Health, vitality and serenity….who doesn’t want to live a life full of these three key ingredients? Physical and emotional well-being cannot be achieved without effort and hard work. You need to get up, and breathe happy.
Many people think as long as they are not ill or suffering from disease, they are living a healthy life. But this is a misconception. Being truly healthy means that the important organs of your body like the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and brain are performing their duties efficiently. It means having a good blood circulation, sufficient mental and muscular strength, and enough stamina and energy to live energetically and enjoy life fully.
There is only one thing that can help us achieve these seemingly elusive goals, regular physical activity. The choice is yours, it can be brisk walking, running, jogging, swimming, doing yoga, indoor or outdoor cycling, using fitness equipment at home, working out to a dance routine or playing some team sport on a regular basis.
Human bodies are designed for work and when we let ourselves become lazy and sedentary, it is equivalent of letting our systems shut down, slowly and painfully. Our aim should be to prevent health problems rather than to treat them as and when they snowball into our life. It is true that many external factors cannot be controlled but choosing to remain physically active is very much in our own hands.
The benefits of regular physical activities are many but let’s see if you can be convinced with the following. Doctors recommend that regular physical activity for 30 minutes daily can
1. Reduce mental stress and aid in relaxation
2. Increase physical strength and stamina
3. Reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol and help to unclog arteries
4. Improve sleep and combat insomnia
5. Help in weight reduction and control obesity.
6. Improve cardiovascular and respiratory systems
7. Tone the muscles so that you look and feel great.
8. Improve mental strength and aid in concentration, focus and memorization.
9. Help to relieve depression and combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) by releasing endorphins in blood stream
10. Improve intimacy and sex life
11. Help to relieve menstrual cramps in women
12. Increase body flexibility and prevent muscle cramps and injuries
13. Delay signs of aging and lower the risk of falls
14. Improve general health by boosting immune system
15. Prevent addiction and help you give up smoking and substance abuse
16. Make you less prone to diabetes, colon and breast cancer, stroke, heart problems and other life threatening diseases
17. Aid mobility in old age and slow the process of osteoporosis
18. Prevent muscle weakness that causes back pain
19. Slow down degeneration of the central nervous system which causes dementia
20. Reduce medical bills, trips to hospitals and emergency rooms.
Regular physical activity improves your chances of living longer, living healthier and living happier. Choose to do something that you enjoy and there’s a greater chance that you will stick to it. Those of you, who have been a “couch potato” or “just too busy to bother before” or suffer from some chronic medical condition, it is best to have a medical check-up before starting any strenuous regimen.
Rest of you, get up and get moving. You owe it to yourself!
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