When people talk about necessary physical activity for a modern person, they mostly refer to sports activities. Although in fact, walks, entertainment and other actions that require the application of physical effort are also called motor activity. Why do you need physical activity, what are its benefits and, most importantly, its pleasure and advantages? Why do we need physical activity?
People need physical activity for various reasons, of which a few main ones stand out. Muscle strengthening. Regular exercise allows you to make your muscles more robust and optimize energy expenditure. In addition, certain types of exercise can increase muscle volume and strength.
Weight control. Physical activity helps to get rid of excess weight by expending additional calories obtained from food.
Cardiovascular training. The heart is also a muscle. Regular properly dosed loads help to make it more enduring, and the walls of blood vessels – more elastic. Development of motor skills. Specially selected exercises improve flexibility, sense of balance or make it easier to master sports equipment.
A way to combat stress. Psychologists claim that physical activity can relieve a person from increased anxiety and depression. Movement can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and increase levels of the pleasure hormone endorphin.
Entertainment. Movement brings a lot of joy. Rollerblading, orienteering, swimming in the river and horseback riding are also sets of exercises that train the muscular and cardiovascular systems.
Competition. Many people need to constantly be in competition with someone and strive to win.
Motor activity is the best way to fulfill this need: you can take up wrestling, join a basketball team, or train for a marathon race.
A way to socialize. There are enough types of exercises that it is more interesting to do together with other people: in aerobics or water aerobics courses, in yoga classes or in team sports.
Benefits of exercise Better heart. Physically active people have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and many types of cancer – all those diseases that arise, among others, because of excess weight, which regular caloric intake through movement helps to control.
Fewer injuries in older age. Staying physically active throughout your life reduces the likelihood of serious injury in old age by maintaining agility and balance, and keeps your mind clear because brain activity is stimulated by movement.
Preparedness for childbirth. Physical activity during pregnancy allows you to prepare the mother’s body for childbirth, to avoid disorders in the development of the baby during the intrauterine period and complications during and after childbirth.
Happiness in personal life. Regular physical exercise stimulates the production of sex hormones, thereby improving sex life in both men and women. In addition, they increase mood, and if done together with a partner – increases the level of trust in the couple. Healthy appetite. Even moderate physical activity reduces levels of the appetite-boosting hormone ghrelin. This allows you to better control the amount you eat.
Replacing bad habits. Movement can reduce cravings for cigarettes in people who are trying to quit smoking: physical activity distracts you during withdrawal and allows you to get a dose of pleasure hormones that nicotine used to supply.
Physical activity makes the body healthier and more resilient, which allows you to live longer. Therefore, it is necessary to move!
Gaston Donnelly