How Exercise Keeps Us Young
A blog about the benefits and results of cardio and strength training.
We know that keeping in shape is important in keeping our bodies in good health. We hear that all the time. It’s ad nauseam. You’ll see conference presentations, magazines, infomercials — never lacking in stories of individuals who have changed their lives by changing how they work out. But are you really hearing anything new? How important is fitness in truly being what keeps us young? If you dig a little deeper into this subject, perhaps you’ll find some emotional or scientific resolutions to what everyone has already told you.
Exercise has brain-boosting effects
Exercise is not just about keeping your body healthy. It is also about keeping your brain young, and one of its mechanisms of action has to do with changing the chemistry of the brain. The chemicals in the brain, like all chemicals, are made by chemical reactions. The most important chemical reaction in making a brain is making new neurons; neurons are the building blocks of the brain.
Neurons are complicated things. They do more than just transmit signals from one place to another; they also store memories, receive new signals, and so on. And some parts of the brain are more important for storing memories than others. The hippocampus, for example, does that very well; it is responsible for memory formation, especially long-term memory (remembering facts). But other parts of the brain play roles in different kinds of memory as well: short-term memory, spatial memory, and so on. Almost anything you want to remember depends on which part of your brain it comes from.
Exercise strengthens our muscles
When you move your body regularly, it strengthens muscles in your body. These muscles are what hold everything in place, including our joints. They also help us recover from physical stressors like doing yard work or carrying groceries.
One of the most visible benefits is improved balance and stamina, which can decrease the risk of falls. If you’re one of those people who routinely falls downstairs, you know the debilitating consequences that come with that kind of injury. Failing to exercise can lead to joint problems and other health issues for the knees and hips, especially among older people.
Exercise helps in balancing life
The physical act of exercising helps in balancing life. It makes you feel good, light, more focused and makes you feel like you are ready for anything that happens in your life. It’s also an excellent way to release endorphins into your body. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers and they help give you more energy.
Physical exercise is not just restricted to gym workouts; there are many other ways of exercising that can be done at home without any equipment or gym memberships. You can exercise at home or office by doing some simple exercises like walking, jogging, running, climbing stairs and jumping rope, etc. exercise is great for health and it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle which includes exercise.