In the past two weeks, I discussed mental and spiritual health. These topics are all very important, and it is even more important that they work together.
When spiritual, mental, and emotional health work together, it creates a positive and happy life for us. This is the best way to start off 2024!
Physical health is defined as a state of well-being when all internal and external body parts, organs, tissues, and cells function properly as they are supposed to function.
We all know that exercise is important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do for us.
It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time searching for food and shelter, traveling large distances daily.
Our bodies are designed to be regularly active. In the same way that a sports car is designed to go fast, we are designed to move; if the sports car is taken out once a week for a three-mile round trip through a town center, it will develop engine problems fairly quickly!
Over time, people develop problems if they sit all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimize the amount of exercise they do.
There are many benefits of regular exercise and maintaining fitness.
- Exercise improves your cardiovascular system’s strength and efficiency in getting oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. When your cardiovascular system works better, everything seems easier, and you have more energy for the fun stuff in life.
- Exercise improves muscle strength. Staying active keeps muscles strong and joints, tendons, and ligaments flexible. Allowing you to move more easily and avoid injury. Strong muscles and ligaments reduce joint and lower back pain risk by properly aligning joints. They also improve coordination and balance.
- The more you exercise, the more calories you burn. In addition, the more muscle you develop, the higher your metabolic rate becomes, so you burn more calories even when you’re not exercising. The result? You may lose weight and look better physically, boosting your self-esteem.
- Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen levels in the brain. It also encourages the release of the brain chemicals responsible for producing cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. This, in turn, boosts concentration levels and cognitive ability and helps reduce the risk of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
- Exercise reduces LDL cholesterol, the type that clogs your arteries, increases HDL, the good cholesterol, and reduces blood pressure, lowering the stress on your heart. Adding to this, it also strengthens your heart muscles. Combined with a healthy diet, exercise lowers the risk of developing coronary artery disease.
- Exercise improves your body’s ability to pump the oxygen and nutrients around your body that are required to fuel cells that fight bacteria and viruses.
- Being fit may mean reducing the risks of colon, breast, lung, and endometrial cancers. Studies by the Seattle Cancer Research Center have suggested that 35% of all cancer deaths are linked to being overweight.
Many different negative effects can happen to us if we don’t exercise.
Your brain is like a muscle; you’re strengthening and training it to work better by exercising. When you get older, it gets weaker, and your memory starts to falter.
A 2012 study and the BMJ Open found people aged 45 to 49 showed evidence of cognitive decline. However, signs of memory loss can start as early as your 20s or 30s, a 2010 study found.
However, exercise serves as a particular factor against memory decline and dementia, according to the Harvard Health Blog.
Being inactive causes fatty material buildup in your arteries, the blood vessels involved in transporting blood to the tissues and organs, says the British Heart Foundation. Accumulating fat in the arteries can cause clogging, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Other heart-related issues from being inactive include high blood pressure and blood clots, a 2011 study found.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC. However, you can drastically lower these risks by resuming your exercise routine.
Exercise is important for maintaining mental health. A 2018 study in BMJ Open found physical inactivity increases the risk of depression and anxiety in adolescence.
A separate 2018 study in the Lancet Psychiatry looked at the mental health burden of adults. It was found that those who exercised had 43.2% fewer bad mental health days than adults who did not exercise regularly.
Just one hour of exercise per week can significantly reduce the risk of depression and depressive symptoms.
