The Protective Power of Exercise

The Protective Power of Exercise

An exercise plan can be a healthy part of a recovery plan; however as prevention is better than cure, there is a lot to be said for adopting a fitness strategy that can help guard against certain ailments and certainly minimize the risk of injuries. Along with exercise to energize for recovery, you might want to consider the protective power of exercise too!

Exercise is good for the health. It is a valuable necessity that can really support your physical fitness levels, your mental health and also look after your internal systems, so that your body and mind are performing at optimal level. With the right nutritional back-up, a good exercise plan can really help you recover more quickly from certain health problems or at least alleviate the symptoms. Alongside this, exercise can help prevent illness too by:

  • Boosting the immune system: Your immune system is your defence against microorganisms attacking the body and it makes sense that to be strong and healthy you need a strong and healthy protective response. If you exercise, the bacteria-fighting cells work faster and therefore more effectively than in those people who don’t stay in shape. While exercise provides a short-term post-workout boost this is still better than not having this extra help.
  • Improving cardiovascular and respiratory health: When you exercise your heart rate increases and more oxygenated blood gets pumped around the body. In turn, this helps the lungs become more efficient at dealing with this oxygen as it is delivered to the different parts of your body. These functions are essential for healthy living and to be able to create a strong body that can resist illness.
  • Reducing the dangers of obesity: Heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, both are life-threatening conditions that are in part impacted by obesity. Cardio can keep weight off, creating stronger more powerful muscles which in turn helps to burn fat. With more sedentary lifestyles and the increase in convenience foods, the need to proactively keep moving has never been as prominent as it is today.
  • Lowering blood pressure: Cardio workouts exercise your cardiovascular system and this means keeping your heart and blood vessels in a healthy condition too. Couple this with keeping excess weight off and being active becomes a great way to lower blood pressure. Not only that, but exercise can reduce stress which also has an effect on blood pressure.
  • Helping bones and joints: Strengthening or weight-bearing exercises can help protect against bone density loss which is a natural sign of aging and thus guards against osteoporosis. Exercise also builds up muscles around the joints and protects these from injury or problems related to them being vulnerable.
  • Regulating hormones which have a role in certain illnesses: Certain health problems can affect your body’s ability to create or use the right hormones. Also, an imbalance of hormones can play a role in making you feel unwell too. In short, hormones are related to wellbeing, and exercise can balance hormones successfully.

Whilst the impact of exercise on our health may not yet be fully understood, on a very basic level there is a need to keep active and stay in shape to function at your best. A healthy lifestyle is a balanced and functional lifestyle where your quality of life does not suffer because you are not fit enough to do what you want to do or because you suffer from health complaints which could be avoided or lessened as a result of a more active fitness regime.

If you’re not moving enough, make the healthy decision to get in shape today.