Whether the reason for exercise is weight loss, increased physical fitness or confidence, exercise changes us. And while we all know that physical activity is necessary for life extension, good physical and mental health, we often do not realize exactly what is going on in the background of all this.
Muscles
The body consumes glucose, a sugar that is stored in the muscle as glycogen and serves as a source of energy for muscle contraction. It also starts consuming adenosine triphosphate. After fast consumption of glucose and adenosine triphosphate, the muscles need more oxygen to re-produce adenosine triphosphate. If the muscles lack oxygen, the body begins to produce lactic acid, which fills most of the body cells within 30 to 60 minutes after exercise.
The muscles begin to form small scars that are necessary for their development and growth. After healing each scar, the muscles will become stronger and larger. Muscle pain is a sign that they are changing, which is the goal.
During exercise, your body will need up to 15 times more oxygen than idle time. This is why breathing speeds up and becomes more difficult over time. The breathing rate will increase until the muscles around the lungs are at their maximum work and energy consuming. The higher the lung capacity, the more physically fit the person is.
Heart
When you exercise, your heart rate speeds up. Through blood the heart receives more oxygen. The more and more you exercise, the stronger your heart becomes. After a while, the heart rate during rest will decrease significantly, which is a feature of lean people with good physical fitness. Exercise also lovers your cholesterol levels.
Brain
Speeding up blood circulation will do well for your brain as well. It will start working better immediately. You will feel an increase in concentration.
When you exercise regularly, your brain becomes accustomed to accelerating blood circulation. All these changes will contribute to reducing the risk of various diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke.
Exercise will stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, including endorphins, which are responsible for the sense of exercise addiction that occurs after many months of daily exercise.
The hippocampus
This part of the brain is worth remembering and is the only producing new brain cells. Exercise will encourage this, thanks to increased oxygen supply to the brain. Even when you stop exercising, new brain cells will survive, while all other changes in the brain will return to their original state after a few hours.
The hypothalamus
This part of the brain is responsible for maintaining body temperature and the balance of salt and water. As your body warms up, the hypothalamus begins to receive signals that it is time to start sweating.
Hypophysis
It controls the adrenal glands and stimulates them to produce the hormones needed for movement, including growth hormone. Growth hormone is key to developing and strengthening muscles and consuming fat.
Adrenal glands
They produce stress hormones that are key to exercise. Cortisol will help the body utilize energy, and adrenaline will increase the heart rate, thus speeding up the blood circulation in the body.
Skin
While warming up, your body, just like a machine, will look for a way to cool it. The blood vessels in the skin expand, the blood flow to the skin increases, sweat begins to form and the body cools.
Joints
Exercise increases the pressure on your joints. Sometimes the pressure is five to six times the weight of your body. The joints of different parts of the body have different functions. Over time, there is wear and tear, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.
If you exercise properly and in consultation with a specialist, the risk of joint damage will be minimal. Remember that being overweight is significantly more damaging to your joints than exercising daily.
Conclusion
As you can see, exercise can bring a lot of benefits to your health. To get even healthier, combine exercise with a healthy diet. To reduce your weight, you can try combining exercise with the fat fasting keto technique.