How Exercising 30 Minutes a Day Helps You Live Better

Most people erroneously believe that they must be a gym rat and exercise for hours a day to get fit, but it’s not so. Current research shows that exercising as little as a half hour, five days each week, makes a profound change in your body that leads to less pain, more vitality and a longer, happier life. You’ll be stronger, healthier, and less likely to get sick.

Thirty minutes of moderate activity is all you need – you don’t have to pump heavy iron or run long distances. Brisk walking, calisthenics or dancing will usually suffice, and such exercises are safe for pretty much anyone, regardless of your condition when you begin. Just pace yourself, work up to a more vigorous routine, and you’ll be amazed how much better you look, feel and function.

Feeling better, looking better, and functioning better is to be expected, but there are some less obvious benefits of regular exercise that will compel you even more.

For example, most people who exercise have an enhanced sense of body image – they feel better about their body and the way they look when they get into good shape. When you like yourself better in the mirror, that translates to feeling better about yourself overall.

Also, new studies are proving that there is a connection between exercising and creativity – those who exercise regularly get a creative lift. One such paper concluded that physical activity, creativity, and a positive mood frequently happened simultaneously. Another report stated that those who exercised regularly performed better on creativity assessments than those who did not. Specifically, those who exercised habitually were better problem-solvers and could envision multiple solutions to the same problem, a hallmark of the creative individual.

It’s now becoming well-accepted that exercise decreases depression – this goes along with the previous comments about physical activity improving your mood. It seems that your brain and your mind enjoy your workout as much as your body does! Amazingly, even those who are prone to depression, psychologically and genetically, are uplifted by exercise, which means those people can reduce or eliminate their need for medication and rather pursue natural methods to feel good. And the good feelings tend to last – they don’t disappear after exercise; they tend to linger as a positive side effect.

Many of us spend a lot of our day sitting at work, at a home computer, eating, driving, watching TV, or even just relaxing. A study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine tells us that 30 minutes of exercise per day may offset the harmful effects of excessive sitting. In fact, those researchers declared that sitting for ten hours a day was associated with a significantly higher mortality rate, and that a half hour walk each day was enough to reverse that risk of death. Even the World Health Organization agreed with those findings.

Finally, regular exercise helps you to maintain your optimal weight. Keeping your weight under control is one of the prime indicators of health and longevity, and a simple, concise exercise routine is one of the best things you can do to stay fit and healthy. The opposite is also true – not exercising and gaining too much weight is a predictor of a poor health future.

So, the evidence is overwhelming – if you want to have a better lifestyle, with less sickness, more vitality, a better mood, a fitter body, efficient thinking and more creativity, choose an exercise routine you are willing to commit to, and put in your 30 minutes at least five days a week – it will give you back much more than you invest, in the form of a positive attitude, better health, and a longer, more productive life.

And if you have questions on the best way to pick your optimal exercise habits, ask your Bucks and Montgomery county chiropractor, your most trusted health and wellness advisor, who can help you select the exercise patterns that are safe and effective for you and your family.