We all know that exercise is good for us. It helps keep our heart in shape, promotes weight loss and builds muscle and endurance. When we work out, we're not only getting those benefits, but there are some surprising bonuses to keeping with a regular fitness routine.
Exercise not only improves our physical health, it aids in our mental wellbeing.
Maintaining a regular fitness regimen has been shown to relieve stress, reduce anxiety and help alleviate depression. When you work out, your body releases a chemical known as norepinephrine. Norepinephrine increases your brain's ability to deal with stress and reduce anxiousness.
Relief of stress and anxiety are not the only mental benefits of regular exercise. Exercise also improves your body's serotonin and dopamine production. These natural chemicals are your body's mood enhancers. They have to potential to create a happier mood, give you a sense of calm and can even promote recovery from addiction.
The good news is, the mental health benefits of exercise doesn't require hours at the gym. Some people experience these benefits with short bursts of intense exercise or regular short workout routines during the day.
Keeping a regular fitness schedule also boots your brain.
When you work out, you increase your heart rate and in turn provide more blood and oxygen to your brain. This extra blood flow and oxygen gives your brain more potential to improve memory and cognitive ability. It also stimulates the growth of brain cells and reduces changes in the brains tissues. This can ward off degenerative cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer's, dimension and schizophrenia.
You can also give your brain a boost during your fitness routine by drinking a TapouT sports drink before your workout. All three flavors of TapouT contain plenty of vitamins formulated to keep your mind sharp.
Incorporating exercise into a healthy lifestyle can potentially reduce the aging process for many people.
Moderate to intense exercise can slow down the aging process of the human body's cells. Scientists have studied the blood and muscle cells and discovered that exercise can strengthen the molecules that protect vital parts of the cells causing them to live longer before they divide. In theory, this longer lifespan may apply to the cells of other systems in the body and could slow the aging process.
Your cells should also be properly hydrated during your workouts to receive the best possible results. Drink a TapouT sports drink to provide the fluids, electrolytes and vitamins your cells need to thrive under the duress of intense activity.
Good fitness can also improve the look and strength of our skin.
With the improved blood flow gaining during a workout, your skin receives more oxygen and nutrients then when your body is at rest. These nutrients can help surface wounds and scars heal faster and improve overall skin health. When your skin regularly receives better nutrition from your circulatory system, it has the potential to look, feel and heal better.
Along with the visible benefits your skin receives from exercise, you'll also improve its ability to release heat in order to regulate body temperature. Keeping vigilant about your fitness will help your body maintain internal temperature when physically active or in hot conditions.
Burning energy via exercise will prime your body's recovery systems for optimal performance come bed time. If you still have excess stored energy, adrenaline or stress stored up from your daily activities, your body may not realize that it's time to shut down and recover.
We've already talked about how a good workout can relieve stress and anxiety. Many of us carry that into bedtime keeping our brain active. The act of moderate to intense exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety as well as calm the brain allowing our mental processes also be ready for sleep.
The timing of your workout is very important when it comes to improving the quality of your sleep. When you work out your body's internal temperature increases. After you've finished your workout, your body's temperature will gradually decrease over the course of four to six hours. This reduction in temperature prepares your body for quality sleep, so make sure to time your workout several hours before you plan on turning in.
Exercise also helps boost your immune system and not only helps reduce the likelihood of succumbing to illness, but can help you recover faster when do become ill.
Regular exercise has been shown to improve the lymphatic system's performance and boost white blood cell distribution. White blood cells fight off infections and help prevent bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from harming your body. A healthy lymphatic system and good blood circulation will go a long way towards recovering from illness.
The sun is the best source of vitamin D, and the only way to get access to the sun is to enjoy the great outdoors. Many exercise routines help get you outside for a run, hike or bike ride giving your body the opportunity to utilize this essential vitamin.
Vitamin D helps prevent bone loss, aids calcium's role in numerous different systems, boosts immunity and can ward off depression. Make sure to take the time to include outdoor exercise into your day for this added bonus.
No matter what your exercise goals are, you can help give your body a hydration boost with a TapouT sports beverage. TapouT contains nine vitamins and all five essential electrolytes to help you hydrate better, recover quicker and see better gains from your fitness routine.
TapouT Citrus Kick has 120 calories to help your body create the energy it needs to power through intense training, but if you're looking for a zero-sugar, low-calorie, option for recovery days, our Wild Orange and Cherry Lemonade Blast flavors include only 10 calories while maintaining our scientifically developed formula of vitamins and electrolytes.