Benefits of Exercise
Greg Stemkowski MS, PT, CSCS, PES
Bela Costa SPT - Dominican College Physical Therapy Program
Procore Physical Therapy P.C.
We have just past the mid-point of a very cold and windy winter, which has kept the majority of people indoor and sedentary. The once powerful will to commit to a diet and exercise program is dwindling fast. You ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?"
Here is a little motivation. Exercise works to beat those winter blues. Regular exercise and physical activity are extremely important and beneficial for long-term health and well-being. The obvious health benefits of exercise and physical activity is improved physical fitness. Exercise can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and can help to reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer, as well as diabetes. It can also help to reduce or maintain healthy muscles, bones, and joints and maintain or reduce body weight or body fat.
The not so obvious benefits are improved cognitive abilities, as well as, a positive mental outlook about your health. Psychologically, exercise has been found to improve performance on memory and thinking tasks such as addition problems, recall of numbers and words, perception & discrimination of geometric figures, and organization. In addition, the President's Committee on Mental Health found that one of every four American's suffers from clinical depression, which is characterized by withdrawal, inactivity, and feelings of hopelessness and loss of control. According to their studies, people who are physically active have lower rates of diagnosable depression, making physical exercise a useful therapeutic intervention. Another benefit of physical exercise is the reduction of anxiety. Although the reasons for this reduction is not clear, studies support that regular exercise helps to reduce people's feelings of stress and nervousness.
So enough with all the excuses, you owe it to your self to be active and healthy. Spring will be here before you know it, leaving you little time to prepare for swimsuit season. It only takes thirty minutes of physical activity every other day to get started on the road to improved health, both physically and mentally. It will also give you the energy and enthusiasm to break free from those winter blues and confront the world with a smile.