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Unfortunately for us, all the innovations that were supposed to make our life easier have produced a negative effect in our health: every day we become more inactive. Elevators, cars, electric stairs, remote controls, computers, all of them keep us apart from movement and, although it is true that we need to use these inventions, we must find a way to increment our physical activity.

Why do we need to exercise?
Physical activity has an incredible large list of benefits that the most skeptical person cannot deny. I'll go over some of them:
It makes you stronger: Mild exercise maintains the size, tone and strength of muscles and more strenuous activity can cause the enlargement and efficiency of them. Joints receive their nourishment through exercise and they get more stable and mobile. Exercise also contributes to the deposit of calcium within the bones, making them stronger, resistant to fractures.
It makes your heart healthier: Moderate exercise increases heart muscle contractions and blood flow preventing cardiovascular disease. It also increments HDL ("good cholesterol"), this one cleans arteries from deposits of fat. Heart rate (number of contractions per minute) and blood pressure decrease in active persons.
It makes you breath better: The exchange of gases through the lungs increases during exercise, bringing more oxygen to the blood and the whole body including the brain. Secretions within the lungs are removed easier, decreasing the chance of infection. People with chronic respiratory disease like asthma benefit from some kinds of exercises.
It makes you burn calories: Physical activity needs energy and the body provides triglycerides and fatty acids that come from fat tissues, reducing body weight. It makes also easier for the cells to absorb glucose, preventing Diabetes or reducing glucose levels in diabetic persons.
It makes you go: Gastrointestinal and urinary activity increase during exercise, assisting the body to eliminate wastes.
It makes your defenses stronger: Blood and lymph are more efficiently pumped throughout the body, eliminating pathogens present in the blood. White blood cells and the substances produced by them are more active destroying foreign antigens.
It makes you happier: During work out, the nervous system produces substances known as neurotransmitters (serotonin, endorphins, norepinephrine) that induce a state of euphoria reducing the effects of stress. Problem-solving capacity, attention span and planning processes also get better, improving overall performance.
Ideally, we should do 30 min of exercise daily; it can be divided in smaller sessions. In general everybody can start a program of physical activity, but if a chronic disease or other condition is present it is advisable to consult a doctor before beginning.

So, what are you waiting for? Turn off that TV and start to try out the benefits of exercising.

Learn more about this author, Grettel V..
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