HEALTH AND FITNESS: Benefits of exercise beyond fitness

There’s no question that regular exercise is essential to achieving and maintaining physical fitness, losing and maintaining weight, and preventing and treating conditions like diabetes and heart disease. What you might not know is that exercise can improve your health in ways you might not notice at the gym or on the scale. Here are some ways exercise can improve your health.

Improve your immune system

Exercise can have a positive effect on your immune system. People who exercise moderately every day have fewer and fewer severe colds and up to 50% fewer sick days than people who do not exercise regularly. Research shows that exercise increases the activity of certain immune cells called helper T cells. This makes the immune system’s response to viruses like the common cold and flu more robust. The strongest evidence is seen when the exercise is moderate in intensity and duration, such as B. Walk or jog for 30 to 60 minutes.

Fight the fire of inflammation

Inflammation is a key factor in the development of numerous chronic diseases, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes and some cancers. Many people look for foods with anti-inflammatory properties in their diet, but it turns out that exercise can also have a significant impact on reducing inflammation. This has to do with the fact that exercise causes your muscles to produce chemical signals called myokines that affect other organs. One of these is IL-6, which has powerful anti-inflammatory effects.

Balance your gut bacteria

You’ve probably heard that the bacteria that naturally colonize your gut are linked to your health. Simply put, some of these bacteria are harmful to health and cause health problems directly or indirectly. The most obvious are GI issues, but these bacteria can also affect your hormones and metabolism in ways that lead to inflammation, obesity, and heart disease. Other bacteria are considered “good,” meaning they have beneficial health effects. Research shows that exercise can have a positive effect on gut bacteria, which can potentially affect gastrointestinal health, inflammation, and weight control.

Boost your brain function

Research shows that exercise has wide-ranging effects on brain structure and function, resulting from increased blood flow to the brain and the production of BDNF, an important growth factor that promotes brain growth and repair. Benefits include improved learning and memory, better attention and the ability to ignore distractions, improved stress management, and improved mood.

Sleep better

Exercise has long been associated with improved sleep. This is believed to be due to the fact that exercise depletes energy stores and raises body temperature, and sleep restores energy, promotes tissue repair, and regulates body temperature. Exercise is a healthy, safe, inexpensive, and easy way to improve sleep and potentially replace sleeping pills. Research also shows that aerobic exercise can improve sleep quality, mood, and a sense of vitality in people with chronic insomnia.

Take action to achieve these benefits

Like improved fitness and weight management, these other benefits depend on the type, intensity, and duration of exercise you perform. At the very least, it’s important to make time each day to be active, even if it’s a 30-minute walk. Schedule longer workouts some days, shorter, more intense workouts some days, and strength and flexibility training at least two days a week. This will achieve fitness and weight control goals, as well as other hidden exercise benefits that promote better overall health.