Performing regular physical activity has proven beneficial in preventing, developing, and
rehabilitating health and helps to build good character, discipline, and wise decision-making
ability in everyday life.
Exercising or leading a more active life will make you feel better about yourself. With just five
minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day, you will notice an increase in energy and
mood. Imagine feeling at your peak every morning, on top of a world to explore.
We often see reports that scientists are about to develop a pill that would mimic the benefits of
exercise. But the truth is, no drug or supplement matches exercise in its ability to do so much for
people.
Seven of these benefits may surprise you.
Helps with urinary problems and constipation
Although high-impact activities like jumping or running can cause women to leak urine, research
shows that moderate exercise can lower the risk.
For example, a study of middle-aged nurses found that physically active women had lower
urinary incontinence rates than inactive women. Another study of older nurses by the same
team of researchers yielded similar results.
Another common problem related is constipation, something that also improves with exercise. A
randomized trial of inactive middle-aged men and women with chronic constipation found that
those assigned to a 12-week exercise program made it easier for them to pass out stool.
Exercise also helps decrease transit time; which it takes for food to pass through the digestive tract.
Fewer colds
You may have heard fitness lovers say that they never get sick. It may seem like a boastful,
unfounded, and even annoying statement, but it is a scientific truth. Various studies have linked
regular exercise with a lower risk of colds.
For example, a study that monitored 1,000 adults for three months found that those who did
aerobic exercise for at least five days a week were half as likely to develop colds as those who
did not exercise. And when they did catch colds, they had fewer and less severe symptoms than
their sedentary peers.
Strengthens bones
Medium-high-intensity exercises increase bone density, protecting the body against fractures
and the dreaded osteoporosis.
High-intensity exercise, such as running, seems to be one of the most solidly reinforcing
activities that better protect bones, making them stronger, as researchers from the University of
Missouri has discovered.
Regenerates muscle
It was thought that muscle mass was reducing and losing quality and size from a certain age
until now. This theory seems to have been refuted by the University of Illinois, which showed
that exercise, specifically running, accelerated the process by which the body cells
generated new muscle.
Thus, running may be associated with the delay of the muscle degeneration process due to the
passage of age.
Makes you smarter
Once again, the University of Illinois is very active in everything that has to do with how exercise
influences the body and, more specifically, running, compared the influence that running exerted
on the brain with other mental stimulations.
Surprisingly, they found that running was the most significant stimulant to the brain, above
all other stimuli. Running was the only stimulus that markedly increased cognitive functions.
Relieves headaches
A European university in Gothenburg, Sweden, found that migraine sufferers significantly
reduced such painful episodes when they underwent a routine of jogging for forty minutes, three
days a week, for three months.
Improves Hearing
A study found that those who regularly exercise had a thinner ears, approximately 8% more than
those who did not exercise. It seems that exercise also increases blood flow to the pinna,
providing a series of nutrients that help preserve a better and fitter ear.
