We’ve heard about the importance of remaining active throughout our lives thousands of times. And yet, it is very difficult for many of us to dedicate time in the day to exercise. We view exercise as a chore, another to-do in the day that requires our focus and energy. We make the mistake of telling ourselves we’ll do it later, and later we’re tired. Or, we deal with chronic pain and can’t bring ourselves to exercise as much as we should. We’re here to break down the benefits of being active and motivate you to try to work it into your daily routine, as the benefits will pay off in spades.
Increase Your Life Expectancy
Who doesn’t want to live a little longer? Humans have been slowly working our way to immortality the moment our time here began, and we’ve made lots of headway! One of the most controllable ways doctors say we can increase our life expectancy is to lead a healthy lifestyle. This includes making exercise part of your routine every day.
People who exercise not only increase their life expectancy but increase their quality of life as well. As we grow older, our joints, ligaments, and tendons can become compromised, and exercise can help strengthen these to combat the deterioration age brings. It will also make you less prone to slips and falls which can result in injuries. If you are injured, a healthy and active body will take less time to heal than a sedentary one.
Maintain Your Physical Health
Worsening physical health can lead to expensive medical care, a worsened quality of life, and can be very stressful for you and the people around you. Maintaining an active lifestyle can help to promote strong muscles and bones, and improves respiratory, cardiovascular, and overall health. It allows you to maintain a healthy weight, and reduces your risk for a host of conditions and illnesses including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
If you can continue to move freely with no pain as you get older, you will be much more independent and be less likely to have a need for aids such as walkers, wheelchairs, or canes. Therefore, you can continue to do the things you love, including travelling, well into retirement.
Maintain Your Mental Health
The benefits of being active aren’t just about your physical health however. If you need an emotional lift, or you need to blow off steam after a stressful day at work, exercise is the number one cure. Physical activity stimulates brain chemicals that can leave you feeling happier, less anxious, and more relaxed. It actually gives you more energy to get through the rest of your busy day, and helps promote better sleep. And getting a good sleep helps to ensure we don’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed!
What Keeps Us From Exercising?
You may be sitting there thinking, ‘I would love to get out and be active and do all the things I used to love if I could…’ There are many reasons why people aren’t as active as they’d like to be, and one of them is pain. As we get older, and our ligaments and joints don’t work as well as they used to, we experience pain. Pain can keep people from doing many things, and exercise is usually the first to go. Chronic pain is on the rise but there are treatments to help.
Prolozone treatments, for example, is a regenerative therapy used for any type of joint pain or injury. The non-invasive procedure involves adding nutrition in the form of liquid vitamins and minerals back into the joint (or muscle, ligament, etc.), and then using ozone to spread the solution further to cover the entire affected area. Prolozone can literally regrow, or make new tissue, giving that joint/muscle/ligament a new opportunity to bounce back, and giving you the pain management you need to get back to your active lifestyle.
There are many other treatments we can offer to ensure you can lead a healthy and active life. Call us to book an appointment at American Regenerative Clinic, or if you have questions about any of our treatments.
