There is no one benefit to physical fitness, but rather it is an all encompassing improvement to your health and life. The importance of health related fitness is not new. From the time we could crawl we were taught to run and exercise. As children we never knew what we were doing was considered ?exercise,? we just played to have fun. As we aged we lost our sense of fun and regular physical fitness became a chore that most of us find boring.
Each year our reliance on fast food and take-out grows as our lifestyles become faster paced with less time to spend in the kitchen trying to eat healthy. We see our waistlines increase each year while we exercise less and less. Exercise is not just important for our physical appearance, but for our complete health, both physically and mentally.
The importance of physical fitness starts on a micro level in our cells, and eventually benefits our entire body. When we exercise our lungs take in additional oxygen, which is fuel for the heart and the brain. The heart begins to pump faster and sends fresh oxygen and blood throughout your body and cleanses your cells. As we exhale we release carbon dioxide, a waste product.
Our heart is a muscle. Like any muscle it can grow strong, or it can be weak. Regular exercising strengthens the heart and helps prevent heart disease. When the heart is weak, it strains to continually circulate blood throughout the circulatory system. Regular exercise can also help to prevent strokes.
Through regular exercise we can help regulate our blood sugar levels, which can help prevent diabetes as well as obesity. It also helps to increase your ?good? cholesterol, or HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein).
Believe it or not, physical fitness is beneficial for our mental health as well. Exercise can release stress and tension in our lives. Strenuous exercise can release endorphins in your brain, and actually make you happier. This phenomenon is known as a ?runner?s high? as runners often experience this after a long run.
The importance of health related fitness can be seen in every aspect in our life. We are generally happier and have higher self-esteem when we are in good shape and we risk less health complications. Exercising will help us sleep better through the night, and will give us more energy throughout the day. Just 30 minutes a day can change your life for the better.
