Lesser Known Benefits of Exercise

by Gabe Rinaldi MA, FIT General Manager 

At FIT it is common for us to talk about reducing fat, increasing muscle, and reducing the risk of many diseases, but there are a multitude of less commonly known benefits of exercise that also deserve mention. For this newsletter article I spent some time searching the web to come up with some of these less commonly known benefits. In some cases the benefits may seem logical when presented, but they are included to show that there is supporting scientific evidence. These benefits are simply listed below with a website link as a reference or to serve as a place to gather more information.

Sexual Desirability and Sexual Performance

http://www.ejhs.org/volume7/fitness.html

Enhanced work performance

Improve psychological well-being

Reduce depression and anxiety

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/benefits.html

Skin tone, making your skin look more elastic

Ability to relax

Frustration with daily problems; allows for a more constructive response to disappointments and failures

Provides an easy way to share activities with family and friends and an opportunity to meet new friends

http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/exercise_benefits.html

Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/ataglan.htm

A more favorable experience with pregnancy outcomes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=ab
stractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplu
s&list_uids=3688075


Improved sleep quality

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubm
ed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=175173
56&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum

Exercise at a younger age may prevent fragility fractures in old age

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubm
ed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=175051
23&query_hl=7&itool=pubmed_docsum

Exercise may help combat fatigue caused by various cancer therapies

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubm
ed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=1739984
1&query_hl=11&itool=pubmed_docsum

I could go on and on, but it might be fun to take this topic to the FIT forum. If you come across an exercise benefit that you think is a bit out of the ordinary, then please post it up on the following thread on our forum.

http://www.focusedtrainers.com/forum/showthread.ph
p?p=4005#post4005