You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or endure painful workouts to reap the health benefits of exercise. The CDC recommends getting at least 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic, and muscle-strengthening activities each week.
Despite the misconceptions, you don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to see positive results. Even modest amounts of activity make a big difference in mood, energy levels, and health.
Increased Energy
When we hear the word “exercise,” we often think of going to the gym to lift weights and sweat buckets. But, there are many different ways to exercise and a variety of benefits that come along with it.
Getting the body moving helps to increase energy levels, improve mood and can even lower stress levels. It can also help to manage other health conditions such as arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
The best part is that you don’t need to spend hours at the gym or run mile after monotonous mile to reap the rewards of physical activity. Just a few bouts of moderate exercise each day will make you healthier. If you’re new to exercise, start with small bouts such as walking around the block or a short bike ride and gradually increase your duration over time. Adding exercise to your calendar like a nonnegotiable meeting can also help to keep it at the top of your priority list.
Improved Sleep
People who exercise regularly report being able to fall asleep faster, sleep longer at night and have a better quality of sleep overall. The more vigorous the exercise, the more powerful the effects on sleep, but even light exercise can improve sleep. Regular exercise also helps with sleep apnea, insomnia and depression and increases the amount of time spent in the deep, restorative stages of sleep.
Gamaldo says many of her clients come to her asking how to get a better night’s sleep, and while it may take weeks, months or even years before they see results, it is important to keep exercising. She recommends starting with moderate to vigorous exercise early in the day and avoiding stimulating activities close to bedtime, like using a computer or watching television. In the evening, she suggests relaxing activities, such as yoga, a warm bath or reading a book. Try to go to sleep at roughly the same time each night.
Reduced Risk of Disease
While some risk factors of disease are outside our control, such as genetics and ageing, many of them are related to lifestyle factors that we can change. These include diet, body weight and smoking. Regular exercise can help reduce your cholesterol levels and blood pressure, improve bone health, maintain a healthy weight and prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
In addition, regular exercise can decrease pain and improve functioning in people with arthritis, improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control for people with type 2 diabetes, help promote mobility in people with osteoarthritis and dementia, and play a role in improving mental health. Studies have also shown that people who are active experience a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, hospital admission and death.
It is important to keep in mind that observational studies cannot fully establish a causal link between physical activity and health outcomes. However, clinical trials that randomly assign participants to different groups can eliminate bias and provide stronger evidence.
Better Mental Health
Having good mental health can make all the difference in how well you feel in your day-to-day life. It can help you cope with and manage chronic physical diseases and conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and asthma that are worsened by stress. It can also help prevent the onset of mental illness and boost self-esteem, sleep, memory and cognitive functioning.
While most of the obstacles to exercise have to do with mental perceptions, you don’t have to dedicate hours out of your day to train in a gym or run mile after monotonous mile to reap the benefits. In fact, 30-minutes of moderate exercise a day, five days a week is enough to have an impact on your mental health.
Experiment with the different types of physical activity until you find something you enjoy. It will not only make exercising more fun and enticing, but it will increase the likelihood that you’ll stick with your workout routine.Hälsa och träning