There is plenty of research around linking a lack of exercise with ill health and disease and equally linking exercise with good health, a positive attitude and a longer life.
One of the reasons, however, that we often fail to exercise is that we are too ambitious. There is no need to spend a lot of money on gyms or hours pounding the pavements; 20-30 minutes every day could make a huge difference, especially if you improve your diet and reduce stress at the same time.
What’s important is to find a way to exercise which suits you and your lifestyle. That could be taking up a sport or joining a class but equally it could consist of walking the last 20 minutes to work, running up the stairs or working in the garden.
I remember reading a true story once about a middle aged man who was very overweight and seriously depressed. He decided to start jogging, not to get fit but in the hope that he would have a heart attack and die. But he didn’t die and within a couple of weeks of starting his death campaign he was feeling so much better that he decided to continue jogging. He gradually became fitter, slimmer and his depression disappeared – he had experienced the real benefits of exercise.
Bodies are meant to move. Exercise boosts the circulation so that more nutrients reach the cells and it improves lymphatic drainage which removes waste products from the cells and body. Exercise boosts the immune system and improves insulin sensitivity assisting with weight control.
Diabetics and pre-diabetics can lower their blood sugar levels after meals by moving, as sugar is then sent to muscles rather than remaining in the blood stream where it puts pressure on the pancreas to produce insulin. Exercise curbs oxidative stress in the body reducing inflammation which is thought to underlie most major disease states and it has also been shown to increase brain cells and bone density.
Our bodies have the amazing ability to improve the more we use them so it’s never too late to include some exercise in your life.
