Why do you exercise? For many, it’s all about either losing weight or maintaining weight. Others may want to build bigger muscles and develop greater strength. Doctors also recommend that you do cardio exercises designed to maintain your heart health.
These are all great benefits, but exercising also offers more benefits than just these. Some of these benefits may even surprise you!
Improved Sex Life
On the face of it, this benefit doesn’t seem all that surprising at all. When you regularly exercise, you’re more likely to be in shape. That means you’re more likely to have a more active sex life, since you’re relatively more attractive now than you were when you weren’t exercising.
Since you know you’re in good shape, you’re also probably more confident and less grumpy. That makes you even more attractive to potential sex partners.
But that not the entire reason. Regular exercise boosts your blood circulation. When you’re aroused, you enjoy improved blood flow to the genitals. That reduces the likelihood of sexual dysfunction.
Exercise also stimulates the endocrine system, which refer to the glands that secrete hormones in your body. The endocrine system also plays a key role in sexual function.
Better Sleep Quality
Some experts deem sleep deprivation as a worse problem for your health than general lack of exercise. Getting quality sleep is much more important than you think. In fact, if you didn’t get much sleep the night before, health experts recommend that you skip the workout and just sleep it off. Sleep deprivation is like being drunk or high on drugs, so you’re not able to work out properly, anyway.
Poor quality sleep is associated with a long list of health issues, like depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. But exercise can help improve sleep quality, and it can benefit those who suffer from insomnia as well.
Fights Depression
If you’re feeling down and blue, you can just exercise to feel better. Depression is often caused by stress, and stress in turn can be caused by higher levels of certain hormones (such as norepinephrine, adrenaline, and cortisol).
Exercising, on the other hand, lowers the levels of all these hormones. Working out also boosts your endorphin and serotonin levels, which makes you feel better and reduce stress.
A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry also indicated that even a single hour of exercise each week is enough to combat depression. The study was quite large-scale, involving almost 34,000 adults monitored over a span of more than 11 years. The study found out that even light exercise for a single hour a week can help against depression. This is true, regardless of gender and age.
Improved Skin
You’d think that with all that sweating resulting from strenuous physical activity, that exercising is bad for the skin. But the opposite is actually true. Exercise improves the skin quality.
This is because exercise enhances blood flow. This means the blood is better able to carry oxygen and other nutrients to the cells throughout the body. The blood is also better able to move out waste products from the body. Basically, when you exercise, you cleanse your body from the inside.
Don’t forget that exercise also fights stress. When you’re stressed, the risk of skin inflammation becomes higher. When you exercise, you reduce the stress so that you might end up clearing your blemishes as well.
This is probably why professional athletes tend to have better skin on average compared to people who don’t work out regularly.
Reduces the Risk of Cancer
Quite a few studies have uncovered a link between inactivity and the increased risk for certain types of cancers. But exercise should help make sure you get enough activity. Exercise has been associated with a lower risk of developing, recurring, and death from cancer.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure how working out lowers the risk of cancer. The current thinking is that exercising improves the immune system.
Exercise Makes You Smarter
It’s been found that even short bursts of exercise boost the brain functions. One study involving moderate cycling for 10 minutes found that after this activity, the participants were able to offer better solutions more quickly to posed problems.
Regular exercise can also paly a crucial role in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. It can also alleviate the depression and anxiety that come with these conditions.
Final Words
All these benefits prove that exercising is worthy of all the time and effort you devote to it. So, the next time you visit your local Jetts Gym, make sure you take things seriously so you can actually enjoy all these benefits.