Manage Monday: The Importance of Exercise

Age 86, Morjorie Newlin, source: mgonzo069

My new year started with an exercise plan and lofty ambitions. Recently however, I have not been exercising consistently. Today’s post is a reminder aimed to encourage me to stop putting exercise off; hopefully, it will do the same for you, if you have lost track along the way.

I was always taught that exercise is extremely important in order to have a life of balance. Here are several reasons why exercise is considered important.

1. To manage your weight. There are tons of weight loss formulas and lose weight quick schemes that claim to help people shed pounds, but one of the healthiest and most consistent ways to lose weight is to exercise.

2. It helps tone your muscles. Over the weekend, I heard a great story about Morjorie Newlin who was over 80 years old and a body builder she is pictured to the right.  I was told that she started at age 72, and she is an inspiration on how exercise tones the muscles and helps people age better. Here is a link to her story. (video)

3. Relaxes the body so you can sleep better. According to Virgil D. Wooten, MD “Morning exercise can relieve stress and improve mood. These effects can indirectly improve sleep, no doubt. To get a more direct sleep-promoting benefit from morning exercise, however, you can couple it with exposure to outdoor light. Being exposed to natural light in the morning, whether you’re exercising or not, can improve your sleep at night by reinforcing your body’s sleep-wake cycle. (source)”

4. Increases your body’s circulation to help your blood flow better. ” Inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease. Exercise quickens and equalizes the circulation of the blood, but in idleness the blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in it, so necessary to life and health, do not take place. The skin, too, becomes inactive. Impurities are not expelled as they would be if the circulation had been quickened by vigorous exercise, the skin kept in a healthy condition, and the lungs fed with plenty of pure, fresh air. This state of the system throws a double burden on the excretory organs, and disease is the result. (source)”

5. Puts you in a better mood. Drs.  Michael T. Murray, N.D., Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D stated “that increased participation in Exercise, sports, and physical activities is strongly associated with decreased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and malaise. Furthermore, people who participate in regular Exercise have higher self-esteem, feel better, and are much happier than people who do not Exercise. Much of the mood-elevating effect of Exercise may be attributed to the fact that regular Exercise increases the level of endorphins, which are directly correlated with Mood. (source)”

While I don’t consider myself a couch potato, I do sit and work from my laptop a lot. There are times when I have so much to do on my computer that I don’t leave my computer for hours. Unfortunately, I feel the results, my bones are sore and my energy level is much less than it should be. Today I am making a promise to myself to consider exercise a necessity and if something has to be put aside in my day it, exercise will no longer be considered optional.

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