You don’t have to exercise, it's not mandatory, not under a law. You can live a sedentary lifestyle for the rest of your life instead of having to deal with the pain of running or lifting weights.
They say, exercising is one of the most important things everyone must do. But, lots of people—especially young people—aren’t aware of the benefits of exercising and the risks of not exercising.
Why? Because young people feel fit and mobile without having exercise in their daily habit. Therefore, they don’t feel the need to exercise. The truth is, they just haven’t paid the price, yet.
But, why should we exercise?
Exercising has many benefits for not only physical health but also mental health.
Let’s talk about mental health first:
- Mental Health How can exercising, a physical activity, be beneficial for your mental health?
Well, it has been proven that exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and bad moods.
But, how?
When you exercise, your brain releases many hormones. Many of them are hormones that make you happy.
Hormones such as dopamine, endorphins, and serotonins that make you happy, reduce pain, reduce stress, and regulate mood are all released when you exercise.
But, as I said, there aren’t only mental benefits, there are also physical benefits.
- Physical Health Now, this is the one I want to talk about. You’ll know why after I explain.
So, exercising has three main roles:
- Increases bone density
- Increases muscle mass
- Increases body organs’ health
The problem is, if you don’t start exercising today—especially for young people—, then you will face irreversible damage.
Why?
Because your bone density can only increase rapidly until your late 20’s. After 30 years old, the bone doesn’t only reduce the rapid increase, but it also breaks down FASTER than bone rebuilding.
So, if you don’t exercise when you are young (also drink calcium and vitamin D), your bone density won’t be thick.
And then, once you get older, that bone of yours will just keep on shrinking, and shrinking, and shrinking, and shrinking.
Yes, you can exercise when you are old. But, it just slows down the process of bone breakdown. It doesn’t stop it.
Bone thinning creates a lot of problems. It creates osteoporosis, pain, and aches when you move, stiffness, bone fractures, back pain, and so much more.
If this doesn’t scare you, then I don’t know what will.
But, it doesn't stop there.
Muscle mass is also a big factor in your body.
Same as bone density, muscle mass also will break down as you age.
This is due to the natural reduction in testosterone in men and estrogen in women.
So, if you don’t train your muscles when you are younger, then you will have small muscles that will just keep getting smaller as you get older.
But, why is muscle mass needed?
Having small muscle mass can have many impacts, such as metabolic issues, a weak body, and an increased risk of falling.
So, go and build those muscles now.
Last, but not least, Organs' health.
When you exercise, you are training your heart and lungs.
Therefore, the health of your heart and lungs will increase, and you will thank yourself in the future for it.
But, why is it important for the heart and lungs to be healthy?
Having a healthy heart and lungs will lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attack, reduce inflammation, and improve circulation.
Therefore, if you don’t exercise, you have a greater risk for all of the things I just mentioned.
From this, I want to conclude that you have everything to win from exercising, and you have everything to lose from living a sedentary lifestyle.
Decide yourself now.