Melissa legault

Melissa Legault Robert Panetti Cardio Fitness 1 November 30, 2012 Benefits of Exercise There are extreme benefits of exercise. Being physically active can help control weight, improve mood, boost energy, promote better sleep, is a easy way to have fun, and is a good way to stay connected with friends or family. Any body can benefit for exercise, even if a person is overweight. Exercising regularly and eating an appropriate amount of calories will cause a person to maintain a healthy weight. When your heart rate is increased for a prolonged period of time, your body uses more oxygen, which helps your body to burn stored fat. For example, if you didn’t change your diet/or caloric intake and you walked 4 miles a day for four times a week this will burn 1, 600 calories. This will result in a half-pound weight loss. If you continued to do this for a year you would lose roughly around 24 pounds (Staff, Mayo Clinic). The health benefits of exercising regularly are phenomenal. Even if a person is over weight exercising is always beneficial. Exercising helps keep your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. When physically active, you are actively boosting high-density lipoprotein or commonly known as “ good cholesterol, ” and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. It also helps keep your muscles toned and strong. Stronger muscles burn more calories. This means that the more muscle mass a person has, the more calories the person will burn while inactive. A study has shown that for each additional pound of muscle you add to your body, you will burn an additional 35-50 calories per day. Men have more muscle mass then women, so it is easier for them to burn calories faster. Some common ways of exercise to help keep your bones strong are walking, running, jogging and dancing. Exercising also helps to improve your skin. It boosts the circulation in your body and the delivery of nutrients to your skin, which helps the body to remove toxins. When more oxygen gets sent to your skin, it increases a person’s natural production of collagen; this is the connective tissue that plumps your skin. Your skin color is also improved after physical activity because of the increase in blood flow (Teen Health). Physically activity can help manage or prevent many health problems. It lowers chances of type 2 diabetes, depression, stroke, metabolic syndrome, some types of cancer, and arthritis. Exercising regularly helps maintaining a healthy weight easier, which in return decreases a person’s chance of developing health issues compared to a person that is overweight. Physical activity is a natural way of improving a person’s mood. When your heart rate increases for a prolonged period of time, the brain is stimulated with hormones, called endorphins that make people feel happier and more relaxed. Endorphins affect a person’s mood and having a low level of endorphins is often associated with depression. During physical activity the level of endorphins is increased, which will help improve somebody’s mood. Exercise also boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that send specific messages from one brain cell to another. Only a small percentage of all serotonin is located in the brain, this neurotransmitter is thought to play a key role in keeping your mood calm. Exercise also reduces the amount of hormones in the body. This results in a slower heart rate, relaxed blood vessels, and lower blood pressure. When you are relaxed after exercise your face will have a reduced muscle tension, making a person look better. It is very likely that if a person exercising regularly, they are more likely to feel better about their appearance. This will cause they person’s confidence and self-esteem to increase (Teen Health). Exercising also helps boost energy. Raising your heart rate causes oxygen and nutrients to be sent to your tissues, which in return helps your cardiovascular system work efficiently. You will have more energy daily, because your heart and lungs work more efficiently (Staff, Mayo Clinic). Exercising regularly will help promote better sleep. Exercise will make falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer, easier. The only way exercising will effect sleep is if you exercise close to bedtime. This causes your body to have extra energy making it harder to fall asleep. There are plenty of ways to have fun with exercise. It allows a person to relax and really enjoy physical activates they are interested in. There are an unlimited number of activities a person has to choose from for any type of person. If you are interested in a sports team you could play baseball, soccer, tennis, football, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, etc. If you enjoy the outdoors and nature you could hike, canoe, bike, or simply run/walk, etc. If you want to do something on your own you could work out in your own home, go for a walk, etc. Exercise is a good way to stay connected with friends or family with a fun activity. These are just a few of the many options you could choose from while having fun and socializing with people you enjoy being around. In conclusion there are huge benefits from exercise. These benefits are it can help control weight, improve mood, boost energy, promote better sleep, is a easy way to have fun, and is a good way to stay connected with friends or family. There are so many ways to be physically active that nobody should have an excuse not to stay active. Work Cited Staff, Mayo Clinic. ” Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 23 July 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. . ” Teen Health.” The Incredible Benefits of Regular Exercise. N. p., n. d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. .