13 Reasons Why You Should Start Exercising Now

Visit any sports store Anchorage has to offer, and you’ll be bombarded with promises of what you can expect by working out. There’s good reason for this—the benefits of exercise are numerous and involve both the brain and body.

The following are some real-world benefits of exercising regularly.

1. Exercise to Live Longer

Research has shown that regular exercise can help you live longer. Even simple choices to move every day can help—such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

2. Exercise to Feel Better

Exercise improves your mood, boosts confidence, and relieves stress and anxiety. This is partly because we feel better when we’re taking care of ourselves, but it’s also from the direct, physical effects of exercise.

3. Exercise for Stronger Bones

Regular exercise not only builds muscle strength; it also increases bone density. This is truer for high-impact workouts, like running and gymnastics, than for low-impact workouts, like swimming.

Bone density and muscle strength are even more important as you grow older. Exercising as you age can reduce the natural loss of muscle mass and prevent osteoporosis.

4. Exercise for More Energy

You would think that putting strain on your body would make you more tired, not less. But people who exercise frequently tell a different story.

Ironically, using more of your body’s energy through exercise results in a dramatic increase in overall energy. This is even true for patients with progressive illnesses like cancer, who may find that exercise helps them live better and feel more energized in spite of their illness.

5. Exercise to Prevent Disease

Exercise reduces your risk of chronic disease by reducing blood pressure and fat levels while simultaneously improving insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular strength, and body composition. So you can feel good about the money you spend at the sports store Anchorage, since it’s money you won’t be spending at the doctor’s office later.

6. Exercise to Look Younger

Because it promotes blood flow throughout your body, exercise can lead to healthier, younger-looking skin, and delay signs of aging. Exercise also helps protect natural antioxidants, which keep your skin looking smooth.

7. Exercise to Think Better

Besides increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain, exercise stimulates the production of hormones that promote brain cell growth. This leads to heightened cognition and more mental energy.

This is especially valuable to the elderly, as exercise seems to minimize changes in the brain that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease, and other age-related problems.

8. Exercise for Better Sleep

If you’re looking for products to help improve your sleep, the exercise section at sports store Anchorage probably isn’t the first place you would look. But when you exercise, you deplete your body of energy, which prepares you to sleep deeply that night to recover. It’s also thought that raising your body temperature through exercise helps increase the drop in body temperature necessary to sleep easily. This could also help combat sleep disorders.

9. Exercise to Relieve Chronic Pain

We used to think that only inactivity could help one cope with chronic pain, but more recent research suggests that exercise can help even more. Exercise also increases pain tolerance, lowering pain perception.

10. Exercise for a Healthy Libido

By strengthening the cardiovascular system and increasing blood flow, exercise can improve one’s libido and performance.

12. Exercise to Overcome Addictions

Exercise can even be used to help overcome an addiction. Using your fitness equipment every day is a positive habit that you can see results from, which can be motivating to work on other areas of your life as well. Running is especially effective because you literally “get high” at a certain point (thanks to the phenomena known as runner’s high). This may relieve your need for getting your fix elsewhere.

13. Exercise to Learn Something New

During exercise, your mind is free to wander. However, you can engage your mind and body at the same time by listening to audiobooks or courses during exercise.

Alternatively, listening to music while you exercise can improve your workout performance by 15%. So if your goal is to get the most out of your workout, listening to music is a good call.

These are only a few of the many benefits that come with regular exercise. So head to your local fitness store or sports store Anchorage, and invest in some exercise equipment. Down the road, you’ll be glad you started exercising when you did.