There are 168 hours in every week. Your exercise program is going to take 7 of those hours, give or take, and chances are that those 7 hours will give you more health, more positive feelings, and a better quality of life than just about anything else that takes place in the remaining 161.
Exercise helps you:
- sleep better
- digest better
- think clearer
- calm yourself
- get “grounded”
- avoid some pretty nasty diseases and ailments
- control your appetite and weight
- build self-esteem
- forge new friendships
Inactivity has a lot of unhealthy implications for our bodies —on a cellular level. At the cellular level, inactivity decreases the ability to transfer oxygen from your blood stream to your cells, and also decreases the number of power activating mitochondria. However, the worst cost of not exercising or being physically active can result in the following 10 devastating conditions:
- CANCER - Studies have shown that fitness enthusiastic men and women who are physically active have a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of colon cancer compared to individuals who are inactive.
- DIABETES - Studies show lack of regular physical exercise increases insulin sensitivity. Diabetes is considered the “sedentary disease” which is striking people at an alarming rate. If it is not controlled, it can destroy the body’s organs.
- HEART - Lack of consistent physical activity, over time, decreases the function of the heart muscle, affects the blood vessels, including the large aortic artery to the veins and small capillaries. According to many studies, scientists have good reason to believe that regular exercise protects the heart.
- STROKE - Regular exercisers are 25% less likely to have a stroke than their sedentary counterparts. Being fit lowers blood pressure, raises HDL cholesterol, and reduces the risk of blood clots.
- BRAIN “Issues” - People who are physically active, according to solid evidence, are at lower risk for cognitive decline and dementia.
- MUSCLES LOSS - If you don’t exercise on a regular basis, you are at risk of losing some 6 percent of your muscles mass every decade of life from the age of 30 on. This also translates into a 10 - 15 percent loss of strength per decade. Once again, if you don’t use the muscle, you will lose the muscle quickly.
- OSTEOPOROSIS - Fragile bones cause more than 1.5 million fractures each year in the U.S. Bone is like muscle, if you stress it, it responds. If you don’t, you gradually lose its strength, and increase your chances of breaking them. Regular weekly strength training can help prevent osteoporosis, and decrease your chances of breaking a bone.
- POOR MENTAL HEALTH - People who don’t exercise on a regular basis are more prone to develop depression. According to a recent study, people who were more active were nearly 20 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression over the next five years than less active people. Fitness conscious individuals also generally display an improved self esteem, or self image.
- EXCESSIVE WEIGHT - If you are inactive, year in and year out, you will eventually gain weight and lose fitness which increases the chance of a heart attacks, and diabetes.
- COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEM - Moderate amounts of exercise reduces the risk of upper respiratory infection. Regular exercise may boost immune function.
