The Health Benefits of Exercise

You are always busy. You do not have the time to exercise. Your life is a hectic whirl. By the end of the day, you do not have the energy to exercise. Of course, you have tried to exercise, but you have never been able to stick with it. You do not like to perspire. The local health club is expensive and snobby. And with your less-than-perfect body, you feel embarrassed to be seen there. Your home is too small for fancy equipment. You already have a cross-country ski machine gathering dust in your basement. Whenever you look at it, you do not feel motivated, you feel guilty. Instead of working out, you rather just curl up with a good book and not even think about exercise. The fact is, that you do not have to spend half of your life sweating buckets at fancy health clubs to reap major physical and emotional benefits from exercise. All it takes to improve health and fitness and look and feel a whole lot better is to incorporate just a little more physical activity into your daily life. You hardly have to break into a sweat. Here are some of the benefits of exercise.

1. Improves Sleep And Minimizes Insomnia

Exercise feels invigorating, but several hours later it helps the body wind down to sleep. It is recommended to have low- to moderate- intensity exercise to improve sleep and treat insomnia. Just do not exercise shortly before bed or you may wind up feeling more invigorated than sleepy.

2. Builds Strength, Flexibility And Stamina

As you exercise, your muscles become stronger, your joints become more supple, and you can remain active longer without tiring. In other words, the more you exercise, the less taxing it feels, and the more likely you are to enjoy it and stick with it.

3. Helps Control Weight

In addition to burning extra calories while you are exercising, physical activity boosts basal metabolic rate - the rate at which the body burns calories while at rest. When you are physically active, you continue to burn extra calories even after you stop exercising. You may not lose 20 pounds taking leisurely strolls, but you will be better able to maintain your current weight. With low-intensity exercise and a low-fat diet, you will probably lose a few pounds.

4. Reduces Risk Of Heart Disease

Heart disease is the nation's leading cause of death. Low-intensity exercise helps prevent it by strengthening the heart, reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and combating obesity and diabetes.

5. Helps Manage Arthritis

Exercise moves the major joints through their full range of motion, which helps to keep them pain-free. Exercise also releases endorphins, the body's pain relieving chemicals.

6. Mood Elevation

In addition to relieving pain, endorphins released by exercise also have an anti-depressant effect. Many mental health professionals encourage exercise as a natural complement to other treatments for depression.

7. Helps Preserve Bone

Regular, moderate, weight-bearing exercise such as walking, gardening, dancing and so forth helps maintain bone density and prevent bone-thinning osteoporosis - a major health problem for women over 50.

Raymond Lee Geok Seng is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is a writer specializing in body health, muscle development and dieting. He has spent countless of time and efforts conducting research and share his insightful and powerful secrets to benefit men and women all over the world. He is currently the author of the latest edition of "Neck Exercises and Workouts." Visit http://www.bodyfixes.com for more information.