Benefits of Exercise – Beyond Fitness: Part 1

So, as we all know, to be fit we need to exercise. However, exercise goes way beyond just fitness and has many other benefits to our lives. In today’s blog entry we will look into a number of other benefits that we get from exercising other than the physical benefits that get talked about regularly.  

Psychological Benefits

Often, the psychological benefits of exercise go unmentioned when discussing physical activity. It is strongly suggested that regular exercise can help to both prevent depression and be used as a cure for depression. Stress relief is another psychological benefit of exercising. As little as a ten minute walk, it is suggested, can help to reduce stress levels in our body due to endorphins being released. Some studies indicate that regular exercise will reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease too.   

Aids Sleep

People who regularly exercise appear to have a better nights sleep. However, exercising just before we attempt to go to sleep will keep us awake!

Emotional

In a similar vein to the psychological benefits of exercise, there are emotional benefits too. The release of endorphins leaves us feeling happier and more optimistic and surely we all want to be happier.

Fighting Disease

Much research suggests that regular exercise can help in the fight against a number of diseases. Studies seem to indicate that regular, vigorous exercise can help to prevent heart disease. Research completed by Queen’s University Belfast along with Glasgow University suggests people taking part in more vigorous exercise on a regular basis suffer fewer heart attacks than those who did not. Research also suggests that regular exercise can lower our risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and colon cancer (plus other forms of cancer).

The Benefits of Water

Are we drinking enough water?

We here a lot about the importance of drinking water on a daily basis for the good of our health and that is what this blog will look into. Simply put – the body cannot function without water.

Many sources agree that water is one of the most important factors for weight loss and keeping the weight off. Not only does water help to keep us naturally satisfied, in terms of controlling our appetite, it also helps our body to metabolize fat.

Another major positive of water is what it can do for the skin. Some research claims that it helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the skin and other research states that acne is reduced through higher water consumption.

Water can help to fight infections all over our body. The main reason behind this is that it helps to flush toxins from the body and this prevents them from infecting our body.

Here’s a benefit of water to exercise. It helps us train more effectively. Obviously, after working out it is essential that we replace the water that we have sweated out, but research also suggests that our bodies work harder and better when exercising if we are more hydrated.

There are many more benefits to water, such as aiding digesting and protecting tissues, as well as reasons why we need to keep hydrated, but these are some key things that I feel are important to me and bear some importance to fitness, health and weight loss.

Oh, and just on a kind of side not, there is no need to purchase bottled water, regular tap water is fine and, in some cases, is better than the bottled water we buy.