You have heard of the abstract health benefits of exercise that are supposed to come to you sometime in the future: stronger bones, lower BMI, better cholesterol and blood pressure levels, less risk of cancer and diabetes and even more years added to your life.
But for most people, these benefits aren't tangible enough to get them to participate in regular exercise.
A New York Times article says that while most people value these goals," a vast majority of Americans - two thirds of whom are overweight or obese - have thus far failed to swallow the 'exercise pill.
' Instead, psychologists at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan said that it is time to stop thinking of future health, weight loss and body image as the main motivators for exercise and focus on the current health benefits of exercise.
"[Exercise] has to be portrayed as compelling behavior that can benefit us today," says Michelle L.
Segar, part of the research team at the University of Michigan.
"People who say they exercise for its benefits to quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits.
" So are there any reasons for pulling yourself off the couch and getting up and moving? Here you will see some of the immediate health benefits of exercise so that you will be more motivated to lace up the old tennis shoes and do what is healthy for your body.
Exercise Gives You an Immediate Energy Boost Believe it or not, but sitting in a chair in front of a computer all day can sap your energy much faster than going on a morning jog.
Researcher Patrick O'Connor, PhD and co-director of the University of Georgia exercise psychology laboratory, in Athens, said in a news release that "a lot of times when people are fatigued, the last thing they want to do is exercise.
But if you're physically inactive and fatigued, being just a bit more active will help.
Exercise Helps Cognitive Function For the majority of the population over forty, and sometimes earlier, cognitive function slowly declines due to a decline in the production of human growth hormone, a hormone which helps repair damaged cells and build new ones.
By performing high-intensity workouts, you can stimulate your body to produce and secrete more HGH that not only helps stimulate the production of lean muscle mass and quicken your metabolism, but can give you an immediate surge in brain function.
Since higher levels of human growth hormone can greatly increase the health benefits of exercise, a lot of research has gone into supplements that can trigger your body to produce and release more of its own stores of HGH.
Exercise Can Boost Your Self-Esteem Although many people initially start working out because they believe that losing some weight and getting in better shape will help them feel better about themselves in the long run, recent research shows that exercising outdoors will give you an immediate boost in your self-esteem.
A multi-study analysis looking at people who both exercised regularly and those who didn't showed that when they exercised outside, the mental health benefits they saw were huge.
"Every environment improved both self-esteem and mood for the participants," says co-authors Jo Barton and Jules Pretty, researchers at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex.
Although the long-term benefits of exercise are definitely real, if you struggle with motivating yourself to exercise, you might benefit from focusing on the short-term health benefits of exercise instead.
But for most people, these benefits aren't tangible enough to get them to participate in regular exercise.
A New York Times article says that while most people value these goals," a vast majority of Americans - two thirds of whom are overweight or obese - have thus far failed to swallow the 'exercise pill.
' Instead, psychologists at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan said that it is time to stop thinking of future health, weight loss and body image as the main motivators for exercise and focus on the current health benefits of exercise.
"[Exercise] has to be portrayed as compelling behavior that can benefit us today," says Michelle L.
Segar, part of the research team at the University of Michigan.
"People who say they exercise for its benefits to quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits.
" So are there any reasons for pulling yourself off the couch and getting up and moving? Here you will see some of the immediate health benefits of exercise so that you will be more motivated to lace up the old tennis shoes and do what is healthy for your body.
Exercise Gives You an Immediate Energy Boost Believe it or not, but sitting in a chair in front of a computer all day can sap your energy much faster than going on a morning jog.
Researcher Patrick O'Connor, PhD and co-director of the University of Georgia exercise psychology laboratory, in Athens, said in a news release that "a lot of times when people are fatigued, the last thing they want to do is exercise.
But if you're physically inactive and fatigued, being just a bit more active will help.
Exercise Helps Cognitive Function For the majority of the population over forty, and sometimes earlier, cognitive function slowly declines due to a decline in the production of human growth hormone, a hormone which helps repair damaged cells and build new ones.
By performing high-intensity workouts, you can stimulate your body to produce and secrete more HGH that not only helps stimulate the production of lean muscle mass and quicken your metabolism, but can give you an immediate surge in brain function.
Since higher levels of human growth hormone can greatly increase the health benefits of exercise, a lot of research has gone into supplements that can trigger your body to produce and release more of its own stores of HGH.
Exercise Can Boost Your Self-Esteem Although many people initially start working out because they believe that losing some weight and getting in better shape will help them feel better about themselves in the long run, recent research shows that exercising outdoors will give you an immediate boost in your self-esteem.
A multi-study analysis looking at people who both exercised regularly and those who didn't showed that when they exercised outside, the mental health benefits they saw were huge.
"Every environment improved both self-esteem and mood for the participants," says co-authors Jo Barton and Jules Pretty, researchers at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex.
Although the long-term benefits of exercise are definitely real, if you struggle with motivating yourself to exercise, you might benefit from focusing on the short-term health benefits of exercise instead.
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