04 May Five Reasons to Start Moving
You don’t have to chug protein shakes and pump weights like there’s no tomorrow. There’s hundreds of benefits of moderate- intensity exercise for about 20 minutes a day. While we here at AQ Fitness have tons of individual reasons for how our preferred exercise methods have transformed our bodies, minds and lives, we picked our top 5 reasons for why we LOVE (L-O-V-E) to work out.
1. Muscle mass and calorie burn: exercising builds your muscles and the more muscle mass you have the more calories you burn in a resting state. This is true for both men and women. For each pound of muscle mass you add to your body, you burn 35-50 more calories per day in a resting state.
2. Stress reduction: working out increases levels of norepinephrine, the chemicals which the body releases as a response to stress. It also releases serotonin, or happy hormones, which boost the mood and help you achieve a feeling of positivity.
3. Get smarter: endurance exercises release chemicals that result in improved cognition, memory and counter cognitive decline. Hit the gym if you want to conquer mental math or avoid onset of dementia during old age.
4. Stronger bones: AQ Fitness strongly recommends weightlifting to increase bone density, particularly for women who want to counter the onset of osteoporosis.
5. Fat loss: exercise burns calories which burns the excess fat on your body. It also builds muscle, which increases the bodies capacity to burn calories even in a resting state. Avoid checking your weight on the scale though, because each unit of muscle weighs 5 times more than one unit of fat!
So get moving! Start by walking more every day, take the stairs or just pick up your own things. Soon enough, you’ll be addicted.