Most Americans don’t exercise. They try to find reasons to start exercising. They sometimes do in fact find reasons to exercise. But before long, they lose that sense of motivation and return to the monotonous cycle of work-home-eat-sleep. The results are evident. Obesity levels are higher than ever before, deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are rising, other lifestyle-related problems are on an upward trend, and cases of psychiatric problems, some leading up to suicide, are becoming alarmingly more frequent.

Experts state that one of the major reasons for this explosion of lifestyle-related diseases and disorders is the lack of exercise. Most people who begin their year with a resolution to exercise more, ultimately end up procrastinating year after year, with their fitness levels going from bad to worse.

So if you’re someone who feels the need for a little extra motivation in order to get yourself back on the saddle as far as exercise concerned, then read on to learn about the lifelong benefits of exercise:

Exercise makes you look younger than your age
One of the straightforward benefits of exercise is that you look younger than your age. Take a look at an aging celebrity. Chances are, they look a lot younger than are. And one of the major contributors to their relatively youthful appearance is regular exercise.

Exercise helps you age slower
But the youthfulness that exercise confers is not merely skin deep! Exercise also makes you younger than your true biological age. When you exercise, you rejuvenate your skin and improve blood circulation to the body. This helps boost the cell turnover rate, which in turn helps prevent the accumulation of age-related problems – making you younger than your biological age.

Exercise keeps your bones healthy
As you age, your bones start losing calcium and become brittle. This is because the calcium metabolism is altered. This can be largely prevented by engaging in regular exercise, which will help contain the calcium in your bones and will keep you strong and healthy till the end of your life. There is no greater testament to the fact that renowned sportsmen and athletes, who continue to have strong bones even as they age, due to their long years of regular exercise.

Exercise keeps your heart healthy
The heart is a delicate and important organ in your body and consequently, requires great care. Exercise helps to flush out toxins, maintain the pressure of circulation, keep the cardiac rhythm, prevent accumulation of fat globules and improve the overall health of the heart. This is seen in the reduction of heart attacks, among other things.

Exercise helps to keep blood pressure under control
Doing exercise regularly will help you maintain optimum blood pressure levels. If you visit your physician with an elevated blood pressure, you will be advised to do brisk exercises to bring it under control.

Exercise controls blood sugar
The metabolism of the body depends on how much sugar you consume and how much you burn. Exercise keeps this equation under control. The blood sugar level increases mainly because the cells have become unresponsive to insulin. When you exercise, you increase the insulin sensitivity of the body, and thereby control blood sugar. Being able to control blood sugar without medication is thus another long-term benefit of exercise.

Exercise helps in weight control and obesity
As already discussed, a major contemporary health issue is obesity and the general lack of weight control. The only solution to this is exercise. Regular exercise helps to control the hormones that stimulate eating patterns. The hormone that causes you to eat reduces after an intense exercise session.

Exercise helps to reduce stroke
If you have a risk of stroke due to any hereditary and lifestyle reasons, then regular exercise is the best way to guard against it.

Other benefits of exercise include:

• Exercise reduces the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease .
• Exercise saves a lot of money that you might otherwise spend on medication and treatment.
• Exercise helps beat stress and boredom.
• Exercise keeps your brain active; the incidence of brain degeneration is low in people who engage in regular exercise.
• Exercise keeps your reflexes sharp.

Needless to say, exercise can virtually be an elixir of life for you, provided that you dedicate yourself to it.