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Regular exercise lowers blood pressure, helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces cholesterol—all major factors in the prevention of heart disease.

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You already know that exercise will help you fit into your jeans, but the payoffs are far greater than just looking good.

"We have data showing that all causes of mortality are lowered by exercise," says Dr. James Dillard, author of The Chronic Pain Solution: Your Personal Path to Pain Relief. "There's less heart disease, diabetes and cancer. People who exercise have fewer accidents and die less often from infections. It's a no-brainer."

Here's how you can reap the benefits.

Heart-Healthy Tip

Know the symptoms of heart failure so you can get help: Chest pain, shortness of breath while at rest, leg swelling, fainting, and loss of sensation/mobility on one side of the body could indicate a problem - talk to your doctor.

Heart disease

Regular exercise lowers blood pressure, helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces cholesterol-all major factors in the prevention of heart disease. And you need only moderate activity to get results. Research has found that taking a long walk after eating a high-fat meal actually can help reverse damage to blood vessels, so try walking just 1 miles in less than 30 minutes on most days of the week.

Arthritis

Studies show that exercise is safe and effective in reducing pain and stiffness and improving range of motion and overall strength in people with arthritis. Plus, the physical activity will help you lose weight, thus lessening pressure on your joints. On the other hand, a lack of exercise can accelerate the disease. Try water aerobics if you have joint pain. Gentle stretching, yoga and tai chi help with flexibility.

Cancer

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regular exercise (along with quitting smoking) may lower your risk of many cancers. Studies indicate that working out can cut the risk of recurrence or death by as much as 50% in people with colorectal cancer. Exercise also may lower the recurrence rate for those with breast cancer, in part by regulating hormone levels. And for virtually all cancer patients, it can lessen some side effects of treatment, including nausea and fatigue.

Diabetes

Obesity is one of the leading causes of type 2 diabetes. In a recent study, a weight loss of 5% to 7% lowered the incidence of the disease by 58%. Fitness also can play a major role in maintaining normal blood-glucose levels and reducing or postponing long-term cardiovascular complications.

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4 Diseases You Can Prevent with Exercise

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You already know that exercise will help you fit into your jeans, but the payoffs are far greater than just looking good. "We have data showing that all causes of mortality are lowered by exercise," says Dr. James Dillard, author of The Chronic Pain Solution: Your Personal Path to Pain Relief.

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connecting with friends may also boost your brain health and lower your risk of dementia

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Socializing can provide a number of benefits to your physical and mental health. Did you know that connecting with friends may also boost your brain health and lower your risk of dementia? If you need reasons to help justify spending extra time lingering over coffee with a friend, or setting aside time in your busy schedule to connect with family, read on.

Research shows these main benefits of having an active social life:

1. You may live longer. People with more social support tend to live longer than those who are more isolated, and this is true even after accounting for your overall level of health.

2. You will likely enjoy better physical health. Social engagement is associated with a stronger immune system, especially for older adults. This means that you are better able to fight off colds, the flu, and even some types of cancer.

3. You will likely enjoy better mental health. Interacting with others boosts feelings of well-being and decreases feelings of depression. Research has shown that one sure way of improving your mood is to work on building social connections.

4. You may even lower your risk of dementia. More recently, there has been accumulating evidence that socializing is good for your brain health. People who connect with others generally perform better on tests of memory and other cognitive skills. And, in the long run, people with active social lives are less likely to develop dementia than those who are more socially isolated.

Convinced of the benefits of socializing? If so, you may be looking for ways to boost your social engagement. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Use Skype or Facetime to catch up with family and friends from a distance.

Walk through your neighborhood and make a point of stopping to say hello to people you meet.

Babysit your grandkids or help them with homework.

Sign up for a class at your local recreation center, library, or university.

Attend religious services at your church, synagogue, or temple.

Sing in a choir or play music in a group.

Volunteer at your favorite charity organization.

Visit a museum with a friend and chat about what you see.

Participate in a neighborhood or community group.

Play a group sport like lawn bowling, golf, or croquet.

Have a friend or family member over for coffee or tea.

Play cards or board games with others.

Exercise with a friend by walking, swimming, or going to the gym together.

You may notice that many of these activities also provide cognitive engagement or physical exercise - or even both. In previous postings, we shared research about the additional benefits to brain health that come along with cognitive and physical activities. So, it's a great idea to choose social activities that also physically and cognitively engaging.

If you have MCI, you may find that changes in your memory make it more difficult to learn new activities, names, and routines. These can also make it more difficult for you to comfortably interact with others. If so, it may help to connect with people through activities that are familiar to you. It may also be easier to focus on the here and now, by chatting about the things that you are doing together, rather than the past.

Regardless of how you go about connecting with others, remember that it should be in a way that is enjoyable to you, so that you will be sure to do it often.

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"Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones.
Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake. This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown (12, 13). As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age (14). Also, exercise helps build bone density when you're younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life (15). Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling (16)."

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Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories.

There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking and dancing, to name a few.

Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer ( 1).

Here are the top 10 ways regular exercise benefits your body and brain.

Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress ( 2).

It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression ( 1).

Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain ( 1).

Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms in people suffering from anxiety. It can also help them be more aware of their mental state and practice distraction from their fears ( 1).

Interestingly, it doesn't matter how intense your workout is. It seems that your mood can benefit from exercise no matter the intensity of the physical activity.

In fact, a study in 24 women who had been diagnosed with depression showed that exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression ( 3).

The effects of exercise on mood are so powerful that choosing to exercise (or not) even makes a difference over short periods.

One study asked 26 healthy men and women who normally exercised regularly to either continue exercising or stop exercising for two weeks. Those who stopped exercising experienced increases in negative mood ( 4).

Summary: Exercising regularly can improve your mood and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

Some studies have shown that inactivity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity ( 5, 6).

To understand the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure.

Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing.

While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which will delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn more calories and help you lose weight ( 5, 6, 7, 8).

Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off ( 6, 8, 9, 10, 11).

Summary: Exercise is crucial to supporting a fast metabolism and burning more calories per day. It also helps you maintain your muscle mass and weight loss.

Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones.

Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake.

This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown ( 12, 13).

As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age ( 14).

Also, exercise helps build bone density when you're younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life ( 15).

Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling ( 16).

Summary: Physical activity helps you build muscles and strong bones. It may also help prevent osteoporosis.

Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions ( 17, 18).

One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue ( 19).

Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses ( 20, 21).

In fact, exercise seems to be more effective at combating CFS than other treatments, including passive therapies like relaxation and stretching, or no treatment at all ( 20).

Additionally, exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis ( 21).

Summary: Engaging in regular physical activity can increase your energy levels. This is true even in people with persistent fatigue and those suffering from serious illnesses.

Lack of regular physical activity is a primary cause of chronic disease ( 22).

Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels ( 23, 24, 25, 26).

In contrast, a lack of regular exercise - even in the short term - can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death ( 23).

Summary: Daily physical activity is essential to maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk of chronic disease.

Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body.

Oxidative stress occurs when the body's antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin.

In the same way, exercise can stimulate blood flow and induce skin cell adaptations that can help delay the appearance of skin aging ( 31).

Summary: Moderate exercise can provide antioxidant protection and promote blood flow, which can protect your skin and delay signs of aging.

Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills.

To begin with, it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain.

It can also stimulate the production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells.

Moreover, the ability of exercise to prevent chronic disease can translate into benefits for your brain, since its function can be affected by these diseases ( 32).

Regular physical activity is especially important in older adults since aging - combined with oxidative stress and inflammation - promotes changes in brain structure and function ( 33, 34).

Lastly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia ( 36).

Summary: Regular exercise improves blood flow to the brain and helps brain health and memory. Among older adults, it can help protect mental function.

In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep ( 38).

Moreover, the increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep ( 39).

Many studies on the effects of exercise on sleep have reached similar conclusions.

One study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality ( 40).

Another showed that 16 weeks of physical activity increased sleep quality and helped 17 people with insomnia sleep longer and more deeply than the control group. It also helped them feel more energized during the day ( 41).

You can be flexible with the kind of exercise you choose. It appears that either aerobic exercise alone or aerobic exercise combined with resistance training can equally help sleep quality ( 44).

Summary: Regular physical activity, regardless of whether it is aerobic or a combination of aerobic and resistance training, can help you sleep better and feel more energized during the day.

Chronic pain can be debilitating, but exercise can actually help reduce it ( 45).

In fact, for many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain ( 45).

A review of several studies indicates that exercise helps participants with chronic pain reduce their pain and improve their quality of life ( 45).

Several studies show that exercise can help control pain that's associated with various health conditions, including chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder, to name a few ( 46).

Additionally, physical activity can also raise pain tolerance and decrease pain perception ( 47, 48).

Summary: Exercise has favorable effects on the pain that's associated with various conditions. It can also increase pain tolerance.

Engaging in regular exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve blood circulation, tone muscles and enhance flexibility, all of which can improve your sex life ( 49, 51).

Physical activity can improve sexual performance and sexual pleasure, as well as increase the frequency of sexual activity ( 50, 52).

A group of women in their 40s observed that they experienced orgasms more frequently when they incorporated more strenuous exercise, such as sprints, boot camps and weight training, into their lifestyles ( 53).

Also, among a group of 178 healthy men, the men that reported more exercise hours per week had higher sexual function scores ( 50).

One study found that a simple routine of a six-minute walk around the house helped 41 men reduce their erectile dysfunction symptoms by 71% ( 54).

Another study performed in 78 sedentary men revealed how 60 minutes of walking per day (three and a half days per week, on average) improved their sexual behavior, including frequency, adequate functioning and satisfaction ( 55).

What's more, a study demonstrated that women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome, which can reduce sex drive, increased their sex drive with regular resistance training for 16 weeks ( 56).

Summary: Exercise can help improve sexual desire, function and performance in men and women. It can also help decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction in men.

Exercise offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of your health from the inside out.

Regular physical activity can increase the production of hormones that make you feel happier and help you sleep better.

It can also improve your skin's appearance, help you lose weight and keep it off, lessen the risk of chronic disease and improve your sex life.

Whether you practice a specific sport or follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week, you will inevitably improve your health in many ways ( 57).

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Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories. There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking and dancing, to name a few. Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally.

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Increasing your heart rate can actually reverse stress-induced brain damage by stimulating the production of neurohormones like norepinephrine, which not only improve cognition and mood but improve thinking clouded by stressful events.

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Setting the Stage (by Example)

Dr. Shawna Charles, who received a PhD in Psychology from Walden University, put her love of psychology into action by opening a Los Angeles boxing gym to provide people with the help they need, including fitness, an ear to listen to their problems, and a connection to vital social services. Dr. Charles, like many others in her field, understands the connection between good physical and mental health.

The Psychological Benefits of Exercise

Most of us know the many physical benefits of exercise: weight control, lower blood pressure, reduced risk of diabetes, and increased energy, just to name a few. But what about the psychological benefits of exercise? From easing symptoms of depression and anxiety to keeping your memory sharp, there's no shortage of mental benefits of exercise. Whether you need motivation to get to the gym or to just take a brisk walk, the five psychological benefits of physical activity below will have you tying up your shoe laces and heading out the door.

1. Help for depression and anxiety
Exercise is a scientifically proven mood booster, decreasing symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Physical activity kicks up endorphin levels, the body's famous "feel good" chemical produced by the brain and spinal cord that produces feelings of happiness and euphoria. Even just moderate exercise throughout the week can improve depression and anxiety, so much so that some doctors recommend trying out an exercise regimen for these conditions before turning to medication.

2. Decreased stress
Another mental benefit of exercise is reduced stress levels-something that can make us all happier. Increasing your heart rate can actually reverse stress-induced brain damage by stimulating the production of neurohormones like norepinephrine, which not only improve cognition and mood but improve thinking clouded by stressful events. Exercise also forces the body's central and sympathetic nervous systems to communicate with one another, improving the body's overall ability to respond to stress.

3. Increased self-esteem and self-confidence
From improving endurance to losing weight and increasing muscle tone, there's no shortage of physical achievements that come about from regular exercise. All those achievements can all add up to a whopping boost of self-esteem-and the confidence that comes with it. You may not set out for better-fitting clothes, a slimmer physique, and the ability to climb a hill without getting winded. Oftentimes it happens before you even realize it. It's just one of the many benefits of physical activity that boost your body, mind, and spirit.

4. Better sleep
If you have trouble getting a good night's sleep, exercise can help with that, too. Physical activity increases body temperature, which can have calming effects on the mind, leading to less sheep counting and more shuteye. Exercise also helps regulate your circadian rhythm, our bodies' built-in alarm clock that controls when we feel tired and when we feel alert. (Although improved sleep is a psychological benefit of exercise, sleep experts recommend not exercising close to bedtime.)

5. Brain boost
From building intelligence to strengthening memory, exercise boosts brainpower in a number of ways. Studies on mice and humans indicate that cardiovascular exercise creates new brain cells-a process called neurogenesis-and improve overall brain performance. It also prevents cognitive decline and memory loss by strengthening the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. Studies also prove that physical activity boosts creativity and mental energy. So if you're in need of inspiration, your big idea could be just a walk or jog away.

Fascinated by the mental benefits of exercise? Or how exercise can improve depression or anxiety? A bachelor's in psychology will give you the knowledge you need to help others by making meaningful contributions in the field of psychology.
Even if you work full time, a bachelor's in psychology is something you can achieve. Featuring a flexible, socially conscious learning environment, Walden University makes higher education possible in an online format that fits your busy life. Learn how you can help others with an online BS in Psychology from Walden.

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Exercise isn't just great for your body, it's great for your brain. Check out these 5 mental benefits of exercise.