Exercise does a lot more than help us burn calories to lose weight. In fact, not getting enough exercise can have a pretty significant impact on what’s going on in our bodies and the future of our health. What really happens when you don’t exercise enough?
You crave unhealthy food
Many people who exercise regularly also eat very healthy diets. While it may seem like this is always due to a conscious choice to be healthier, it turns out that people who are more active actually crave healthy food. This is called the transfer effect and refers to the effect whereby learning new skills and improving in one area of your life automatically triggers a desire for improvements in another. This is great if you’re trying to build multiple healthy habits, like exercising and eating healthy.
You don’t sleep well
Regular exercise has been shown to increase total sleep time and leave people feeling more alert and well-rested throughout the day. This has been shown even while controlling for Body Mass Index (BMI), health status, smoking status, and depression. What that means is that the positive effects of exercise on sleep aren’t just because people who exercise more tend to have a lower BMI or tend to be healthier overall. Regular exercise can be beneficial for sleep for all of us, even those who suffer from insomnia. When you don’t exercise enough, the benefits to sleep aren’t as noticeable. While a single day of exercise does produce some small improvements to sleep compared to those who do not exercise, only those who engage in regular exercise see a significant difference in sleep quality. Can’t sleep? It may be time to start exercising regularly!
You get winded easily
If you don’t exercise regularly, you may find that when you climb a flight of stairs or carry a heavy bag of groceries for more than a few feet, you get out of breath. Regular exercise results in improved cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) health and pulmonary (lung) health, leading to improved functional exercise capacity and reduced breathlessness in both healthy people and those with chronic lung conditions. This means your body has greater efficiency for taking in and absorbing oxygen, even when your body is fatigued. Without regular exercise, your body is not as efficient at absorbing oxygen when it is under strain. This makes it hard to use the oxygen you’re breathing in, so it feels like you aren’t taking in enough air. This is why when you return to exercise after time off, it feels like you’re back to square one, panting desperately to catch your breath.
Medical professionals and fitness experts advocate exercise as a way to maintain and build health. You reverse the benefits of exercise when you stop working out, and you never build up fitness and endurance if you never exercise at all. Starting a workout regimen is harder after a long period of inactivity, but you’ll see immediate benefits to your body.
Weight and Blood Pressure
Some of the primary benefits of exercise include maintaining a healthy weight and regulating blood pressure. When you do not move, from either choice or due to injury, you burn fewer calories each day. An excess of just 500 calories per day translates into a weight gain of 1 pound per week or 4 pounds per month. When you gain weight, you have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Being overweight makes the exercise harder because you stress your joints more when you run or jog.
Bones and Strength
Sitting around or lying around all day makes you weak. Unless you continuously use the major muscle groups in your body, they do not strengthen. If you are older, you lose the battle against muscle atrophy or wasting with every year that passes. Bones also lose density with age, and lack of weight-bearing exercise plays a role in osteoporosis or brittle bones. Your body responds to the demands you put on it, and if you do not exercise, your muscles and bones weaken with time.
Exercise for Endurance
Just walking up a flight of stairs can make you short of breath if you are out of shape. Lack of exercise can lead to a lack of energy and endurance. The listlessness you feel further dissuades you from engaging in physical activity, and the vicious circle continues. Breaking a long period of inactivity is not easy, particularly if you are overweight or have a medical condition. Starting slowly with just a few minutes of walking daily gets you moving safely.
Mental Health
Lack of exercise can lead to a diminished sense of well-being. Your body loses muscle tone and strength and your self-esteem can suffer as a result. Weight gain might lead to social isolation and bad eating habits. Vigorous aerobic exercise such as swimming or running stimulates your body to release endorphins. Endorphins are natural painkillers that help elevate your mood. Resuming physical activity benefits your mental health as well as your physical health.
