No matter what your age or gender, there are a lot of reasons to start working out this year. If you live in Winter Haven, FL, it’s even easier to increase your activity than it is in colder climates. Walking more is one way to increase your activity and any increase is good, but is walking enough? You need more than just cardio and lower leg strength to be truly fit, which is why you should make this year devoted to your health and start working out to round out your fitness program.
You need strength training to help prevent injury and loss of muscle mass.
After you reach your mid-30s, you start to lose muscle mass. The loss of muscle tissue can be between 3 and 5% every decade. It doesn’t have to occur if you maintain a program of regular exercise, but what if you didn’t and are now much older? It’s never too late. While it’s harder to build the older you are, it’s still possible. When you workout regularly, your body maintains higher HGH and testosterone levels to make maintaining muscle mass easier. It also increases the number of stem cells that help keep you looking and feeling younger.
Exercising regularly can fight osteoporosis and help regulate blood sugar.
When you lose muscle tissue, it can cause you to lose bone density. When muscles tug on the bone, it causes them to uptake calcium to keep them stronger and prevent bone damage. If you don’t have strong muscle tissue to do that, it can cause decreased bone density—osteoporosis. Exercise also helps prevent and even reverse type 2 diabetes. It aids in increasing insulin sensitivity. Several studies show that strength training lowered body fat, while it increased muscle mass. In doing that, within four months helped lower blood glucose levels dramatically.
Exercising can reduce inflammation.
Exercise helps inflammatory diseases in several ways. Studies on patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed it reduced pain by building up the muscles, tendons and ligaments around the joints to relieve the pressure. It increases circulation, which can relax tight muscles and improves posture. By strengthening the muscles in the back, it can relieve back pain, too. Exercise also increases the production of stem cells to replace worn and damaged cells. It lengthens telomeres that protect the cells from DNA damage, allowing them to replicate longer.
- Exercise helps improve the microbiome in your gut by increasing the population of beneficial microbes. These beneficial microbes affect all areas of your health, from your mood to your digestion.
- Exercise helps prevent obesity and can aid in eliminating visceral—belly—fat. Studies show that just losing 2.2 pounds can lower both the top and bottom blood pressure numbers by 1 mm Hg.
- Exercise helps the body maintain the process of angiogenesis, which maintains the proper amount of blood vessels. Producing too few blood vessels can lead to heart disease and too many can promote cancer.
- Put your workout on your calendar. Make it an appointment with good health and do it the same time every day until it becomes a habit. Making it a habit can boost your chances for success.
For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness