4 More Reasons to Exercise

Discover the benefits for your bones, brain and more.

If you’re like most women, you can usually dream up good reasons to get regular workouts: They help you manage your weight, build muscle and generally stay in shape. Go ahead and rely on those motivators if they work for you. But if you need a little extra incentive to get moving, read on: A slew of scientific studies reveal that regular exercise can improve your health in important —and potentially life-saving —ways.

1. Stave off heart disease. Aerobic exercise does your heart a world of good: It can help lower blood pressure and levels of bad cholesterol while also reducing body fat — all factors that affect your risks of heart disease and stroke. How much is enough exercise? According to the latest American Heart Association guidelines, all healthy adults ages 18 to 65 should try for at least 30 minutes of moderately intense activity five days a week.

2. Reduce your risk of developing breast cancer. There’s a correlation between being overweight and breast cancer, based on the link between fatty tissue and an increase in the production of estrogen, which may increase breast cancer risk. Research suggests that it’s never to late to start: A study conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that postmenopausal women who exercised regularly reduced their risk of breast cancer by about 20%.

3. Keep your mind sharp. According to a Mayo Clinic study, regular exercise (and other forms of physical activity) may help protect against mild cognitive impairment. What’s that? People with mild cognitive impairment can handle easy, everyday stuff. But they often have difficulty with the kind of brain activities that require you to dig a little deeper — recalling specific details of a conversation, for example, or keeping track of upcoming appointments. And it doesn’t take much exercise to benefit the brain, according to a study published in the medical journal Neurology, which found that regular walking was enough to significantly lower people’s risk of developing vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Protect against osteoporosis, or bone disease. You know that exercise can help you build up muscle mass. But did you know that bones, too, can become stronger with regular exercise, specifically when workouts include weight-bearing activities that force your bones to handle your body weight? Walking, dancing and tennis all qualify; swimming does not. Strong bones are your best defense against osteoporosis, a disease characterized by porous, brittle bones that are prone to fractures and breaks and cause postmenopausal women to appear to shrink in height.

Source: http://www.makinglifebetter.com/vitality-wellness/article/4-i-more-i-reasons-to-exercise