Again and again you hear and read it: regular exercise is important for health. But is that true at all? And if so, what effects does regular athletic training have on our bodies? We reveal whether sports are healthy or unhealthy and what effects sports training has on our cardiovascular system, our muscles, our bones and our metabolism.
Why is exercise important?
Nowadays, almost every second German does little or no sports. There are many reasons why there is no time for a regular sports program: Work life is often stressful and the remaining free time is rather spent on family, friends or other hobbies instead of sports. But sports are an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. And by sport, we don’t mean a short walk around the block or a trip to the nearest supermarket: you should get at least 30 minutes of at least moderate exercise – ideally three to four times a week.
Exercise: healthy or unhealthy?
Sports are considered healthy, and they are – at least if they are done properly. That’s because regular athletic training
- Strengthens, among other things, the immune system
- Keeps the cardiovascular system fit and
- Can prevent a variety of diseases.
But if you overdo it with the physical load, for the sport can also be unhealthy. The result of too much stress can be sore muscles, but also sports injuries such as meniscus damage, cruciate ligament tears or ligament strains. Sport is also unhealthy if the body does not get enough time to regenerate after exertion. To ensure that sports are healthy and not unhealthy, you should have a thorough checkup with your family doctor after a long break from sports before you start exercising again. He can check how good your health condition is as well as which sports are suitable for you and which are not. If you have any existing illnesses, he can also give you tips for a sensible training plan.
Exercise is healthy for the heart
Regular endurance training strengthens the heart muscles – the heart can thus work more economically. Thanks to the strengthened muscles, the heart can namely pump more blood into the body with every beat and thus has to beat less often. This protects the heart and the heart muscle can be better supplied with blood in the pauses between two beats. Regular exercise also keeps the blood vessels elastic – resistance in the vessels is reduced and the risk of developing high blood pressure is lowered. If you already have high blood pressure, exercise can help to reduce the elevated levels again. Here, however, you should draw up a suitable training plan in consultation with your doctor. In addition to the cardiovascular system, athletic training also has a positive effect on cholesterol levels: While the “bad” LDL cholesterol is lowered by exercise, the “good” HDL cholesterol is increased. This can prevent arteriosclerosis and thus also secondary diseases such as a stroke or a heart attack.
Preventing diabetes with exercise
During athletic exertion, energy – in the form of sugar, among other things – is increasingly consumed. This process causes the blood sugar level to drop. In addition, less insulin is needed because glucose is absorbed by appropriate transport proteins in the muscle fibers during exercise. Thus, sport can prevent diabetes mellitus. Regular physical training can also have a positive effect on people who already have diabetes. Exercise lowers blood glucose levels in diabetics just as it does in healthy people. Just as with high blood pressure, however, the following also applies to diabetes: discuss your exercise plan with your doctor beforehand to avoid possible risks or damage.
Strong bones through exercise
Exercise stimulates our bones to form new bone substance. This process becomes increasingly important as we age, as bone density slowly decreases from the age of 35 to 40, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. The loss of bone substance can be prevented with the right sports training. Suitable sports include:
- Jogging
- Walking
- Hiking
- Strength training
It is important that the stimulus set is not too gentle.Presumably, for example, swimming or cycling alone does not yet have a positive effect on the bones.
Healthy weight loss through sport
Regular exercise has a positive effect on our body weight in two ways: On the one hand, lots of calories are burned while exercising. Exactly how many calories are burned depends on various factors. In addition to the type of sport, the body weight as well as the duration and intensity of the training are decisive. On the other hand, regular exercise also increases the basal metabolic rate. This indicates how much energy the body uses at rest. The more muscles you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate. If you are well trained, you burn more energy at rest than an untrained person. Therefore, to lose weight, it is worth not only endurance training, but also regular, targeted strength training to build muscle.
Fight belly fat
Regular athletic training can reduce body weight – and therefore also the dangerous belly fat (visceral fat). It lies deep in the abdominal cavity, where it coats the internal organs. It is dangerous because it is an ideal breeding ground for various pro-inflammatory messenger substances. From the abdominal cavity, these can be distributed throughout the body and, in the long run, increase the risk of vascular diseases or diabetes. To reduce abdominal fat, endurance sports such as jogging, walking, swimming or cycling are particularly suitable. If you do any of these sports, exercise for at least half an hour, or better yet, a little longer. Because only then the fat burning really gets going.
Mentally fit thanks to sports
Sports have an impact on our physical fitness: when looking at physiological parameters such as cardiovascular function, sporty people appear significantly younger than their peers who do not exercise. In addition to physical fitness, however, regular exercise also has an impact on our mental fitness. On the one hand, sport is said to increase our mental performance through improved blood circulation. If the brain is better supplied with blood, it is supplied with more nutrients and more oxygen. On the other hand, the brain is also said to be rejuvenated and used more effectively again through regular athletic training. Exactly what effects regular exercise has on our brains, however, still needs to be researched.
Getting started
The inner pig is usually the biggest opponent on the way to a more active lifestyle. To overcome it, it is important that you do not overwhelm yourself with too high resolutions right at the beginning. Instead, take it easy and slow down a bit. Then it’s usually not so hard to get started. The following tips can help you get started in small steps:
- Instead of starting directly with three training units per week, you should first start with one sports unit. Put this best on the weekend, since you have more time than during the week.
- Have you become accustomed to the training, you can introduce a second training session during the week. This can, but does not have to have the same content as the training on the weekend: If you go jogging or walking on the weekend, try swimming during the week. Or perform a small gymnastics and strengthening program at home.
- Depending on your mood, you can introduce another training session in the next step or slightly extend the duration of the first two units. So you can increase piece by piece your athletic workload.
Of course, three or four at least 30-minute units per week are considered optimal. But even a slightly lower sports program is better than not moving at all. The most important thing is that you enjoy exercising – because only then will you stick with it in the long term!
