Physical body exercise is any repetitive movement of the body that requires energy and is produced by skeletal muscles (Berchicci et al). A body exercise is carried out purposively to aid keep the body fit. Regular body exercise enables a person to be happy and more productive as compared to one who do not do any exercise. Doing an exercise does not necessarily require a person to go to the gym but just physical activities anywhere. Body exercise has been proved to prevent some diseases such as diabetes, depression, hypertension, and obesity. Exercise strengthens body muscles and increases body endurance. A well balanced body exercises strengthens the body, improve general health, and slow down aging effects. Exercise does not only improve physical health but also positively impact emotional wellbeing. When a person exercises, they burn calories and if supplemented with the right nutrition, it is a good way of preventing obesity. Failure to exercise regularly may make a person ill as well as reduces muscle efficiency. Regular exercise has a wide range of benefits. This paper aims to establish the benefits of exercise to a person.
Effects of exercise on the body
Heart: Regular exercise enables the heart to pump more blood. When the heart gets used to pumping more blood regular, its efficiency increases enabling it to pump blood with little strain.
Lungs: Regular exercise also enables the lungs to work faster and increase the supply of oxygen to other parts of the body while removing carbon dioxide. Just like ow regular exercises increase muscle strength, it also increases ling strength.
Joints: Physical exercise can help people suffering from arthritis to increase their movement. When movement is increased, the synovial membrane produces an oil-like fluid allowing the bones to move against each other smoothly. The fluid circulation is encouraged with exercise.
Muscles: Regular movement of muscles due to exercise enables the muscles to become stronger and build their mass. Additionally, exercise makes muscles change thus delaying muscle fatigue.
Circulatory system: The circulatory system is also able to pump more blood when there is an increased physical activity. This increase transportation of nutrients and oxygen around all body organs.
Benefits of exercise
- Reducing stress
Exercise relieves stress to an individual. When one does exercise, it helps in physical body management as well as mental relieve. Exercise also increases norepinephrine which is a chemical substance responsible for controlling brain response to stress. When one is active, stress levels reduce. According to Williamson, a simple 30 minutes’ exercise for a 5 or more days’ period reduces mental stress and desperation. Again, when a person exercises, they tire off and thus are able to sleep well. Enough sleep is also proved to increase mental wellness. Furthermore, when a person exercises, the warmth achieved as calories burn as well as the chemicals released help people living with anxiety disorders to calm down. Exercise thus helps to lower anxiety sensitivity.
- Boosting happiness chemicals
Body exercise also releases endorphins which are responsible for happiness and euphoria feelings in the body. When a person is clinically depressed, endorphins can improve the symptoms. Doctors, therefore, recommend that people suffering from anxiety and depression exercise regularly. Exercise has been proven to be as effective as antidepressant pills taken to treat depression. Again, when a person exercises, he gets high energy levels that make them feel fresh and happy. It is recommended that a person follows a suitable exercise schedule to add brightness and fun to their life. A 30-minutes’ exercise regularly can help to improve the overall mood of a person.
- Exercise can help improve self-image and self-confidence
Physical fitness through exercise can help boost self-image thus improving self-esteem. Regardless of the age or weight of that person, exercise increases an individual perception of how they look and increase a feeling of self-worth. Past studies have shown that aerobic exercise and training improves an individual’s self-image. Again, a significant relationship has been found between exercise and self-esteem using self-esteem scales. Increased physical activity is therefore recommended to improve self-esteem problems.
- Brain power increase
Cardiovascular exercise has been proved to enable the creation of new brain cells through neurogenesis. New brain cells help to improve the overall performance of the brain. Again, vigorous exercises also increase brain-derived protein level in the body which plays a key role in decision making. The protein also affects thinking level and increases learning capability.
- Sharpening a person’s memory
Exercise has also been proven to increase memory and the ability of learning new things. When a person gets sweaty, hippocampus cell production increases which control learning and memory. Brain development in children is associated with physical activities while regular exercise can increase an adult’s memory.
- Borne and muscle strength improvement
When a person is exercising, continuous muscle contraction is experienced in either a short or long duration depending on the type of physical exercise. Strengthening muscles contributes to maintaining their strength and mass. With strong muscles and ligaments, the risk of lower back pain as well as joint pain are reduced. This is because strong muscles and ligaments help to keep joints in good alignment. Exercise also improves respiratory and circulatory systems facilitating efficient glucose and oxygen delivery to the muscles. Advancing age is said to come with borne density loss. However, regular body exercise reduces borne density loss as well as hip fracture possibility which poses a serious health complication to elderly adults. A study by Berchicci stated that people who do between 120 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise weekly have a lower risk of hip fractures.
- Reduces risk of heart related diseases
The heart is made of muscle and a regular exercise helps it to have a good shape. With exercise, more blood is pumped through the body enabling the heart to continue working optimally with no strain. Optimal working of the heart leads to reduced risk of cardiovascular illness. Blood vessels such as arteries ensures a good blood flow as well as maintaining a normal blood pressure. Heart muscles as well as that of blood vessels are strengthened by daily exercise routines. Daily exercise also reduces and maintains proper cholesterol levels which are also healthy for a healthy heart and blood vessels thud reducing risks of heart related diseases. A study done by the American Heart Association, a 30-minute exercise per day reduces the risk of heart related diseases.
- Obesity prevention
Overweight and obese people have a high chance of getting hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease among others (Booth). Obesity is a health risk affecting people of all ages and at an increasing trend all over the world. Obesity condition is brought by consumption of high levels of calories exceeding the amount required by the body. With regular exercise, the extra calories are burned out reducing the risk of becoming obese. Again, regular exercise helps to keep body weight under control thus reducing fat levels. A part from reduced risk of heart diseases, regular exercise plays a key role in reducing the risk of contracting various types of cancer.
Health complications associated with lack of or limited physical activity
Hypertension
This is the most common heart condition recorded as causing the highest level of mortality. Studies have proved that increased physical activities reduces the risk of hypertension. Physical activities is, therefore, encouraged for hypertension people as well as al people to reduce the risk of getting hypertension.
Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is one of the leading global health issue causing significant social and economic effects. Diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. Modifiable factors such as exercise and obesity are the non-genetic factors causing diabetes. Increased physical activity can help reduce diabetic complications as well as reduce the risk of getting diabetes.
Stroke
Stroke is ranked as the third global killer disease. Physically inactive people have been proven to increase the risk of getting stroke. Increased physical activity has been proved to reduce risks of stroke for both males and females.
Cancer
Cancer is the leading killer disease in the world. Studies done overtime have shown that people without physical movements have a higher chance of contacting cancer. All the stages of carcinogenesis are affected by physical exercise which are initiation, promotion, and progression.
Depression
Depression is associated with reduced cardiovascular activity which is caused by lack of physical activity. Exercise is proved to reduce depression symptoms by up to 30%. Exercise is also said to be as good as antidepressant pills taken by depression patients. With adequate exercise, therefore, depression patients can reduce or stop taking antidepressant pills.
In conclusion, physical activities cause special effects to different body organs ranging from the heart, lungs, muscles, and joints among others. Again, physical body exercise is also associated with the development of chronic body diseases. Increased physical exercises reduces the risk of hypertension, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. Increased physical activity reduces mortality deaths associated with chronic diseases worldwide. Patients who are already victims of various chronic diseases can also reduce the possibility of a premature death through regular exercise. Regular exercise has several benefits to the body which include; reducing stress, increasing the excretion of happiness chemicals, improve self-image and self-confidence, increased brain power, memory sharpening, borne and muscle strength improvement, reduces risk of heart related diseases, reduce the risk of obesity, and aid in bone and muscle strengthening. Regular physical exercise should thus be encouraged to people to help everyone benefit from exercise as shown.
