In many ways, humans have become stagnant. As technology continues to race forward, we find ourselves glued to different pieces of technology more and more, which is turning out to be quite harmful to our health. The majority of people have jobs that require extended amounts of time spent sitting at desks and working on computers or paperwork. While you wouldn’t think this is one of the worst things, what studies are finding is that this sitting and not moving is very detrimental to our health in numerous ways from our cardiac health to even potential links to cancer. One study even called sitting the new smoking. No one wants to be inactive so much that they are unable to live a healthy lifestyle or are sitting by while their bodies become damaged.
We’ve compiled some benefits of moving around to help encourage you to remain active in your life, even if you find yourself tied to your computer, tablet, or a desk in some form.
- Enhanced mood. That’s right, living an active lifestyle and moving around intentionally each day can lead to an enhanced mood. Part of that comes from the endorphins that get released when we exercise. These endorphins are signals to our brain to lift our moods and make us feel happier. If you’ve ever heard the term runner’s high, that’s just endorphins being released. Running isn’t necessarily the only reason you can get it, as any form of cardiac exercise will help you to reach that endorphin “high.” Not only can this enhance your mood, but numerous studies have found that exercise is extremely beneficial to those who may suffer from mental illness like anxiety or depression. Exercise has been found to alleviate symptoms of both and allow you to live a happier, healthier life if you do suffer from those issues and are searching for more all-natural methods to help treat it.
- Healthier lymphatic system. You may not know much about your lymphatic system other than you have lymph nodes all over your body, and they can sometimes swell up around your neck when you are getting a cold or the flu. It’s a bit more complicated than that as we have lymphatic fluid that is all around our bodies. However, while we know our circulatory system is always working because of our hearts, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump in the same way. The only way to keep this fluid from becoming stagnant is to keep moving. Moving around allows you to move the fluid and keep it moving throughout your body rather than becoming stagnant.
- Protect your bones. We’ve all heard that it’s important to build healthy bones and muscles, by eating foods rich in Calcium, but there’s more to it than that. As we age, our bones are more likely to deteriorate, which is why it’s important to start living a healthy and active lifestyle as soon as possible. Living this active lifestyle will build up your muscles which will also build up your bones and strengthen bone mass and density. Not only that, but the higher impact exercise you do, such as running versus walking, the greater you benefit your bone growth.
- Enhanced cognitive function. As we age, unfortunately, we all start to decline cognitively. For some, it’s more noticeable than for others, but while it’s important to focus on mind games to help keep the brain sharp, physical exercise also assists with this. While it’s important to start living an active lifestyle early on to protect your cognitive abilities, you can still improve it even if you are later in life. Any extra physical activity will help increase brain activity and thus improve your cognitive abilities.
- Decrease cardiac issues. This one is pretty common knowledge, but still worth mentioning here. Moving around more gets your blood pumping more, which helps you to build up your heart. Your heart is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in your body, it needs to be worked on to help it to improve and become healthier in the long run. If you don’t work on it, it could increase your likelihood for cardiac issues down the road, so it’s important to move around and get at least 30 minutes of mild to moderate exercise each day to keep your heart healthy.
