Why Is Physical Activity So Important?
People who exercise with me at RC Fitness in Houston, TX, whether online or in person, understand how important physical activity is. That’s why they stick with a regular exercise program. They know they need all types of fitness, which include flexibility, endurance, strength, and balance. They use our guided program. Exercise does more than help you look fabulous. It has enormous health benefits that make you live longer and improve the quality of life.
Regular exercise can improve your mental functioning and mood.
When you exercise hard, you push your body. That burns off stress hormones. Exercise increases circulation that sends oxygen and nutrient-laden blood to all body parts, including the brain. The elimination of stress hormones improves cognitive functioning and develops new neural pathways. Exercising triggers the release of “happy hormones, which are natural pain relievers. They lift your spirits. Exercise also releases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It’s a protein that supports cognitive functioning, new neural growth, and many other brain functions.
Improve your cardiovascular health and endurance by exercising.
Your heart is a muscle. Like any muscle, exercise makes it stronger. Exercise also improves your lung functioning. It improves lung efficiency so you get more oxygen into the blood and ultimately the muscles when needed. When you exercise regularly, over time, it makes changes that make the heart and lungs function better, and you can perform activities longer without getting winded. It maintains flexibility in the blood vessels and boosts circulation by 25%.
Exercise reduces the risk of diabetes and improves weight control.
Exercise increases insulin sensitivity and the body’s ability to process glucose in the bloodstream. Insulin tells the cells to open to uptake glucose. When insulin resistance occurs, the cells don’t respond. Then the body produces more insulin to offset that reaction and remove glucose from the blood. The problem continues to compound if you don’t change it with diet and exercise. That leads to diabetes and obesity. Obesity increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, and preventable death.
- You’ll feel better and look better when you exercise. Exercising extends telomeres that protect the chromosomes from damage. Damaged chromosomes cause DNA damage and cell death that leads to illness and aging.
- Exercise improves your microbiome. It makes it more diverse and improves the beneficial microbe population. The gut microbiome is responsible for digestion, immunity, mental health, and many other functions.
- Weight-bearing exercise can keep bones denser and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. When the muscles are strong, they tug on the bone and cause it to uptake more calcium to keep it stronger.
- Exercise relieves pain from conditions like arthritis. It keeps the joints lubricated and builds muscles and tendons that relieve the pressure on the ends of the bones. The increased circulation helps reduce chronic pain.
For more information, contact us today at Reggie C. Fitness
Not everyone eats breakfast. Some people don’t care for it and prefer to start eating later. Others find it too time-consuming and impossible to fit into their schedule. Some people substitute a healthy breakfast with a donut and coffee. That’s not the fuel of champions. You need nutritious food that keeps your energy high without peaks and valleys. There are easy breakfasts that are lower in calories and high in nutrition. You can make some dishes the night before and reheat them in the microwave in the morning.
Some people in Houston, TX think that starving yourself is the only way to attain weight loss. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you try to exist on a diet that’s too low in calories, the body attempts to conserve energy to ensure enough for vital functions. It slows metabolism and makes loss harder. The key to losing weight is adequate nutrition. Many foods can satisfy your hunger, keep you feeling full, and boost your metabolism, so weight loss is easier.
You won’t get healthy by eating all junk food and topping the meal off with a carrot stick. You need to ensure you have nutritious food at every meal and minimize the food that’s not good for you. That requires your eating habits to change. Once something becomes a habit, you don’t have to think about it. You automatically do it. You can change a little at a time, making small changes every few weeks, or jump right in with both feet and change your diet entirely. The key to good health is consistency.
It’s hard to match the satisfaction junk foods offer people in Houston, TX. Most diet foods pale by comparison and fail to satisfy cravings. Cravings start in the brain. It’s part of the body’s reward system. Hunger pangs begin in the hypothalamus, located at the base of the brain. The center of the brain contains the reward system. It helps keep people alive and guarantees the continuation of the species. Those systems control eating, sleeping, sex drives, and the fight or flight response. It triggers the release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Sugar is one trigger. Your memory of emotional moments also triggers cravings.
You may have heard about your BMI, maybe even from your doctor. What is it? Does it give a good picture of how healthy you are? BMI is an acronym for body mass index. It compares your height to weight to determine whether you’re underweight, average, overweight, or obese. BMI charts exist for men, women, and children. It’s a quick way for doctors to identify changes in your body that might indicate a health issue or point to issues like severe obesity or other weight issues. It’s not the final answer.
The definition of being fit is personal. Each person determines their goal. Ways of staying fit are just as varied. Some people, like the family of warriors at RCFitness, use online services or private and group training to achieve that goal. One way that’s encouraged is to walk more. A movement encouraging walking 10,000 steps each day grew significantly these past few years. Why has it become popular? Is there a reason 10,000 steps are better than 5,000 or 15,000?
Looking great is one of the goals of people in Houston, TX. They want a toned appearance achieved with weight loss and improving muscle tone. It’s not easy to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously. You need to ensure the weight you lose comes only from body fat. If you’re overweight, exercise will help you firm and tone muscles, but you also must eat fewer calories than you burn to lose fat. If you only diet, you may lose fat but still look out of shape. Doing both in the right combination provides the look most people want.
When people workout at RC Fitness in Houston, TX, they expect to work hard and eat healthier to lose weight. That doesn’t mean that weight loss has to be difficult all the time. There are sneaky ways to burn more calories and shed extra weight that you can start using today. Making small changes in your lifestyle, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking further from the store and walking, can increase the weight you lose and improve your fitness efforts. Even simpler is drinking a glass of water a half hour before eating. Studies show you’ll eat less and feel fuller faster.
It’s common for people to use OTC painkillers to treat pain, but it’s not always the best way to deal with it, especially if it’s chronic. While they may bring pain relief, using them too frequently can cause even worse health problems, like heart and digestive issues. One alternative to medication, both prescription and OTC, is exercise. Exercise releases natural painkillers and improves circulation. They aid in reducing inflammation, which increases pain. Here are at-home exercises you can use that will help you feel better quickly.