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Three pillars form a healthy lifestyle: nutrition, exercise, and sleep. One cannot perform their best without the other two at play. These three pillars coordinate together to create a well-bodied person. Interestingly though, exercise plays a significant role in nutrition and sleep. Read this guide on the top ten unexpected benefits of lower body exercise to learn more.
One of the best health benefits of lower body workouts is that they improve your mood. Exercise is a great way to promote happiness and feelings of accomplishment. As you exercise, your brain releases serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which all promote happiness and lessen feelings of depression and anxiety. These feelings improve your self-worth and self-fulfillment. People who put off exercise feel greater feelings of depression and sadness even with just a few weeks off. This isn’t specific to any sort of exercise, either. Whether you weightlift or use a cardio machine, you release endorphins and hormones to feel better overall.
Another great benefit to lower body workouts is that they help you lose weight. Inactivity is one of the most significant contributing factors to weight gain, along with a poor diet. With that said, any type of lower body workout will curb weight gain and promote a healthier lifestyle. As you engage in any physical activity, your body responds with better digestion, hormone regulation, and bodily functions, all of which are crucial for appetite suppression and metabolism. As such, your body loses weight easier and more efficiently with exercise than with a sedentary lifestyle.
With that said, lower body workouts help improve your digestion. There is no worse feeling than sluggishness or lethargy from sitting around all day. Even if it is just a walk through the park or a bicycle ride to your local grocery store, lower body workouts boost your natural metabolism to absorb nutrients more efficiently. Resultingly, your body is better at breaking down foods to convert into muscle instead of fat. When paired with a healthy diet of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats, you’ll feel more naturally energetic and better overall with the right nutrients in your system.
Exercise is good for your muscles and bones. You don’t need to be a powerlifter or bodybuilder to know that exercise is vital for strength and conditioning. While weight training is one effective way to build lower body strength, bodyweight exercises and plyometrics are also effective ways to do so. Exercise releases hormones that break down the amino acids in muscles, which is why you need to consume more proteins to repair the muscle fibers. Doing so further strengthens the fibers and your bones to help maintain strength and reduce muscle loss.
Fitness is not only good for the body, but it also helps the brain. You may not realize it, but continual exercise is a wonderful way to improve memory and cognition. Exercise releases oxygen to the brain, which stimulates the production of hormones that strengthen brain cells. Lower body workouts further aid older adults who are at risk of memory loss and lower oxygen levels in the brain. Working out can reduce risks attributed to Alzheimer’s and dementia due to the greater oxygen and blood circulation in the brain.
While it may not seem like it given the heart-pumping activities, exercise helps you relax and sleep better. Sleep quality is an important facet of a healthy lifestyle. With the widespread use of electronics, caffeine, and artificial stimulation keeping people awake at night, people lose much-needed sleep. However, exercise raises the internal body temperature, which in turn improves sleep as body temperatures drop at night. Also, the energy lost in exercise leaves people worn out and ready for sleep. There’s also an inverse effect in which sleep promotes healthier muscle growth and mental restoration.
As previously mentioned, exercise is an effective way to curb feelings of stress or anxiety. Since exercise improves energy levels, working out helps relax and rejuvenate you. Consistent exercise pumps more blood and oxygen throughout the body, which further improves lung and heart health. All of these factors are crucial for overall feelings of a healthy lifestyle. As you work out, you feel better and more accomplished overall. Thus, exercise improves feelings of self-worth, self-sufficiency, and self-improvement.
While it should never supplement healthcare, one of the top ten unexpected benefits of lower body exercise is that it reduces chronic illnesses. Anyone suffering from Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, or high cholesterol should include exercise in their daily habits. That’s because regular exercise improves insulin sensitivity, heart health, and body composition, while decreasing cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Regular exercise further decreases stubborn body fat that contributes to these conditions.
Lower body workouts can also improve skin health. Unbelievably, your skin receives the most oxidative stress in your body. While your muscles engage in physical activity, your skin promotes antioxidant defenses to repair cell damage. Lower-intensity workouts don’t strain the skin as much as intensive exercise. Therefore, regular moderate training increases your body’s production of natural antioxidants to help protect cells, stimulate blood flow, and mitigate aging.
Lastly, lower body workouts improve your overall sense of well-being through healthier lifestyle choices. As you engage in regular exercise, you feel more compelled to follow a healthier diet and make better choices. Whether that’s refraining from harmful substances or simply leading a more active lifestyle, lower body workouts are a great way to change your physical and mental health for the better.
It’s important to find the right lower body workout equipment for your home gym to help you start your fitness journey. Fortunately, Top Fitness Store has everything you need to create the perfect home gym. Our lateral elliptical machines are made for lower body workouts and help you build your body the way you want it. Whether it’s toning down your muscles or increasing your cardiovascular endurance, these machines are the way to do it. Call us now with any questions, and we’ll be happy to help.
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