importance of working out essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500 words essay on exercise essay.

Exercise is basically any physical activity that we perform on a repetitive basis for relaxing our body and taking away all the mental stress. It is important to do regular exercise. When you do this on a daily basis, you become fit both physically and mentally. Moreover, not exercising daily can make a person susceptible to different diseases. Thus, just like eating food daily, we must also exercise daily. The importance of exercise essay will throw more light on it.

Importance of Exercise

Exercising is most essential for proper health and fitness. Moreover, it is essential for every sphere of life. Especially today’s youth need to exercise more than ever. It is because the junk food they consume every day can hamper their quality of life.

If you are not healthy, you cannot lead a happy life and won’t be able to contribute to the expansion of society. Thus, one needs to exercise to beat all these problems. But, it is not just about the youth but also about every member of the society.

These days, physical activities take places in colleges more than often. The professionals are called to the campus for organizing physical exercises. Thus, it is a great opportunity for everyone who wishes to do it.

Just like exercise is important for college kids, it is also essential for office workers. The desk job requires the person to sit at the desk for long hours without breaks. This gives rise to a very unhealthy lifestyle.

They get a limited amount of exercise as they just sit all day then come back home and sleep. Therefore, it is essential to exercise to adopt a healthy lifestyle that can also prevent any damaging diseases .

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise has a lot of benefits in today’s world. First of all, it helps in maintaining your weight. Moreover, it also helps you reduce weight if you are overweight. It is because you burn calories when you exercise.

Further, it helps in developing your muscles. Thus, the rate of your body will increases which helps to burn calories. Moreover, it also helps in improving the oxygen level and blood flow of the body.

When you exercise daily, your brain cells will release frequently. This helps in producing cells in the hippocampus. Moreover, it is the part of the brain which helps to learn and control memory.

The concentration level in your body will improve which will ultimately lower the danger of disease like Alzheimer’s. In addition, you can also reduce the strain on your heart through exercise. Finally, it controls the blood sugar levels of your body so it helps to prevent or delay diabetes.

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Conclusion of Importance of Exercise Essay

In order to live life healthily, it is essential to exercise for mental and physical development. Thus, exercise is important for the overall growth of a person. It is essential to maintain a balance between work, rest and activities. So, make sure to exercise daily.

FAQ of Importance of Exercise Essay

Question 1: What is the importance of exercise?

Answer 1: Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. When you exercise daily, you lower the risk of developing some diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and more. It also helps to keep your body at a healthy weight.

Question 2: Why is exercising important for students?

Answer 2: Exercising is important for students because it helps students to enhance their cardiorespiratory fitness and build strong bones and muscles. In addition, it also controls weight and reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, it can also reduce the risk of health conditions like heart diseases and more.

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• Importance Of Exercises Essay

Importance of Exercise Essay

500+ words essay on the importance of exercise.

We all know that exercise is extremely important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do. It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active. Over time, people may come across problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimise the amount of exercise they do. Exercise is a bodily movement performed in order to develop or maintain physical fitness and good health overall. Exercise leads to the physical exertion of sufficient intensity, duration and frequency to achieve or maintain vigour and health. This essay on the importance of exercise will help students become familiar with the several benefits of doing exercise regularly. They must go through this essay so as to get an idea of how to write essays on similar topics.

Need of Exercise

The human body is like a complex and delicate machine which comprises several small parts. A slight malfunction of one part leads to the breakdown of the machine. In a similar way, if such a situation arises in the human body, it also leads to malfunctioning of the body. Exercise is one of the healthy lifestyles which contributes to optimum health and quality of life. People who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of death. By doing exercise, active people increase their life expectancy by two years compared to inactive people. Regular exercise and good physical fitness enhance the quality of life in many ways. Physical fitness and exercise can help us to look good, feel good, and enjoy life. Moreover, exercise provides an enjoyable way to spend leisure time.

Exercise helps a person develop emotional balance and maintain a strong self-image. As people get older, exercise becomes more important. This is because, after the age of 30, the heart’s blood pumping capacity declines at a rate of about 8 per cent each decade. Exercise is also vital for a child’s overall development. Exercising helps to maintain a healthy weight by stoking our metabolism, utilizing and burning the extra calories.

Types of Exercise

There are three broad intensities of exercise:

1) Light exercise – Going for a walk is an example of light exercise. In this, the exerciser is able to talk while exercising.

2) Moderate exercise – Here, the exerciser feels slightly out of breath during the session. Examples could be walking briskly, cycling moderately or walking up a hill.

3) Vigorous exercise – While performing this exercise, the exerciser is panting during the activity. The exerciser feels his/her body being pushed much nearer its limit compared to the other two intensities. This could include running, cycling fast, and heavy-weight training.

Importance of Exercise

Regular exercise increases our fitness level and physical stamina. It plays a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It can help with blood lipid abnormalities, diabetes and obesity. Moreover, it can help to reduce blood pressure. Regular exercise substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease and eases the risk of stroke and colon cancer. People of all age groups benefit from exercising.

Exercise can be effective in improving the mental well-being of human beings. It relieves human stress and anxiety. When we come back from work or school, we feel exhausted after a whole day of work. If we can go out to have a walk or jog for at least 30 minutes, it makes us feel happy and relaxed. A number of studies have found that a lifestyle that includes exercise helps alleviate depression. Those who can maintain regular exercise will also reduce their chances of seeing a doctor. Without physical activity, the body’s muscles lose their strength, endurance and ability to function properly. Regular exercise keeps all parts of the body in continuous activity. It improves overall health and fitness, as well as decreases the risk of many chronic diseases. Therefore, physical exercise is very important in our life.

Exercise can play a significant role in keeping the individual, society, community and nation wealthy. If the citizens of a country are healthy, the country is sure to touch heights in every facet of life. The country’s healthy generation can achieve the highest marks in various fields and thereby enable their country to win laurels and glory at the international level. The first step is always the hardest. However, if we can overcome it, and exercise for 21 days continuously, it will be a new beginning for a healthy life.

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Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Exercises Essay

What are the benefits of exercising regularly.

Regular exercise helps in the relaxation of the mind and body and keeps the body fit. It improves flexibility and blood circulation.

Which are some of the easy exercises that can be done at home?

Sit-ups, bicycle crunches, squats, lunges and planks are examples of easy exercises which can be done at home without the help of costly equipment.

Is cycling an effective form of exercise?

Cycling is a low-impact exercise and acts as a good muscle workout.

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Essay on Benefits of Exercise

Students are often asked to write an essay on Benefits of Exercise in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Benefits of Exercise

Introduction.

Exercise is a vital part of our daily routine. It helps in maintaining our health, improving our mood, and enhancing our overall well-being.

Physical Health

Exercise strengthens our heart and lungs, reducing the risk of diseases. It helps in maintaining a healthy weight and promotes better sleep.

Mental Health

Regular exercise releases endorphins, chemicals that make us feel happier and relaxed. It also boosts our self-esteem and improves concentration.

In conclusion, exercise benefits us in many ways. It’s an excellent tool to stay healthy, happy, and focused. Therefore, we should include it in our daily routine.

250 Words Essay on Benefits of Exercise

Physical health benefits.

Exercise primarily enhances physical wellbeing. Regular physical activity strengthens the cardiovascular system, reducing the risk of heart diseases. It aids in maintaining a healthy weight, thus preventing obesity-related illnesses. Moreover, exercise improves bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis, and enhances muscular strength and flexibility, thereby preventing injuries.

Mental Health Benefits

Beyond physical health, exercise significantly contributes to mental wellbeing. It stimulates the production of endorphins, the body’s natural mood elevators, leading to reduced stress levels and increased happiness. Regular exercise can also alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, enhancing overall mental health.

Cognitive Benefits

Exercise also plays a crucial role in cognitive function. It promotes better sleep, aids in maintaining focus, and improves memory. Studies suggest that regular physical activity can delay the onset of cognitive decline in later years, reinforcing its long-term benefits.

In conclusion, the benefits of exercise are manifold, spanning physical, mental, and cognitive domains. It is a cost-effective, accessible strategy to enhance overall health and wellbeing. As college students, embracing exercise as a regular habit can significantly contribute to academic success and lifelong health. The adage, “A healthy mind in a healthy body,” indeed holds.

500 Words Essay on Benefits of Exercise

Exercise, often regarded as a panacea for numerous health-related issues, has been a subject of extensive research over the years. It is a powerful tool that aids in the enhancement of both physical and mental well-being. This essay aims to explore the multifaceted benefits of exercise, ranging from improved physical health to enhanced cognitive abilities.

In addition to cardiovascular health, exercise contributes to better respiratory health by enhancing lung capacity and efficiency. It also plays a crucial role in weight management, as it helps burn calories, preventing obesity and associated diseases like diabetes and certain types of cancer.

The benefits of exercise are not limited to physical health; they also extend to mental well-being. Regular physical activity has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. It stimulates the production of endorphins, often referred to as ‘feel-good’ hormones, which elevate mood and promote a sense of well-being.

Recent research has unveiled the cognitive benefits of regular exercise. It has been found to enhance memory and thinking skills. Exercise promotes the growth of new brain cells and improves connections between neurons, leading to better brain health. It can also slow down the cognitive decline associated with aging, thereby reducing the risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Social Benefits

Exercise often serves as a social activity, providing opportunities to meet new people and strengthen relationships. Participating in group exercises or sports can foster a sense of community and belonging, which is crucial for emotional well-being. Moreover, it can also enhance teamwork and leadership skills, which are invaluable in various aspects of life.

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Essay on Importance of Exercise: Benefits for Students

This article includes an essay on the importance of exercise in 1000 words for school and college class students. Also, explained points like the meaning of exercise, its benefits for students and improvement in life.

Table of Contents

Essay on Importance of Exercise (1000 Words)

School and college students can take help from this article to write paragraphs on the importance of exercise.

What is Exercise?

One must be both physically and mentally fit. Exercising plays an essential role in our lives. It helps us in staying physically meet. Out physical body is meant to maneuver. If we don’t exercise or walk daily, then we’d quickly get susceptible to different diseases overtime.

How will Exercise Improve You?

With exercise, the brain cells are going to be released frequently, which helps in the production of the cells in the hippocampus. Hippocampus is that a part of the brain which helps in learning and controls the memory.

Benefits of Exercise

The recondition and reviving of our full-body is helped by doing exercise. It helps us to form our muscles strong. Exercise also prevents obesity or helps in losing the load. It maintains youthfulness and delays the method of aging.

1. Morning Walk

2. gymnastic exercises.

Under the guidance of an experienced trainer, only one must do gymnastic exercises. Gymnastics could also be positively dangerous to weak constitutions.

4. Free-Hand Exercises

5. aerobics.

Aerobics means using or requiring more oxygen. These exercises are done to form the body to consume more oxygen. Aerobics help to enhance the condition of the cardiovascular system and, therefore, the heart Example: Cycling, Swimming, etc.

6. Anaerobic

7. flexibility.

We should always give proper time to try to exercise because maybe a famous proverb, ”those who don’t have time for exercise will need to find for illness”.

If you have strong muscles and ligaments, you’re having very little chance of joint and lower back pain, as all of your bones are getting to be in proper alignment. The coordination and balance of your body also will get improved.

Importance of Exercises

Doing exercise is vital for our proper health and fitness — physical exercises required in each and each sphere of life. The youths of our society today eat tons of food and appearance old before time. Their poor health is additionally one of the social problems.

To achieve life, both mental and physical development is vital. Therefore exercises are essential for the overall growth in one’s life. A balance should be maintained between his work, rest, and activities.

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Real-Life Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity

On this page:

Why is physical activity important?

Emotional benefits of exercise.

Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses.

Including all 4 types of exercise can benefit a wide range of areas of your life. Staying active can help you:

• Keep and improve your strength so you can stay independent
• Have more energy to do the things you want to do and reduce fatigue
• Improve your balance and lower risk of falls and injuries from falls
• Manage and prevent some diseases like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and 8 types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer
• Sleep better at home
• Reduce levels of stress and anxiety
• Reach or maintain a healthy weight and reduce risk of excessive weight gain
• Control your blood pressure
• Possibly improve or maintain some aspects of cognitive function , such as your ability to shift quickly between tasks or plan an activity
• Perk up your mood and reduce feelings of depression

Research has shown that exercise is not only good for your physical health, it also supports emotional and mental health. You can exercise with a friend and get the added benefit of emotional support. So, next time you’re feeling down, anxious, or stressed, try to get up and start moving!

Physical activity can help:

• Reduce feelings of depression and stress, while improving your mood and overall emotional well-being
• Increase your energy level
• Improve sleep
• Empower you to feel more in control

In addition, exercise and physical activity may possibly improve or maintain some aspects of cognitive function , such as your ability to shift quickly between tasks, plan an activity, and ignore irrelevant information.

Here are some exercise ideas to help you lift your mood:

• Walking, bicycling, or dancing. Endurance activities increase your breathing, get your heart pumping, and boost chemicals in your body that may improve mood.
• Yoga. This mind and body practice typically combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation.
• Tai Chi. This "moving meditation" involves shifting the body slowly, gently, and precisely, while breathing deeply.
• Activities you enjoy. Whether it’s gardening, playing tennis, kicking around a soccer ball with your grandchildren, or something else, choose an activity you want to do, not one you have to do.

You may also be interested in

• Finding tips to help stay motivated to exercise
• Exploring safety tips for exercising outdoors
• Reading about the four types of exercise

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Content reviewed: April 3, 2020

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Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity.

You know exercise is good for you, but do you know how good? From boosting your mood to improving your sex life, find out how exercise can improve your life.

Want to feel better, have more energy and even add years to your life? Just exercise.

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, no matter their age, sex or physical ability.

Need more convincing to get moving? Check out these seven ways that exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you.

1. Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help you keep off lost weight. When you take part in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.

Regular trips to the gym are great, but don't worry if you can't find a large chunk of time to exercise every day. Any amount of activity is better than none. To gain the benefits of exercise, just get more active throughout your day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator or rev up your household chores. Consistency is key.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight is, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, and it decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which lowers your risk of heart and blood vessel, called cardiovascular, diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including:

• Metabolic syndrome.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Depression.
• Many types of cancer.

It also can help improve cognitive function and helps lower the risk of death from all causes.

3. Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to lower stress after a stressful day? A gym session or brisk walk can help. Physical activity stimulates many brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier, more relaxed and less anxious.

You also may feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

4. Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise sends oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to snooze? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster, get better sleep and deepen your sleep. Just don't exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to go to sleep.

6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can improve energy levels and give you more confidence about your physical appearance, which may boost your sex life.

But there's even more to it than that. Regular physical activity may enhance arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don't exercise.

7. Exercise can be fun — and social!

Exercise and physical activity can be fun. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply do activities that make you happy. Physical activity also can help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.

So take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. Bored? Try something new, or do something with friends or family.

Exercise to feel better and have fun

Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and have fun. For most healthy adults, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Or get at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week. You also can get an equal combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aim to spread out this exercise over a few days or more in a week.

For even more health benefits, the guidelines suggest getting 300 minutes a week or more of moderate aerobic activity. Exercising this much may help with weight loss or keeping off lost weight. But even small amounts of physical activity can be helpful. Being active for short periods of time during the day can add up and have health benefits.

• Strength training. Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. One set of each exercise is enough for health and fitness benefits. Use a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn.

Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, swimming laps, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing.

You can do strength training by using weight machines or free weights, your own body weight, heavy bags, or resistance bands. You also can use resistance paddles in the water or do activities such as rock climbing.

If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

Remember to check with a health care professional before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any concerns about your fitness or haven't exercised for a long time. Also check with a health care professional if you have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or arthritis.

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• AskMayoExpert. Physical activity (adult). Mayo Clinic; 2021.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/our-work/physical-activity/current-guidelines. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Peterson DM. The benefits and risk of aerobic exercise. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed June 24, 2021.
• Maseroli E, et al. Physical activity and female sexual dysfunction: A lot helps, but not too much. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.04.004.
• Allen MS. Physical activity as an adjunct treatment for erectile dysfunction. Nature Reviews: Urology. 2019; doi:10.1038/s41585-019-0210-6.
• Tips for starting physical activity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/tips-get-active/tips-starting-physical-activity. Accessed June 25, 2021.
• Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. June 16, 2021.

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How Exercise May Help Us Flourish

Physical activity can promote a sense of purpose in life, creating a virtuous cycle that keeps you moving.

By Gretchen Reynolds

Our exercise habits may influence our sense of purpose in life and our sense of purpose may affect how much we exercise, according to an interesting new study of the reciprocal effects of feeling your life has meaning and being often in motion. The study, which involved more than 18,000 middle-aged and older men and women, found that those with the most stalwart sense of purpose at the start were the most likely to become active over time, and vice versa.

The findings underscore how braided the relationship between physical activity and psychological well-being can be, and how the effects often run both ways.

Science already offers plenty of evidence that being active bolsters our mental, as well as physical, health. Study after study shows that men and women who exercise are less likely than the sedentary to develop depression or anxiety. Additional research indicates that the reverse can be true, and people who feel depressed or anxious tend not to work out.

But most of these studies examined connections between exercise and negative moods. Fewer have delved into positive emotions and their links with physical activity, and fewer still have looked at the role of a strong sense of purpose and how it might influence whether we move, and the other way around.

This omission puzzled Ayse Yemiscigil, a postdoctoral research fellow with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, who studies well-being. “A sense of purpose is the feeling that you get from having goals and plans that give direction and meaning to life,” she says. “It is about being engaged with life in productive ways.”

This definition of purpose struck her as overlapping in resonant ways with many people’s motivations for exercise, she says. “Active people often talk about how exercise gives structure and meaning to their lives,” she says. “It provides goals and achievements.”

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We all know that exercise is important in our daily lives, but we may not know why or what exercise can do for us.

It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active.

In the same way that a sports car is designed to go fast, we are designed to move. If the sports car is taken out once a week for a 3 mile round trip through a town centre then it would probably develop engine problems fairly quickly.

Over time people too develop problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimise the amount of exercise they do.

The Benefits of Exercise

There are many benefits of regular exercise and maintaining fitness and these include:, exercise increases energy levels.

Exercise improves both the strength and the efficiency of your cardiovascular system to get the oxygen and nutrients to your muscles.  When your cardiovascular system works better everything seems easier and you have more energy for the fun stuff in life.

Exercise improves muscle strength

Staying active keeps muscles strong and joints, tendons and ligaments flexible, allowing you to move more easily and avoid injury. Strong muscles and ligaments reduce your risk of joint and lower back pain by keeping joints in proper alignment. They also improve coordination and balance.

Exercise can help you to maintain a healthy weight

See our page: Dieting and Weight Loss for more information.

The more you exercise, the more calories you burn.  In addition, the more muscle you develop, the higher your metabolic rate becomes, so you burn more calories even when you’re not exercising.  The result?  You may lose weight and look better physically which will boost your self-esteem .

Exercise improves brain function

Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen levels in the brain. It also encourages the release of the brain chemicals (hormones) that are responsible for the production of cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory and learning.  This, in turn, boosts concentration levels and cognitive ability, and helps reduce the risk of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

See our pages: Keeping your Mind Healthy and Memory Skills for more information.

There is overwhelming evidence that people who lead active lifestyles are less likely to suffer from illness and more likely to live longer.

Exercise is good for your heart

Exercise reduces LDL cholesterol (the type that clogs your arteries), increases HDL (the good cholesterol) and reduces blood pressure so it lowers the stress on your heart.  Added to this, it also strengthens your heart muscle. Combined with a healthy diet, exercise lowers the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Regular exercise lowers your risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Regular exercise helps to control blood glucose levels, which helps to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.  Additionally exercise helps to prevent obesity, which is a primary factor in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Exercise enhances your immune system

Exercise improves your body’s ability to pump the oxygen and nutrients around your body that are required to fuel the cells that fight bacteria and viruses.

Staying active reduces the likelihood of developing some degenerative bone diseases

Weight bearing exercise such as running, walking or weight training lowers your risk of both osteoarthritis and osteoporosis – the adage of “ use it or lose it ” really does apply to bones.

Exercise may help to reduce the risk of certain cancers

Being fit may mean that the risks of colon cancer, breast cancer and possibly also lung and endometrial cancers are reduced. Studies by the Seattle Cancer Research Centre have suggested that 35% of all cancer deaths are linked to being overweight and sedentary.

Exercise not only makes you physically fitter but it also improves your mental health and general sense of well-being.

Active people tend to sleep better

Physical activity makes you more tired so you’re more ready to sleep. Good quality sleep helps improve overall wellness and can reduce stress. See our page The Importance of Sleep for more information.

Exercise improves your mood and gives you an improved sense of well-being

Physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins which make you feel better and more relaxed.  These in turn improve your mood and lower your stress levels.

Exercise can help prevent and treat mental illnesses like depression

Physical activity can help you meet people, reduce stress levels , cope with frustration, give you a sense of achievement, and provide some important “me time”, all of which help with depression .

Keeping fit can reduce some of the effects of ageing

Exercise can be fun! 

Getting fit is not just about running on a treadmill for hours in your local gym, it can be a dance class or a new hobby like fencing or mountain biking.  It could be a group or team activity like football or a karate class.

Whatever form of exercise you choose, you’ll almost certainly meet new people and may make new friends.

How Much Should you Exercise?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, current guidelines suggest that to stay healthy, adults between 19 and 64 should try to be active daily and follow these recommendations:

Cardiorespiratory Exercise

Cardiorespiratory exercise, often abbreviated to 'cardio', is any exercise that increases the heartbeat and breathing rate.

Such exercises include walking, running, swimming, cycling, dancing and team sports such as football, hockey, basketball etc.

You should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. 

These recommendations can be achieved through 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (five times a week) or 20-60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise (three times a week) or a combination of both types.

One continuous session combined with multiple shorter sessions (of at least 10 minutes) is also acceptable.

For those starting out, gradual progression of exercise time, frequency and intensity is recommended. You are more likely to stay on track and avoid injury if you start gently.

Even if you can't reach these minimum targets you can still benefit from some activity.

Resistance Exercise

Resistance exercise is concerned with working the bodies muscle groups and building strength.

It is recommended that adults train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.

Very light or light intensity resistance training is best for older persons or previously sedentary adults new to exercise

Two to four sets of each exercise will help adults improve strength and power.

For each exercise, 8-12 repetitions improve strength and power, 10-15 repetitions improve strength in middle-age and older persons starting exercise, while 15-20 repetitions improve muscular endurance.

It is recommended that adults should wait at least 48 hours between resistance training sessions.

Moderate vs Vigorous Intensity

There are a number of different ways to classify the intensity of any exercise, some based on heart rate, some on perceived exertion and some on how the exercise affects your metabolic rate.

Generally Speaking...

Moderate-intensity activity  should raise your heart rate, make you breathe faster and make you feel warm enough to start to sweat.

Vigorous intensity exercise will make you breathe hard, increase your heart rate significantly and make you hot enough to sweat profusely.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggests that moderate-intensity activity allows you to talk but not to sing, whereas more vigorous activity results in an inability to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

Examples of moderate intensity exercise include:

• Brisk walking (100 steps/minute)
• Swimming or aqua aerobics
• Gentle cycling (5-9mph)
• Badminton or doubles tennis

Examples of vigorous intensity exercise include:

• Power walking at 5mph or more, or walking uphill briskly
• Cycling faster than 10mph
• Martial arts
• Competitive sports (football, basketball, rugby etc.)
• Skipping/jump rope

Overall though, any activity that gets you moving, gets your heart rate up and gives you enough pleasure to do it regularly and often is good for you in almost every way.

Have fun, be healthy and feel good!

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management

Understand and Manage Stress in Your Life

Learn more about the nature of stress and how you can effectively cope with stress at work, at home and in life generally. The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management eBook covers all you need to know to help you through those stressful times and become more resilient.

Continue to: Types of Exercise How to Exercise Safely and Effectively

See also: Using Fitness Trackers to Exercise Top Tips for Exercising on a Budget Positive Body Image

Working out boosts brain health

• Exercise and Fitness
• Applied Psychology

It’s no secret that regular exercise promotes health throughout the body. Research shows routine physical activity can improve cardiovascular health, strengthen bones and muscles, and even reduce the risk of certain cancers . But did you know breaking a sweat can also strengthen the brain?

A growing body of research suggests physical fitness is one way to boost brain health — and that a regular exercise routine can decrease the effects of stress on the body, improve mental health and mood, and even enhance memory and cognition.

Exercise fuels the brain's stress buffers

Exposure to long-term stress can be toxic to multiple systems in the body, even leading to medical concerns like high blood pressure and a weakened immune system, along with mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.

It may seem counterintuitive that exercise, a form of physical stress, can help the body manage general stress levels. But the right kind of stress can actually make the body more resilient. Research shows that while exercise initially spikes the stress response in the body, people experience lower levels of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine after bouts of physical activity.

So far, there's little evidence for the popular theory that exercise causes a rush of endorphins. Rather, one line of research points to the less familiar neuromodulator norepinephrine, which may help the brain deal with stress more efficiently. Research in animals since the late 1980s has found that exercise increases brain concentrations of norepinephrine in brain regions involved in the body's stress response.

Norepinephrine is particularly interesting to researchers because 50% of the brain's supply is produced in the locus coeruleus, a brain area that connects most of the brain regions involved in emotional and stress responses. The chemical is thought to play a major role in modulating the action of other, more prevalent neurotransmitters that play a direct role in the stress response.

Biologically, exercise seems to give the body a chance to practice dealing with stress. It forces the body's physiological systems — all of which are involved in the stress response — to communicate much more closely than usual: The cardiovascular system communicates with the renal system, which communicates with the muscular system. And all of these are controlled by the central and sympathetic nervous systems, which also must communicate with each other. This workout of the body's communication system may be the true value of exercise; the more sedentary we get, the less efficient our bodies are in responding to stress.

Exercise can boost mental health

Along with mitigating the negative effects of chronic stress on the mind and body, habitual exercise can improve mental health. Many experts believe routine exercise is as powerful in treating anxiety and mood disorders as antidepressants.

Preliminary evidence suggests that physically active people have lower rates of anxiety and depression than sedentary people. But little work has focused on why that is. To determine how exercise might bring about its mental health benefits, some researchers are looking at possible links between exercise and brain chemicals associated with stress, anxiety and depression. One theory is that physical activity triggers a release of dopamine and serotonin, which can improve mood.

But there are other reasons exercise plays a crucial role in mental well-being.

For example, exercise can be particularly helpful for people who deal with anxiety and panic attacks. When you engage in strenuous physical activity, you're essentially mimicking the responses that can come with anxiety, allowing you to learn how to manage these responses and not be overwhelmed by them in other situations.

Psychologists also recommend exercise to their patients because it leads to a sense of accomplishment. Getting dressed and driving to the gym first thing in the morning may not be so fun in the moment, but prioritizing self-care practices like exercise can result in a cascade effect of other healthy habits, like eating nutritiously, socializing with others and getting a good night's sleep — all of which can improve depression symptoms.

For even more impact on your mental health, combine your exercise routine with other evidence-based practices, like mindfulness meditation — or, reap the benefits of some good, old-fashioned fresh air and sunshine by taking a walk outdoors.

Exercise can build the mind's muscles

Have you ever noticed that while your body might feel a bit fatigued, you feel more alert and energized after a bout of exercise? It's been proven that physical activity can improve brain functions like memory and cognition both immediately after a workout and in the long-term.

In research with rodents (rats and mice), there's evidence that exercise increases the blood supply to their brains and promotes the growth of new neurons (adult neurogenesis) in the hippocampus, a brain area that is essential for learning and memory. In one study, one group of rats got free access to a running wheel and another ran on a treadmill for an hour a day. After 30 days, both groups had a better blood supply to their brains. A group of sedentary rats showed no increase. An increased blood supply means increased oxygen and energy supply, and that equals better performance. The improvement in performance can also be attributed, at least in part, to an exercise-induced increase in adult hippocampal neurogenesis.

Although these types of studies are only now beginning in humans, the theory is that because sports combine learning and exercise, they may both increase blood supply and enhance brain connections.

Recent studies suggest physical activity benefits white and gray matter in the brain, which leads to enhancement of cognitive processes like thinking and memory, attention span, and perception.

Movement can also improve cognitive regulation, or the ability to ignore distractions and multi-task. While there's not as extensive of research on middle-aged adults, researchers think the same benefits hold true across the board.

Exercise can sharpen memory

There's also scientific evidence that people who exercise experience improvements in episodic memory, which is our ability to bind how events, people and places come together in everyday life. Exercise can also benefit the brain's spatial navigation, or the ability to remember everyday life events, like where you parked your car.

Exercise can also help people maintain their cognitive abilities as they age. Many studies have found that physically active elderly people perform better than sedentary elderly people on cognitive tasks such as reasoning, vocabulary, memory and reaction time. It's known that regular exercise can prevent memory-related diseases like Alzheimer's. Exercise can increase the brain's ability to create new neurons in rodents, which can enable the brain to learn new information and improve memory. Whether adult hippocampal neurogenesis can be increased by exercise in humans remains to be determined, but there is a robust and growing body of research among school-aged children.

For people who have already been diagnosed with memory-related diseases, exercise is a commonly recommended intervention. Studies show that one year of activity interventions can increase the volume of the hippocampus — the part of the brain that deals with learning and memory — by one percent.

How much exercise do I need?

If your doctor gives you the go-ahead, there's no reason not to reap the physical and mental benefits of a regular exercise routine. But how much exercise is the right amount?

Official exercise recommendations have increased over the years. The Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PDF, 15MB) recommends 150 minutes or 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic activity a week, or 75 minutes of more vigorous activity.

If getting started with an exercise routine sounds overwhelming, keep in mind that starting anywhere is better than not starting at all. Not sure where to begin? Think outside of the box, and try not to worry too much. Research shows that all kinds of exercise can be an effective way to manage stress and stay mentally healthy. The important thing is that you find an activity you enjoy and stick with it.

For more information on exercise recommendations, including suggestions for age-specific activities, refer to the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Move Your Way Campaign .

For their contributions to this article, APA thanks:

Rod K. Dishman, PhD, of the University of Georgia  Mark Sothmann, PhD, of Indiana University's School of Medicine and School of Allied Health Sciences  Henriette van Praag, PhD, of Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine  Nancy Molitor, PhD, of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine  Elaine Ducharme, PhD  Anthony C. Hackney, PhD, DSc, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  Charles Hillman, PhD, of Northeastern University's Bouve College of Health Sciences

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Humanities — Working Hard: The Key to Success

Working Hard: The Key to Success

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The value of hard work, the role of hard work in academic success, the connection between hard work and professional success, the impact of hard work on personal development.

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Physical Exercises and Their Health Benefits Essay

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Exercises that include physical activities are very essential to both body and mental health of human beings. In fact this is one of the areas where many studies have been conducted by scholars from different parts of the world to show that exercise is essential to all people regardless of their age, sex and occupation. Healthcare givers also recommend that patients with chronic sicknesses should do some workouts to facilitate their healing. According to the recent studies on the importance of exercise to human beings, it is evident that people have begun to realize the need for doing exercise. In fact people from different parts of the world participate in various exercises and other physical activity in order to keep fit and remain healthy. This paper highlights some of the major importance of workouts to our bodies and why people should do exercises.

One of the major benefits of exercise is that it helps in maintaining a healthy body weight. Cases of people being overweight are common in the modern society due to people shying away from physical activities and desire for junk food. Change of lifestyles has made many people to be overweight and this comes with health complications. Participating in physical activity burns calories and this promotes weight loss. Exercises also help in maintaining weight loss among those working on how to lose some of their body weight.

Exercise makes an individual stronger and boosts the body energy. Some people are very weak to an extent that they are heavily fatigued by simple duties such as doing shopping or doing basic domestic chores. Regular exercise improves bone and muscle strength and give gives the body endurance to tiring activities. When you participate in regular workouts, oxygen and other necessary nutrients are delivered to the lungs, heart and other vital body organs to ensure that they are functioning well. Consequently, a person is able to do simple routine tasks without getting easily exhausted.

Exercise also improves moods and looks. Studies show that people who do not participate in any physical activities and workouts are mostly in bad moods and gloomy. Ordinarily, people get involved in some activities that may lower their moods and exercise helps in improving moods and maintain the charming appearance. Simple workouts stimulate the brain to release some chemicals that make an individual feel happy and relaxed. This also improves the facial looks therefore raising self-esteem and confidence. For those who want to keep fit and maintain certain body looks such as models, sports people and celebrities, exercise helps in achieving the desired physical body appearances.

Exercise is also believed to promote good sleeping habits. Sometimes it becomes difficult to fall asleep or to remain asleep especially after a busy day. Regular exercise can help in promoting better sleep and ensure that it is a continuous one. To the married people, sex life is important and cannot be taken for granted. However, this has become a major challenge to the modern couples because many people retire to their beds feeling too tired to participate in physical intimacy. Exercise makes helps in maintaining a positive sex life and it promotes arousal for both women and men. Studies show that regular physical activity helps men to overcome erectile dysfunction making sex life more enjoyable.

Exercise is also paramount for maintaining better health. Regular workouts improve the immune system and this reduces the chances of getting sick. However, it is worth noting that over exercising can destroy the body immune system. Additionally, regular exercise reduces stress thereby contributing to a healthy living. Regular workouts take the body and mind from the stressing activities and this relieves the body the weight of the stress. The energy used in handling stress is therefore used for other productive processes of the body. Some people suffer from poor digestion and metabolism especially the elderly ones. Exercise helps in ensuring that digestion and absorption of food in the body take place as well. Workouts also increase the rate of metabolisms and the end result is good health. For those doing trainings such as weight lifting and muscle builders, workouts promotes muscle buildup and helps in changing the body shape to the desired body shape. Regular exercise also improves the body stamina and enhances flexibility and stability. Workouts stretch the body and ensure a good posture. This is vital for body stability and it also prevents early body aging. It also reduces the chances of getting easily injured when doing routine duties.

Generally, it is evident that exercise is good for both our mental and body health. It is also worth noting that exercise is enjoyable and can be used to bring people close to their friends. Physical activity is fun and it gives people an opportunity to participate in things that make them happy. Participating in a dance class or soccer club is very enjoyable and makes you to feel relaxed. However it is important for the people with special health conditions to ensure that they have consulted their healthcare for advice on the best workouts to avoid more harm to their body.

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Kentucky man who faked death to avoid paying child support is sentenced to over 6 years in prison

A Kentucky man who hacked into state death registry systems to fake his own death in a bid to avoid paying over $100,000 in outstanding child support has been sentenced to over six years in prison, prosecutors announced Tuesday. 

Jesse Kipf, 39, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in a plea agreement on charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. 

In January 2023, Kipf accessed the Hawaii death registry system using the information of a physician living in another state and created a case for his own death, prosecutors said in a news release . 

He completed a Hawaii death certificate worksheet, assigned himself as the medical certifier for the case and certified his death using the doctor’s digital signature — resulting in his being registered as a deceased person in many government databases, the release said.

Officials said he admitted to faking his own death in part “to avoid outstanding child support obligations.”

He owed more than $116,000, according to the sentencing memorandum.

He didn’t stop there. 

Kipf also infiltrated other state death registry systems, private business networks and government and corporate networks “using credentials he stole from real people.” Then, he tried to sell access to those networks on the dark web, prosecutors said in the release. 

Kipf acknowledged having databases of personal identifiable information on his electronic devices, including Social Security numbers and medical records, which he sold “to international buyers, including individuals from Algeria, Russia and Ukraine,” the sentencing memorandum said.

The damage to the state death registry systems included nearly $80,000 in repair costs, as well as “untold consequences in trying to rectify the networks and the harm to the individuals whose personally identifying information was exposed, stolen or misused,” the filing said.

Kipf must serve 85% of his prison sentence, and upon his release he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A federal grand jury initially indicted Kipf in November on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department said in a  news release . He was accused of illegally accessing state websites for Arizona, Hawaii and Vermont, as well as the businesses GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.

Carlton S. Shier IV, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, called his plot “cynical and destructive.”

“This case is a stark reminder of how damaging criminals with computers can be, and how critically important computer and online security is to us all,” he said. “Fortunately, through the excellent work of our law enforcement partners, this case will serve as a warning to other cyber criminals, and he will face the consequences of his disgraceful conduct.”

Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Groups say they’re shut out of global treaty talks on plastics pollution in Bangkok

Ahead of the last planned negotiating session for a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution, experts are meeting in Bangkok this week to talk about financing the agreement and chemicals of concern in plastic product design.

FILE - Plastic fills waters in Port Bouet outside Abidjan, Ivory Coast, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Diomande Ble Blonde, File)

FILE - Volunteers pick up trash on a river in Pecatu, Bali, Indonesia, March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)

FILE - Volunteers sort the collected rubbish on their boat while attending the Plastic Cup event near Tiszaroff, Hungary, Aug. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

FILE - An excavator cleans up plastic and other waste materials on Mahim Beach on the Arabian Sea coast on Earth Day in Mumbai, India, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE - A person walks past an art installation outside a United Nations conference on plastics on April 23, 2024, in Ottawa, Ontario. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

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Experts meet in Bangkok this week to advance what would be the first international treaty to tackle the surging problem of plastic pollution. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November.

Yet most of the people who have been closely tracking the negotiations — environmentalists, tribal leaders and residents from communities hard-hit by plastic production and waste — are shut out of the talks in Bangkok.

Many plastic industry representatives say they can’t get into the room either.

In a series of letters to the United Nations Environment Programme, the meeting sponsor, hundreds of organizations said the closure runs counter to typical international environmental treaty-making. They said meeting coordinators have a responsibility to be transparent and allow public participation. They worry the approach in Bangkok could set a bad precedent.

In earlier meetings of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in 2022 and 2023, countries spent a lot of time debating rules and procedure, including how they would vote on decisions.

At this meeting of subject matter experts, the substance of what could go into the treaty will be discussed in detail. It runs through next week.

Negotiating committee Executive Secretary Jyoti Mathur-Filipp replied in a letter that she wasn’t authorized to let people in and countries had not agreed on having observers participate.

U.N. documents only spell out member states and selected technical experts as participants.

The Bangkok meeting is less formal than a treaty negotiation, she said. It is not unprecedented in U.N. treaty processes for technical experts to meet amongst themselves, Mathur-Filipp said in a written statement to the AP.

That being said, she wrote, observers are important to environmental treaties and “we work very hard” for them to be able to participate.

Anyone who wants to be in the room in Bangkok must either be part of a national delegation or chosen as one of two dozen invited technical experts.

The two expert groups are focused on the chemicals that go into plastic products and how the treaty could be financed. The negotiating countries will then take up those reports at the fifth and final session in South Korea.

In 2022, most of the world’s nations agreed to make the first legally-binding treaty on plastics pollution , including in the oceans. The goal was to complete negotiations by the end of 2024. Thousands of environmentalists, plastic industry representatives, scientists, tribal leaders, waste pickers, and others concerned about plastic pollution have traveled as observers to four continents to share their views at the prior treaty talks .

The International Council of Chemical Associations hoped its scientists and engineers who develop plastic products could provide technical advice at the Bangkok meetings. Chris Jahn, ICCA secretariat, said the association is disappointed but committed to supporting the negotiation process.

Many of the groups voicing concerns about the closure have advocated for a strong treaty, one that limits how much plastic is produced and eliminates toxic chemicals in plastics, rather than one that only deals with plastic waste. At such a critical stage in the process, if there are not enough people in the room in Bangkok who want a meaningful treaty, it could set the stage for a weaker document, leaders at the International Pollutants Elimination Network said.

“When you get close to the end, by starting to close the door when the game is getting tougher, it could be a way to try to avoid that accountability that civil society groups bring to the table,” said Vito Buonsante, policy advisor at IPEN.

In the past, observers were allowed to participate in working groups for the treaty on mercury known as the Minamata Convention, as well as in the treaty that protects human health and the environment from chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants — the Stockholm Convention.

Some countries, including China and Iran, are bringing representatives from industry associations or national oil company officials as part of their delegations to Bangkok.

Environmentalists, scientists, waste pickers and tribal leaders asked to join national delegations too, with some success. Uruguay, the Philippines and the Cook Islands are among the delegations that have nonprofits traveling with them. Scientists will be in Bangkok with several small island and European delegations.

The Indigenous Peoples Caucus is sending one specialist for each expert group. It includes communities whose land, water and air are being contaminated as fossil fuels are extracted and plastic is manufactured using hazardous chemicals, said Frankie Orona, executive director of the Society of Native Nations in Texas, so it could not settle for less. Texas is a global leader in making petrochemicals used in plastics.

“There has been so much discussion about how important it is to have Indigenous knowledge and stakeholder participation. I didn’t think it would go to this extreme, with really limited participation,” Orona said in an interview. “It’s taking away our ability to fully participate and come up with meaningful solutions.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .