Love yourself with Exercise
Valentine’s day is upon us and who better to love than YOURSELF? Give yourself the gift of movement. Hands down, moving your body on a regular basis is one of the best things you can do for your health. Beauty truly stems from a healthy body, and exercise is foundational to health. Dedicating time each day to moving your body in dynamic ways with activities like stretching, walking, weight lifting, etc. can potentially add years to your healthspan. For the past couple of months I have dedicated two hours each week to lifting weights with a trainer. The gains I’ve made are palpable and I feel the best in my body when I’m strong. The benefits of exercise are well established and this week I highlight some scientifically-proven benefits of exercise on your health and longevity.
EXERCISE...
Lowers insulin levels - Clear skin is dependent on healthy blood sugar metabolism. When we exercise, our cells are better able to use sugar so that it is not floating around in our blood looking for trouble (1). Having healthy blood sugar levels is foundational to health; we increase mortality risk with elevated blood sugars (2). Benefits may stop after a couple days so best to exercise regularly.
Reduces risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and improves CV outcomes. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US (3). This is because exercise supports mitochondrial function (the cell’s center of energy production), restores and repairs our vasculature (i.e. arteries), and more (4).
Promotes bone development. Muscles attach to bones and when we build muscle, this causes a positive stress on the bone that ultimately builds bone. As we age, our bones become more frail. Through exercise, and specifically weight bearing exercises, we keep our bones strong and prevent age-related fragility (5).
Decreases visceral fat and increases metabolic rate. Visceral fat is the fat that is stored around our abdomen and this abdominal fat increases our risks for things like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Exercise, especially frequent high to moderate intensity aerobic, reduces this unwanted fat, even in just 12 weeks (6).
Improves cognition. Exercise strongly influences our genes to positively affect our brain, which has enormous benefits on our cognitive function and wellbeing. It also prevents degeneration of our nervous system (7). Try it out! Start the day with a brisk walk and see if you’re able to better concentrate at work.
Improves self esteem. Self-esteem is important for a successful and satisfying life and is fundamental to our psychological well-being. Exercise has been proven to increase our self-esteem (8).
Increases genes associated with longevity. The benefits of exercise are such that the more you engage in moderate to high intensity exercise, the longer you are expected to live! Exercise has a profound impact on our genome; we are evolutionarily designed to move, and we predispose ourselves to a myriad of chronic disease when we don’t move regularly (9).
May this inspire you to move.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5557842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625541/
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6557987/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3568069/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934999/