Why Exercise?

"Think of what happens when water sits for a long time in a cup, puddle, or pond. It eventually gets covered with slime and gunk, breeds disease, and becomes toxic." Remember that your body is about 2/3 water!

"On the other hand, when water moves, life thrives. Running water is usually fresh water. Rivers and waterfalls are beautiful and inviting-alive."

Just imagining that alone inside of my body makes me want to go for a run! Here are some other reasons that exercise is SO important for you physical and mental health:

-1/3 of cancer deaths can be linked to bad eating choices and a sedentary life style.
-Just by walking a few hours a WEEK you can decrease your risk of breast cancer by 18%.
-This one is a little deep: When you live a sedentary lifestyle your resting heart rate is around 80 bpm. When you condition your heart with exercise it goes down to 60-70 or less bpm. So even though you feel like your heart is jumping out of your chest while you exercise, your heart gets a break for the other 23.5 hours a day. Think of it like a car, the more miles you put on it the faster it dies. With your heart the more beats it does the faster it dies.
-"studies show that moderate, regular exercise is perhaps the single most important deterrent of heart-related problems.
-Exercise lower blood pressure and LDL(bad cholesterol)
-Exercise is cheaper than Lipitor
-Exercise enlarges the coronary artery, improving blood flow.
-The lymphatic system (helps with garbage collection and disease fighting) is circulated by muscle contractions, not just your heart. "Aerobic Exercise can triple the rate of lymphatic flow." So when you're active your body is able to get rid of the trash more efficiently
-Exercise helps muscles to take up sugar from your blood, which means sugar isn't collecting in your blood leading to diabetes
-Sweat is a great way for your body to get rid of toxins (chemicals on/in food, air we breath, pollutants in water...).
-"Exercise works better than calcium in building strong bones."
-Exercise helps improve digestion, especially in preventing constipation
-Exercise increases serotonin and dopamine levels (feel good hormones) which is a super natural way to avoid depression.
-Aerobic exercise releases endorphins which are like morphine, so you can relieve chronic pain.

So that was all I could narrow it down to, sorry. :) There is quite a bit more and he talks more about where the information comes from and cites specific research studies, but I didn't want to include all that, but know that this information is backed by research.

He recommends at least 30 minutes of exercise 4 days a week for adults.

I recommend 45 minutes 6 days a week.

If you want suggestions on exercise or exercise programs I'd be happy to visit with you about it! I LOVE talking about exercise. :)