The sedentary lifestyle coupled with a near complete lack of any form of physical activity whatsoever, on in plain and simple words being a “couch potato” is quite widely recognized as a leading risk factor for all kinds of ailments ranging from Diabetes to obesity to high blood pressure.
Those of us who don’t believe in starting and/or maintaining an exercise regimen might end up being at a higher risk from such deadly diseases as Myocardial Infarction and stroke. Nevertheless, protection from blood pressure related illnesses is not the only advantage of exercise. There are many other additional benefits as well.
Controlling your weight
Obesity is increasingly becoming the bane of the 21st century and our sedentary lifestyles contribute to it no end. Most kinds of physical activity play a key role in not only getting rid of excess weight but also greatly help in keeping it off as well. In a nutshell, we gain weight when the body consumes less calories then it imbibes. Conversely it is lost when we consume less and burn more as the body dips into its stores of fatty deposits to keep itself energized. Therefore, plenty of exercise along with a healthy diet creates a new set point for the body and enables it to not just lose weight but successfully keep it off as well.
Mental advantages
Regular exercise (provided it’s something you like doing on an everyday basis) can not only improve our mood but may help control the stress of our everyday lives while combating both depression as well as anxiety.
More stamina
Continuous physical activity that is maintained regularly tones up our muscles while simultaneously increasing both our endurance as well as our stamina. This is because regular cardiovascular workouts increase the oxygen supply to different organs and in effect ‘turbo-charge’ our bodies meaning that we have more energy to successfully accomplish our everyday tasks.
Builds muscles:
Any kind of physical activity, be it swimming, walking, martial arts or weight training, builds the endurance of the muscle groups being exercised and in the long run it increases our overall strength, thereby enabling us to do things we could never have dared try before.
Helps to sleep better:
Once exercise becomes habitual to our lifestyle we may find that we are able to sleep a whole lot better than we ever used to before. With the cravat, however that such exercise should not be undertaken too close to bed time or the energy released may actually be detrimental to deep sleep.
Leads to a healthier digestive system:
A lack of exercise is widely considered to be one of the contributing causes of constipation. Physical activity taken in conjunction with many other factors, such as drinking more water and fibrous food may get rid of constipation. For good!
