Exercise can make you feel and look younger, but it cannot change your actual age. Maintaining body weight and building muscle are two advantages of consistent exercise. Exercise also improves your mood and gives you more self-confidence.
A consistent exercise regimen has amazing benefits. Your mental, physical, and emotional health can all be enhanced by moderate exercise.
1. Slows Cell Aging
You don’t feel younger when you exercise. Frequent exercise may slow down the ageing process of your chromosomes.
As you age, your telomeres—the caps at the end of your chromosomes that regulate aging—get shorter. Longevity is linked to longer telomeres. Regular exercise and telomere lengthening may be related, according to some data.
Your biological clock can be slowed by exercise. “Exercise can significantly increase your chances of living a long life, even though it won’t ensure it,” Chapman University’s director of kinesiology, Frank Frisch, PhD, told Health.
2. Gives You More Energy
Exercise is similar to nature’s energy drink. Your body and brain are stimulated, making you feel more alive and alert.
Exercise raises your body’s arousal level, which results in increased vitality and a better feeling of well-being. Everyday chores become easier and demand less effort,” Frisch stated. You might feel as though you have lost a decade or two of energy.
3. Keeps Your Skin Soft and Glowing
One of the numerous ways that exercise keeps your skin looking young is by leaving your cheeks with a dewy sheen from all the perspiration that drips off your forehead. Researchers examined a small sample of adults between the ages of 20 and 84 in one study. The skin of people over 40 who regularly exercised resembled the more elastic, supple skin of those in their 20s and 30s.
Exercise produces chemicals in the body that slow down skin ageing. According to the authors, more research is required to determine how exercise alters the composition of the skin.
4. Improves Your Posture
As you age, your posture may suffer due to changes in bone density and muscle loss. Strength training counteracts this effect by promoting bone and muscle health. You can stand taller with strength training that works your spine and core.
Exercise also gives you a sense of psychological strength. You automatically straighten up and stop slouching.
5. Improves Your Flexibility
Your joints and muscles may become more rigid as you age. Frequent exercise keeps you flexible and loose, especially stretching-focused exercises like Pilates and yoga.
If you like cardio workouts, you can still increase your flexibility by using foam roller exercises to warm up and cool down. To lessen stiffness and get rid of muscle knots, try using a foam roller.
6. Helps You Sleep Soundly
If you have trouble falling asleep, exercise might be the solution to better sleeping habits. “Research shows that regular exercisers fall asleep more easily and are more likely to experience deep REM sleep,” Frisch stated.
There’s more to heart-pounding workouts than just exhaustion. Your body performs at its best when you get enough sleep. You are less likely to experience stress and sleepless nights. According to one study, exercise improved the length and quality of sleep for middle-aged, older, and chronically ill adults.
7. Keeps Your Metabolism High
As you age, your metabolism naturally slows down. Setting up frequent exercise sessions could aid in weight maintenance and calorie burning.
If you incorporate resistance training into your routine at least a few times per week, you will burn more calories. Building muscle mass can be achieved by using bodyweight exercises or free weight training. You burn more calories when you have more muscle. It remains elevated throughout the day, even after you have ceased exercising.
8. Reduces Belly Fat
Fat that formerly lands on your hips and thighs begins to accumulate along your abdomen as you age, particularly if you have experienced menopause. Menopause occurs 12 months after your last menstrual cycle and is a normal aspect of ageing.
Visceral fat, as opposed to fat in other parts of the body, can raise your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Your abdominal organs are cushioned by visceral fat.
Although visceral fat can be difficult to lose, it can be decreased with regular aerobic exercise. Compared to other forms of cardio that burn the same number of calories, high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) results in a greater reduction in belly fat.
9. Makes Your Heart More Efficient
Your heart weakens after periods of inactivity, just like any other muscle. To pump blood throughout your body, your heart must work harder, which increases stress and quickly wears you out.
Your heart can be strengthened by moderately strenuous exercise. For instance, a vigorous 30-minute walk makes it easier for your body to pump blood that is rich in oxygen through your system, reducing strain.
10. Protects You From Heart Disease
Frequent exercise lowers your risk of high triglycerides and hypertension, or high blood pressure. Blood fat called triglycerides has the ability to harden or block arteries. Triglycerides and high blood pressure are risk factors for heart disease. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death.
Additionally, exercise raises HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels. Your heart is shielded from cardiovascular disease by this “good” cholesterol.
11. Improves Your Blood Flow
Your joints may start to feel stiff as you get older. Additionally, your blood vessels may become less flexible, making it more difficult for them to expand and contract as necessary.
If blood vessels become less flexible, they will not be able to supply your heart, brain, and muscles with oxygen-rich blood. Your heart must work harder to pump blood when your arteries are stiff, which can increase your blood pressure.
Exercise can enhance circulation and reduce blood pressure. Simple stretching exercises like yoga or pilates have been shown to increase artery flexibility.
12. Boosts Your Mood
As you may know, a cardio workout can give you a “runner’s high,” or a blissful mood boost. Endorphins are the key to this sensation. When you are active, your body releases these.
Exercise has been shown to alter other neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which are associated with positive emotions. These substances may improve your brain’s ability to manage stress. You may feel happier as a result of the boost in confidence you receive.
13. Reduces Anxiety
An enjoyable walk or a long run outside can help you forget about your problems. Exercise may have a physiological explanation for reducing stress. “The endorphin release prompted by a workout has a relaxing effect and reduces anxiety,” Zonoozi stated.
Exercises that involve meditation, like yoga or tai chi, promote body movement and mindfulness. It’s difficult to get anxious about a work project or that important presentation if you stay present and pay attention to your breathing and heart rate.
14. Enhances Your Memory
It’s a common misconception that forgetfulness is a sign of ageing, but this isn’t always true. Some research indicates that people’s perceptions of their abilities may be harmed by unfavourable assumptions rather than ageing. Memory deficits may result from these stereotypes.
According to other studies, exercise can help people of all ages’ brains age more effectively. According to one study, women with mild cognitive impairment who regularly engaged in aerobic exercise had larger hippocampi. The area of your brain linked to memory is called the hippocampus.
15. Increases Your Sex Drive
Your body’s blood flow is improved throughout a sweat session. The additional blood surge raises arousal and makes you more responsive.
Your sex drive is also psychologically boosted by exercise. Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Yale School of Medicine, told Health that exercising “brings on more confidence about your appearance and body, and that puts you in a sexier mindset.”
Conclusion
Looking younger is just one of the many anti-aging advantages that exercise offers. Frequent exercise combats ageing from the inside out.
Maintaining an active lifestyle has advantages for your sex life as well as your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Frequent exercise can help you manage stress, prevent illness, and reduce belly fat, especially as you get older.