By Steven AndersonPosted on May 4, 2022November 14, 2022Exercise is important for a number of reasons. It improves your lung health, lowers your risk of osteoarthritis, improves your mood, and even helps you quit smoking. There are many benefits of regular exercise and you don’t have to be an athlete to reap these benefits. Start small and build up from there.Exercise lowers your risk of osteoarthritisPerforming daily activities such as walking and swimming can help reduce your risk of osteoarthritis. These small movements not only help keep your joints moving but also burn calories. Recreational activities also help protect your joints from injuries. However, it’s important to talk to your doctor or health care provider before starting any new exercise program.To reduce your risk of osteoarthritis, it’s best to start slowly and gradually increase intensity over time. Make sure to take breaks when you feel pain or joint swelling, and never attempt to do too much too soon. If you start to feel pain or feel dizzy during an exercise session, take a break. If your joints begin to swell after a vigorous activity, apply ice to them and rest them for at least 20 minutes. Be sure to wear appropriate shoes and drink plenty of fluids.Exercise improves lung healthRegular exercise helps your lungs function better. When you exercise, your lungs provide energy to your muscles and remove carbon dioxide, the waste product of the energy-producing process. Exercise also helps your heart pump oxygen throughout your body. A healthy heart means you’ll be able to exercise longer and work more efficiently. The RPE Scale helps you gauge how intense your exercise is. You should feel a slight sense of discomfort or ‘out of breath’ after an exercise session, but it’s nothing to worry about.In addition to exercising, eating a healthy diet is also essential to a healthy lifestyle. A diet high in vitamins A, C and E is linked to better lung health. The University of Maryland Medical Center has found a link between low vitamin intake and lung disease.Exercise boosts moodRegular exercise has many benefits, including boosting your mood. It increases your heart rate and blood flow to the brain, which can help you feel more relaxed and relieve stress. It can also boost your mood by triggering the release of the feel-good hormone norepinephrine.Research shows that regular exercise improves the brain’s chemical balance, including serotonin. Researchers believe that physical activity is as effective as antidepressants in reducing depression and anxiety. It also triggers the release of feel-good neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine.Exercise helps you quit smokingAdding exercise to your daily routine can help you quit smoking for good. Not only does exercise help you burn calories, but it also keeps your muscles and bones strong. It can also strengthen your willpower to quit smoking. You can start small by completing a 10-minute walk two or three days a week, or do three or four strength-training exercises.Before beginning your exercise routine, consult with your doctor to avoid injury. The key to this exercise is to get your body used to doing physical activities for a short period of time. Cardio helps you to break a sweat, and it is best performed for about 30 minutes four or five days. You should also avoid doing vigorous workouts for the first couple of weeks to avoid injury.Exercise lowers blood sugarRegular exercise is a great way to lower your blood sugar. The act of exercising burns up glucose in the blood, which provides energy to the cells. However, during exercise, the blood glucose level will decrease, so you may have to stop and eat a small snack to keep yourself from reaching a low blood sugar level.Before starting an exercise program, people with diabetes should check their blood glucose levels first. If they are too low, they should eat more carbohydrates to raise their blood sugar level before continuing their exercise program. A goal blood sugar level of 70 to 100 mg/dL is considered healthy.Exercise lowers your risk of heart diseaseExercise is an excellent way to lower your risk of heart disease. A moderate amount of physical activity each week can reduce your risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by up to 14 percent. According to the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee, moderate exercise can also improve muscle strength, which can help your cardiovascular system. If you’re not sure how to start exercising, talk to your doctor about the best ways to exercise safely.A recent study found that even ten minutes of exercise daily reduced mortality rates in people with heart disease. Researchers also found that exercise decreased blood triglyceride and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. In addition, exercise improved the quality of life of heart failure patients. The researchers also found that exercise improved cardiac output by more than 20 percent. Sport and Fitness