Benefits Of Aerobic Exercise
Much has been said about the physical benefits of aerobic exercise. It's true that a regular schedule of aerobic exercise can help lose weight, but that's not the whole story. It can also reduce migraines, heart attack and stroke, lower blood pressure and improve all measures stamina and physical health.
Regular aerobic exercise is as important to our sense of well-being and mental health as it is to our physical health. The increase in our quality of life is well worth the effort.
If you've ever sat in the front at a red light and watched the faces driving past, you know most people are living a stressed out, unhappy experience of life.
Obviously, exercise will do nothing for our life circumstances, but it may change how we view those circumstances. Aerobic exercise helps keep our brain chemicals in balance. One group of chemicals that are produced in abundance through aerobic exercise, are endorphins. These brain chemicals tend to relax us and give us an ability to cope with stressful situations in a far more relaxed manner. They won't keep your boss from yelling at you, but they could help keep you from yelling back, because it just doesn't get to you like it used to. You will find yourself worrying less, sleeping better and being more relaxed all day, just because you added aerobics to your routine.
Not only you will be more relaxed about your life, but you'll perform your life activities better, too. Aerobic exercise improves blood flow to all areas of the body. For physical activities, sensitivity and stamina are improved. The same blood flow improvement generates noticeable increases in mental acuity, cognitive ability and stamina. With better blood flow, come all the nutrients that keep our brains functioning. Mental tasks are done more rapidly with fewer errors for longer periods of time.
Just as impressive as mental processing are the effects of aerobic exercise on mental health. Many suffer from mild to moderate forms of anxiety and depression. In fact, the drug industry is making billions on these moderate cases, where the problem is too severe to ignore, but not severe enough for major mind-altering drugs or psychiatric hospital care. Enter aerobic exercise! Under "stress" above, we discussed how aerobics normalizes brain chemicals. These are exactly the chemicals the new mild depression and anxiety medications are designed to work on. Many have eliminated the need for medicine by naturally inducing their bodies to produce the chemicals through exercise. Of course, see your doctor before making any changes in your medications, but, just as with stress, mild to moderate anxiety, migraines and depression have been managed with aerobics.
If stress, mental processing and mental health can be improved, our sense of well-being is improved too. But it's actually more powerful than that. As these areas improve, our entire sense of self is changed. We begin to have much higher self-esteem and confidence, due to the increased abilities and the fact that things bother and distract us less. I know it was said that aerobic exercise won't keep your boss from yelling at you, but it might. With a better attitude, fewer mistakes and feeling more relaxed and confident, we may avoid the work and interpersonal problems that end in our bosses yelling.
Who knows, maybe someone will be sitting at a stop light one day and witness one of the rarest of creatures going past...a smiling face...you...all because you started an aerobic exercise routine.