5 min read
Remember when you were a kid and how much fun it was to play outside all day? Remember how good you felt, how much energy you had, and how well you slept at night? Many of us would love to feel that way again.
You can! Perhaps you won't feel exactly as you did when you were younger, but you can certainly improve your physical function and mental clarity. It’s as easy as doing something physical most days of the week to boost your mood and feel strong again.
Physical activity not only improves your overall health and helps you sleep better, but it also gives you more energy and strengthens bones and muscles.
But, if you haven’t been active you might think it’s just too hard to start now. Try to shift how you’re thinking about it. You can do it! And you’ll be glad you did.
A negative outlook will crush your motivation every time and then you’ll get back into the cycle of not doing much. It’s really as simple as moving every day. You don’t have to start out with a long walk or a lot of activity. Just do something and later you can set goals, explore gym membership, and measure your progress.
Anything you do helps – a short walk, a little gardening, climb the stairs (twice!), park further away when shopping so you get a longer walk, or toss a baseball with your kids or grandkids. Don't put pressure on yourself at first. Just aim to get into the exercise habit, you can start tracking your progress back to good health.
Always check with your doctor or chiropractor before increasing your activity level. Ask for suggestions on how much exercise and what types are best for you.
If you don't have the motivation to get moving, here are seven important ways that regular exercise can change your life for the better.
1. Weight Control
Want to get to your target weight and stay there? Activity helps you control your appetite, burn calories and keep the weight off. Start slow and build on each day's progress. Don't worry if life gets in the way and you can't exercise every day. Just do some activity most days of the week.
The more days you exercise, the longer you exercise, and the intensity of your exercise determines how many calories you'll burn. After exercise becomes a pleasant daily habit, you'll want to increase the intensity of your exercise. Your body adjusts to increasing levels of activity, so you'll need to continue setting higher goals to maintain weight loss.
2. Physical Activity Improves Overall Health
The primary cause of chronic diseases is inactivity. Regular activity can help prevent many health problems, including:
- Heart disease and high blood pressure
- Lung problems
- Diabetes – exercise improves insulin sensitivity or helps control blood glucose if you already have diabetes
- Depression and anxiety
- Arthritis
- Falls, along with broken bones and concussions
- Osteoporosis, which causes bone loss and fractures
- Cancers of the bladder, breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, lung, and stomach
- Obesity
If you're trying to quit smoking, exercise makes it easier by reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms and limits the weight you might gain. Give your mind something else to think about other than smoking when you’re doing something active.
As we age, losing the ability to do everyday activities (functional limitations) reduces our chances of living independently. Functional limitations increase the risk that chronic conditions will worsen.
Exercise isn't a silver bullet that will wipe out all your chronic health problems. But in many cases, regular exercise can improve many health conditions. For example, exercise improves cholesterol levels, boosting good cholesterol (HDL) and decreasing unhealthy cholesterol (LDL). Better cholesterol levels mean a lower risk of health and lung diseases.
Other research found that exercising for at least 160 minutes per week over six months significantly improved erectile function in men. In contrast, even a short-term absence of exercise can lead to significant increases in belly fat, linked to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
3. Improve Mood and Mental Health
As you start getting into better physical shape with regular exercise, you'll find your mood improves. You're better able to manage the normal stresses of everyday life. Many people who exercise regularly report more joy and satisfaction in life; fewer things irritate them, and they feel less anxious.
Mood and mental health improve because you're increasing oxygen to your brain. Exercise also produces brain chemicals that make you feel happier and less stressed. Regular activity improves your appearance, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Exercise is one of the best prescriptions for depression and anxiety.
4. Reduce Pain and Stiffness
For many years, chronic pain was treated with rest and inactivity. Now we know how wrong that advice was. Although chronic pain can put all thoughts of moving out of your head, exercise can reduce chronic pain. It strengthens joints and muscles to better support your body, helping it function more effectively and without pain. Exercise can help control chronic lower back pain, fibromyalgia, chronic soft tissue pain, and others. The endorphins produced in the brain when you exercise help you better tolerate pain.
5. Strengthen Bones and Muscles
Weight-bearing exercises are especially effective at strengthening muscles and making your bones stronger. Young people need to strengthen their bones via exercise to reduce the risk of osteoporosis as they age. Older people can get back to it and help prevent bone deterioration or further loss of bone and muscle mass, helping you keep your balance and be able to move around during everyday activities.
6. Boost Energy
Exercise helps deliver oxygen and vital nutrients throughout your body. When your heart and lungs are working efficiently, you have more energy to tackle your day. In studies of people with chronic fatigue syndrome, exercise was significantly better at increasing energy and endurance levels than relaxation and stretching. There were similar energy-boosting benefits for people undergoing cancer treatment.
7. Sleep Better
If you struggle to get a full night's sleep because of stress or pain, exercise can help quite a bit. Exercise improves sleep quality, reduces the time to fall asleep, and helps you sleep longer. Aerobic exercise alone or combined with resistance training can improve sleep quality. The energy you spend during exercise stimulates the restorative processes while you're asleep.
How Much Exercise Do I Need?
Most healthy adults need a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week. You should be moving fast enough that you're breathing harder. That's how you get the aerobic activity that's so important to strengthen the heart muscle.
If you want to increase the seven benefits listed above, shoot for 45 minutes to an hour a day of exercise. But remember, you can start small and work up to this.
All of your activity doesn't have to be at one time. Fifteen minutes, four times a day, adds up to an hour. Short exercise breaks are easy to fit into your day, and they combine to provide the same benefits as a long session.
Focus on activities you enjoy. Exercising with your friends, spouse, kids or grandkids is fun and sets an example for a lifetime of good health. It's never too late to start improving your health.
Support Your Exercise Program with Chiropractic Care
As you get back into physical activity, a chiropractic care plan can help you feel good. A chiropractor can create a program that will help prevent an injury and pain from developing. Be sure to tell us about any previous injuries or areas where you’re feeling especially sore. These are hints to help us with recommending a plan that will help you avoid re-injury and keep you feeling like you can continue with your exercise program.
Chiropractic care can include spinal manipulation, massage therapy, and if you have pain in a particular area we can add electrical muscle stimulation treatments and cold laser therapy to promote healing.
Request an appointment at our office in The Woodlands if you’re ready to start feeling better and prevent injury with your lifestyle that includes physical activity.
