“Inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease. Exercise quickens and equalizes the circulation of the blood, but in idleness the blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in it, so necessary to life and health, do not take place. The skin, too, becomes inactive. Impurities are not expelled as they would be if the circulation had been quickened by vigorous exercise, the skin kept in a healthy condition, and the lungs fed with plenty of pure, fresh air. This state of the system throws a double burden on the excretory organs, and disease is the result.” –Ministry of Healing, p. 238

There are many health benefits of maintaining a good level of physical fitness. Let us review the many health benefits of exercise.

Increases Stamina

When we exercise, in order for our muscles to work, they need oxygen. Once oxygen reaches any cell in the body, including our muscle cells, it goes through a complex process in which oxygen helps to convert nutrients into usable energy.

Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical effort, the ability to do something difficult for long periods of time that requires strength and endurance. For one’s body to have stamina, cardiovascular fitness is required. As was mentioned, the body needs oxygen to create energy. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen-rich blood to the muscles, and the ability of the muscles to then use that oxygen to produce energy for movement. This means that both the heart and lungs must have the capacity to exert themselves to supply enough oxygen to the body so that it can sustain prolonged physical activity. Stamina is the ability of the body to continue to supply enough oxygen from the lungs and heart to the rest of the body, so that sustained strength and endurance can occur.

Regular physical exercise improves stamina in several ways. Like any muscle that increases in size as it is worked, the heart muscle also increases in size when it is worked. When the heart muscle is larger, it has the capacity to send a greater volume of blood into the system with each beat. Thus, the resting heart rate decreases because the amount of blood that you pump in a single beat in increased. A stronger heart does not need to beat at fast. It also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.

New blood vessels are developed in the heart and other muscles with exercise. The arteries that supply blood to the heart become larger. Although lung capacity does not change with regular physical exercise, the person is better able to extract oxygen from the air into the lungs, and the muscles are better able to extract oxygen from the blood to be used to create energy.

There is an increase in the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood; hemoglobin is the part of the red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, including the muscles. Overall, the heart and lungs become more efficient and the circulation of blood through the body carries more oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and other parts of the body that are needed when we are physically active. When your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to do the things that you enjoy, and physical activity becomes easier. As an added benefit, a more efficient heart increases the amount of blood that flows to the skin, making it look healthier.

Regular exercise does not change the size of our lungs; this is something we are born with. However, when we exercise we increase the total amount of blood in our body, so we are better able to extract oxygen from the air in our lungs. When we exercise we breathe faster and more deeply. This maximises the amount of oxygen that travels into the bloodstream, and ultimately into the muscles and joints. Carbon dioxide is the byproduct of energy creation, and the elimination of carbon dioxide from the body is more efficient in someone who exercises. Physical exercise can improve lung function in those people who have conditions that limit their ability to breathe. Studies have shown that people with asthma who exercise regularly have less asthma attacks and need less medication.

In general, the amount of blood that the heart can pump to the body is the factor that determines the capacity one has for prolonged exercise. This includes having the stamina to complete all the tasks necessary for our jobs and have extra energy left at the end of the day for household and recreational activities.

Exercise and Mood

Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals, including the release of both serotonin and endorphins. Serotonin helps your brain regulate your mood, sleep and appetite. Endorphins act as natural antidepressants in the brain, which help to promote an increased sense of well-being. Exercise will leave you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out. These endorphins are known to stay elevated even several days after exercise, contributing to an improvement in mood and increased self-esteem. Exercise also reduces immune system chemicals that can make depression worse. Other ways in which exercise helps depression is in increased energy levels, a better night’s sleep, a distraction from your worries, gets you out with other people, helps you feel in more control as you are contributing to relieving your depression, and increases your confidence once you notice that your symptoms are improving.

In fact, people who exercise regularly have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to those who don’t exercise. Exercise is an effective treatment for mild and moderate forms of depression. Researchers also have found that exercise is likely to reduce the tension associated with anxiety. Some studies have shown that exercise alone is as effective as medication and therapy combined in treating depression and anxiety. And, not only does exercise help in treating depression, it can also prevent people from becoming depressed again. Therefore, it is important to continue exercising after the symptoms of depression are gone. Some recent studies show that exercising outside has a better impact than exercising indoors. People who exercise outside do it more often and for longer periods of time, than those who exercise inside.

Pain Relief

Resting for short periods can help with pain, but too much rest can make pain worse. Resting for too long can stiffen muscles and joints so that when they are used again there is a greater risk of injury. Exercise is a common treatment for pain relief especially chronic pain. Depending on your level of health, it can also help decrease inflammation, increase mobility, and decrease overall pain levels so that medicine can either be avoided or reduced in dosage. The same endorphins that help with mood can reduce the intensity of the pain experienced by the brain. Regular exercise also helps with pain relief by improving muscle tone, strength, and flexibility. Even people with conditions such as arthritis can improve pain relief with specific exercises, including stretching, walking and swimming. Exercise programs should be started slowly, and avoid pushing oneself if pain increases by a significant degree. Remember, exercise is like medicine, and can be part of a daily strategy to assist in dealing with chronic pain.

Diabetes

In those people who have a risk of developing type 2 diabetes because of genetics or an excess of abdominal fat, regular exercise can help delay or even prevent diabetes from developing. Physical exercise reduces overall body fat; and type II diabetes typically manifests in adulthood in those who are overweight and obese. With people who have type 2 diabetes, regular physical activity is one of the most important things that one can do to lower blood sugar levels in the blood and boost the body’s sensitivity to insulin, counteracting insulin resistance, which prevents blood sugar from entering into the cells from the blood stream. It also helps reduce the risk of diabetics developing complications such as heart disease and strokes. Diabetics who walked at least two hours a week were less likely to die of heart disease than those who did not exercise, and when exercise increased to 3–4 hours a week their risk was decreased even more.

Heart Disease

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 17 million people around the world die from cardiovascular disease each year—over 29 percent of all deaths worldwide. WHO also adds that 22 percent of heart disease is caused by physical inactivity. It is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, which means that it does not have to be present with any other risk factor to cause disease. There is also a direct relation between physical inactivity and death from heart disease.

Studies prove that physical exercise reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease because of its impact on: reducing the risk of high blood pressure, reducing blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure, raising levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and reducing levels of bad cholesterol (LDL), lowering triglyceride levels, improving blood flow which prevents plaque buildup in the arteries, decreasing the tendency of blood to clot in blood vessels which decreases strokes and heart attacks, and after a heart attack preventing further heart attacks.

Brain

Exercise improves blood flow, bringing oxygen and nutrients to the brain, which helps create new brain cells and protects brain cells from dying. Exercise also releases beneficial proteins in the brain, which keep brain cells healthy. Exercise helps keep your mind sharp. Children who exercise tend to have better test scores in math and reading when compared to those who don’t. It improves both short-term and long-term memory. It improves cognitive function in other areas also such as thinking, information processing, perception, concentration, reasoning, and the ability to learn. Just 30 minutes of physical activity, 3 times a week, enhances older adults’ cognitive function and reduces the risk of developing dementia by increasing the levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.

Bones

Exercise is vital at every age to keep bones healthy. Regular exercise promotes bone formation and prevents bone loss associated with aging, creating stronger and more dense bones. After the 3rd decade of life we begin losing bone, which is why it is important to develop strong healthy bones before that time. Weight bearing and resistance exercises are the best for maintaining bones. These include exercises such as walking, jogging, playing tennis, and lifting weights. These exercises may prevent many forms of bone loss associated with aging, including reducing the risk of osteoporosis, which is a decrease in bone density. For those with osteoporosis, physical exercise can help to strengthen bone, but exercises need to be done in consultation with a medical professional to prevent breaking bones when exercising.

Cancer

One of the most potent cancer fighting weapons is exercise. Exercise can prevent weight gain and obesity which is implicated in many cancers including esophageal, pancreatic, colon, breast, endometrial, kidney, thyroid, liver and gallbladder cancer.

Exercise itself also reduces the risk of certain cancers. People who exercise regularly have a 40–50% lower risk of colon cancer compared to those who don’t exercise regularly. And those who have exercised all their lives have the lowest risk of colon cancer. Similarly, women who engage in moderate to vigorous exercise at least 3 hours a week have a 30–40% lower risk of breast cancer. Studies show that women who exercise the most have the lowest risk of breast cancer. The risk of lung cancer, which has one of the lowest survival rates, can be reduced if you are regularly active. Recent studies show that even light activity can provide a reduced risk of cancers.

Muscles

Physical exercise maintains, tones, and strengthens your muscle. It also increases the amount of muscle tissue. Exercise also increases your muscular endurance (stamina); the amount of oxygen that a muscle is capable of using during exercise is increased with regular exercise.

Without regular exercise, we automatically lose 10% of our muscle mass with every decade after the age of 30. Strong muscles help maintain mobility as one ages, with increased balance and coordination. Lack of exercise results in 12% of falls in the elderly.

By increasing muscle strength and endurance and also improving flexibility and posture, regular exercise helps to prevent back pain. Orthopaedic surgeons usually prescribe exercises that increase muscle strength to better support the spine as well as improve flexibility and function.

Joints

Tendons and ligaments become less elastic without exercise, making it easy to get injuries caused by overuse. Physical exercise increases the thickness of cartilage in the joints, which has a protective effect on the joints. Osteoarthritis begins when the cartilage that cushions the joints begins to wear away. Because cartilage does not have its own blood supply, it must get its nutrients from the joint fluid that bathes it. Exercise compresses joints, forcing more nutrient-rich fluid into cartilage. People who performed the most vigorous weight-bearing exercise had the thickest, healthiest knee cartilage.

Prevention of obesity

In both developed and developing countries, overweight that obesity had been come increasingly common. In Western countries it has reached epidemic dimensions. In the USA, one quarter of Americans were overweight in 1978, and in 1990, one third were overweight. The latest figures show that 60% are now overweight. In Europe, about half the adult population is currently overweight, and urban areas of many developing countries have similar numbers.

During physical exercise, you burn calories. The more intense the exercise, the more calories you burn, and the easier it is to keep your weight under control. When you exercise, you develop more muscle and reduce body fat. Muscle has a higher metabolism than does fat, thus your body will burn more calories overall with less fat and more muscle.

Obesity results in many chronic diseases, including diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and heart disease. When physical activity is combined with proper nutrition, it can help control weight and prevent obesity.

Promotes sleep

Physical exercise improves sleeping patterns by helping you fall asleep faster and to stay asleep. It also deepens your sleep. However, if some people exercise too close to bedtime, they may have trouble falling asleep. Exercising earlier in the day promotes better sleep for some.

Reduces the risk of dying prematurely

Frequent and regular exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic illnesses. Studies show that the greatest potential for reduced risk of death is in the sedentary who become moderately active. Studies also show that exercising in middle age leads to better physical ability later in life. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States. Millions of North Americans suffer from illnesses that can be prevented or improved through regular physical activity. And those who participate in regular exercise live longer than those who don’t exercise regularly.

At the end of the day, regular exercise produces a number of favourable changes to one’s health. All of us have the ability to increase our physical fitness through regular exercise, and there is no excuse to remain sedentary. We all need to develop healthier lifestyles that include regular physical activity. Doing this will improve our quality of life throughout our lifetime, and prevent many of the chronic disabling diseases that affect society today.

Next Month: different types of beneficial exercise