# What Exercise Does to Your Body



## SeaBreeze (Mar 14, 2015)

Some thoughts on the benefits of exercise on the body and mind, read more here.  http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/09/20/exercise-health-benefits.aspx


*"What Happens in Your Body When You Exercise?

*The featured article in Huffington Post highlights a number of biological effects that occur, from head to toe, when you exercise. This includes changes in your:



*Muscles*, which use glucose and ATP for contraction and movement. To create more ATP, your body needs extra oxygen, so breathing increases and your heart starts pumping more blood to your muscles.Without sufficient oxygen, lactic acid will form instead. Tiny tears in your muscles make them grow bigger and stronger as they heal.
*Lungs*. As your muscles call for more oxygen (as much as 15 times more oxygen than when you're at rest), your breathing rate increases. Once the muscles surrounding your lungs cannot move any faster, you've reached what's called your VO2 max—your maximum capacity of oxygen use. The higher your VO2 max, the fitter you are.
*Heart*. As mentioned, your heart rate increases with physical activity to supply more oxygenated blood to your muscles. The fitter you are, the more efficiently your heart can do this, allowing you to work out longer and harder. As a side effect, this increased efficiency will also reduce your _resting_ heart rate. Your blood pressure will also decrease as a result of new blood vessels forming.
*Brain*. The increased blood flow also benefits your brain, allowing it to almost immediately function better. As a result, you tend to feel more focused after a workout. Furthermore, exercising regularly will promote the growth of new brain cells. In your hippocampus, these new brain cells help boost memory and learning. As stated in the featured article:
_"When you work out __regularly__, your brain gets used to this frequent surge of blood and adapts by turning certain genes on or off. Many of these changes boost brain cell function and protect from diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or even stroke, and ward off age-related decline."
A number of neurotransmitters are also triggered, such as endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, and GABA. Some of these are well-known for their role in mood control. Exercise, in fact, is one of the most effective prevention and treatment strategies for depression.

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*Joints and bones*, as exercise can place as much as five or six times more than your body weight on them. Peak bone mass is achieved in adulthood and then begins a slow decline, but exercise can help you to maintain healthy bone mass as you get older.Weight-bearing exercise is actually one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis, as your bones are very porous and soft, and as you get older your bones can easily become less dense and hence, more brittle -- especially if you are inactive."


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## Tim (Mar 24, 2015)

Thanks for the article. Good reminders, there are so many benefits to keeping a good exercise schedule.


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## Kadee (Mar 24, 2015)

I will think of all that while out dancing today even though I don't feel like dancing  it's one of those days where you feel like sleeping in and you have to get up, I was woken up at 6 am by a bobcat  and a cement truck out the front, we have been living in a new estate for over 8 years and they are just getting around to putting in footpaths


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## Don M. (Mar 24, 2015)

There is NO substitute for a good diet, and a regular amount of exercise....no matter WHAT all these "Ask your Doctor" drug commercial try to brainwash us with.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 24, 2015)

Very true, Don.  I'll just keep up what I'm doing.  I love having stamina!


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