The Why’s of Wise Exercise

Finding your motivation

We’ve all heard, from childhood on, that exercise is good for us. It’s one of those things we never think to question. So let’s question:

Why precisely, is exercise good for us?
 
There are lots of reasons; here are just a few:
 

• CANCER. Exercise helps prevent cancer. Studies now show that regular exercise lowers the risk of 13 specific cancers, including breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer in current and/or former smokers, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, myeloid leukemia, and more.
• BRAIN HEALTH. Exercise helps prevent dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Regular physical exercise improves brain function, cognitive clarity and memory.
  • Emotional well-being: Exercise improves mood and alleviates feelings of depression.
  • Exercise improves confidence, promotes a sense of accomplishment and boosts self-esteem.
• SLEEP. Exercise improves sleep, especially the restful, restorative stages of sleep called N3 and REM.
  • Quality sleep improves healthy immune function, minimizing your risk of infection and cancer.
  • Important hormones are released in sleep that help with weight loss.
• SEXUAL PERFORMANCE & LIBIDO. Exercise can put the zip back in your sex life. Studies indicate that physical exercise may enhance sexual stimulation and arousal for both sexes. And for men, it helps improve erections.
• ENERGY, STRENGTH & STAMINA. Certain exercises help with balance, too, minimizing the risk of falls and fractures.
• BONE HEALTH. Weight-bearing, resistance exercise is crucial for building strong bones and preventing osteoporosis.
• DETOXIFICATION. By stimulating blood flow, heart rate, and lung function, exercise delivers essential nutrients throughout the boy and improves the elimination of dangerous toxins through sweat.
• ADD & ADHD. By stimulating dopamine production, exercise improves concentration, focus and attention.
• WEIGHT CONTROL. Of course, exercise helps with weight loss. Given the fact that being overweight increases your risk of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic fatigue and dementia, this may be the single most compelling motivation to get started today.

 
Moving from why to how:
 
So that’s WHY it is important to exercise. For many of us though, the bigger question is HOW to get started. We want to do it. We intend to do it. And, at the end of the day, we feel badly (again) that we’ve not done it.
 
How do we move from intention to action? It’s a timeless question, raised by countless scholars, philosophers and theologians through the ages. It’s only recently, though, that we’ve begun to discover what happens in the brain when it comes to breaking old habits and creating new ones. We’re in the very infancy of understanding the “science of change.”
 
Having said that, strategies that work for many include:

• Write it down. Put your goal down on paper. Keep it in front of you (bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, computer screen).
• Tell a friend about your intention to exercise, someone your trust. Ask them to hold you accountable. (This has long been a foundational strategy and secret success of Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers.)
• Invite a friend to exercise with you. Again, it’s that accountability thing.
• Set some measurable goals:
  • “I’ll exercise 3 times this week for at least 20 minutes this week.”
  • “I’m going to walk a 5K in August.”
• Schedule time for exercise in your calendar or your daily to-do list.

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