1. Helps maintain a healthy body weight
Low physical activity can increase someone’s risk of becoming overweight or obese. While exercising alone does not necessarily lead to weight loss, in combination with a balanced calorie-controlled diet, it can support successful weight reduction. In addition, there is evidence that regular physical activity can help maintain a healthy body weight over time.
2. Lowers blood pressure
High blood pressure (or hypertension) is a risk factor for many diseases, particularly stroke and heart disease. Regular physical activity can increase your hearts strength, which reduces the effort needed to pump blood around the body. This decreases the force on your arteries, reducing blood pressure. There is good evidence that regular physical activity helps maintain a healthy blood pressure.
3. Decreases the risk of heart disease
Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, running and cycling, has been shown to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. This benefit is observed for people of all body sizes. People with overweight or obesity who are physically active are far less likely to get heart disease compared to those who aren’t.
4. Lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes
Exercise is known to help in the regulation of blood sugar levels and improves our bodies sensitivity to insulin. Physical inactivity, on the other hand, has been consistently shown to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, regular exercise is often recommended to people with diabetes to aid in their control of blood sugar levels.
5. Reduces the risk of certain cancers
Cancer is a complex disease influenced by many controllable (e.g. smoking, unhealthy diet, high alcohol consumption) and uncontrollable (e.g. genetics, radiation, environmental pollutants) factors. Evidence suggests that regular moderate to vigorous exercise can help reduce our risk of developing certain types of cancers, including colon, colorectal, lung and breast cancers.
6. Increases muscle strength and function
Skeletal muscle serves many functions, it helps maintain posture, controls movement and generates body heat. As we age, our muscle mass tends to decrease, often due to a more sedentary lifestyle. This loss of muscle mass can reduce our mobility and increase our risk of falls and muscular diseases such as sarcopenia. Regular exercise, particularly resistance training (such as lifting weights or bodyweight exercises such as squats and push-ups) can help improve muscle strength and resilience and reduce our risk of muscular disorders like sarcopenia.
7. Improves bone health and strength
Weight-bearing exercise (e.g. running, dancing), as well as resistance training, have been shown to improve bone density in adolescents and help maintain bone density in adulthood, reducing the risk of osteoporosis This is particularly important for older adults and menopausal women as it can help to slow the natural loss of bone density that occurs with age.
