cool". Regular
exercise burns off the psychological and physical "residues" of anger,
leaving you calmer on a day-to-day basis.
5. Remain Youthful Into
Older Age: We've all seen
40-year-olds who seem old and frail, and 70-year-olds who can run marathons.
We can reduce the effects of aging by as much as 70% by remaining physically
active into our later years. If your bones creak when you stand up and
walk as if you were overdue for a lube job, then your body's telling you
it needs to get moving.
6. Preventative Health
Care: According to the Journal of the American medical
Association, even 20 minutes of exercise three times per week can cut your
risk of early death from cancer and heart disease in half. Exercise may
also retard the onset of diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer and
hypertension. People who regularly exercise tend to higher resistance to
general illness like colds and flu, and they recover from surgery quicker.
7. Increase Self-esteem:
Exercise frees us from that nagging voice that tells us we should
take better care of ourselves. We find it easier to accept ourselves, and
our self-esteem increases. Keeping your body in good condition is also
having respect for life! We owe it to ourselves to stay healthy and fit,
it's our own responsibility and not in the hands of the physician.
