5 Surprising Reasons To Keep Exercising Regularly!

No argument – exercise isn’t an easy thing to do. In fact, even die-hard exercisers can have their days when they just don’t want to move. Fatigue, achy joints or just plain inertia can keep us glued to the couch. rnBut no matter how strong the urge gets to sit still, fight it. In a minute, I’ll give you some surprising reasons why.rnBut before we get to that, let me reveal one other secret about exercising . . . It doesn’t have to be a lot. Something is better than nothing. In fact all those something’s can add up to a whole lot over time. As New York Times fitness columnist, Gretchen Reynolds, reports in her book, The First 20 Minutes, the most important health benefits from exercise comes from the first 20 minutes of activity. If you’re sitting all day, just exercising 20 minutes can make a dramatic difference in your life expectancy and risk for disease. After that first 20 minutes, explains Reynolds, “the rest is gravy!”[1] There is simply nothing better for your body than exercise. No medical miracle . . . no special healing technique can replace the benefits of good ole activity! But of course, you probably know exercise is good for your health. And can help you slim down. rnWhat you may not know are these 5 additional - and somewhat surprising - reasons to fit more activity in. Still having a hard time getting motivated to move? Take a look at these 5 often overlooked reasons exercise is great for you . . . Reason To Exercise #1: Energy Exercise gives you energy. It may sound counterintuitive that spending energy moving can help you gain energy. But it’s true. Researchers reviewed nearly 70 studies involving 6800 people. And 90% of the studies show exercise energized people – even people struggling with health conditions marked by chronic fatigue. Going a step further, the researchers reported regular exercise energized even better than stimulants.[2] Reason To Exercise #2: More brain power Want to sharpen up your brain power? Get active. For children and adults of all ages, when it comes to improving your capacity to learn, remember things, and problem solve, nothing beats exercise. Exercise’s role in brain health is particularly noteworthy when it comes to the problems that crop up with age. While medicine has provided no answers for diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, exercise has come through like a champion. Several studies demonstrate exercise can effectively stave off age-related memory loss. Or even rebuild your capacity to remember things when your memory starts slipping.[3,4] Exercise improves cognitive performance simply by increasing blood flow to the brain. But its benefits may also be rooted in how it challenges and stimulates the brain, encouraging neural growth. Reason To Exercise #3: It boosts your mood rnFeeling a little blue? Zap the cloud of depression with activity. Research has demonstrated exercise works better than any antidepressant. In fact exercising 3 times a week can yield results in as little as 4 weeks.[5] While scientists aren’t exactly clear on how exercise helps, one theory points to neural growth. Scientists have discovered even when we get older our brains grow new neurons. It seems that people suffering from depression often have a deficit of these new nerve cells in the hippocampus part of the brain. However, exercise has been shown to overcome this problem by stimulating the brain to grow new neurons.[6] It seems triggering this new neural growth is key to exercise’s role in fighting the blues. Reason To Exercise #4: Exercise reduces pain rnIf your reason for not exercising is pain, you may be making things worse. Arthritis and bad back sufferers alike have found movement is a better antidote for pain and discomfort than sitting still.[7] First simply by building muscle strength and helping you lose weight, exercise can take a load off your achy joints. But it seems the pain-relieving benefits of exercise go even further. All kinds of exercise produce endorphins, special chemicals that increase your feeling of wellbeing and reduce your sensation of pain. And if you focus on strength training, you’ll also get additional inflammation and pain-relief from the production of special immune molecules called cytokines.[8] Reason To Exercise #5: You’ll sleep better at night. rnWant to pass out when you hit the pillow? Work your muscles and get your lungs pumping! For a nation troubled by insomnia, exercise offers the best sleeping pill around. According to a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, people who exercise more, report sleeping better at night. The most vigorous exercisers report getting the best rest. But sleep researcher, Dr. Max Hirshkowitz, PhD, explains it doesn’t take much to drift off more easily. Just by walking 10 minutes a day, you can improve your shuteye.[9] 2 Additional Exercise Energizers So now you’ve got 5 new reasons – and no more excuses – to get moving! And if you still need a little extra push, add a little extra healthy nutrition and a glass of water to the mix. These two factors can give you the energy you’re missing. Finally, when it comes to strategic supplemental nutrition for activity, there’s nothing better than chlorella and eleuthero. These two nutritional supplements make exercise easier and even more rewarding. Chlorella’s growth factor (CGF) helps your body repair tissue quickly, making it easier to build new muscles and fix minor injuries. And the way chlorella helps your body remove toxins, ups your energy even more. Long a favorite of Olympic athletes, eleuthero is known for its ability to boost your endurance and performance, even when you’re pushed to your limits. And while it energizes you, eleuthero does not work like other stimulants like caffeine. People who take eleuthero regularly report feeling calm and revitalized at the same time. Use these motivating reasons and strategic supplementation. Together, they can fuel you to get more activity in each day. As this research underscores, you’ll experience benefits you never dreamed came from exercising. In turn, experiencing these benefits will help you transform exercise from a chore to something you look forward to. rnAs a result, exercise will become easier and easier to do. Sources: [1] Parker-Pope T. The Surprising Shortcut To Better Health. The New York Times blog. May 4, 2012. [2] Warner, J. Exercise Fights Fatigue. Boosts Energy. Web MD. Nov 3, 2006. [3] Guiney, H et al. Benefits of regular aerobic exercise for executive functioning in healthy populations. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2012; [4] Emling, S. Exercise prevents dementia: Study shows link between fitness and cognitive ability. Huffington Post. February 5, 2013. [5] Pederson, T. New guidelines for using exercise as an antidepressant. Psych Central. May 11, 2013. [6] Ernst, C. Antidepressant effects of exercise: Evidence for an adult neurogenesis hypothesis? J Psychiatry Neurosci. Mar 2006; 31(2): 84–92. [7] Rheumatoid arthritis and exercise. Web MD. Rheumatoid arthritis center. [8] Petersen, AM. The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1 April 2005 Vol. 98no. 1154-1162rn[9] National Sleep Foundation. "Exercise key to good sleep." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 March 2013.