What if we told you there was a single thing you could do today that would help you maintain a healthy weight, lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, a host of cancers, improve your sleep, strengthen your bones and muscles AND promote good mental health, energy and focus?

My friends, exercise can do it all and more! Here’s why a little movement is actually a wonder drug we should all be taking every day. 

Weight maintainer 

Scientists reckon that in addition to poor diet, inactivity is a major contributor to the overweight and obesity epidemic worldwide. 

Fact is, regular movement can help us burn the energy we take in from food, increase our metabolic rate (that is, the amount energy our body needs to keep functioning at rest) and maintain good muscle mass. These are all super important factors in maintaining a healthy weight and minimising our visceral fat (the stuff that builds up around our internal organs). 

Heart disease stopper 

Regular exercise strengthens our heart and improves circulation, which in turn raises the oxygen levels in your body. Moving more has also been linked to lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels. This helps lower your risk of high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke – some of the most common killers worldwide today.  

Sleep improver

Finding it hard to get quality shuteye? Exercise can help with that! Countless studies have linked regular movement to more restorative sleep, reduced sleep latency (that’s the amount of time it takes to fall asleep), and more energy the next day. 

Insulin leveller 

Exercise can help keep your insulin – the hormone that maintains your blood sugar levels – working at its best, which reduces your risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Plus, if you already have one of those diseases, exercise can really help to manage it!

Mind and mood booster 

Exercise stimulates the body to release a bunch of stuff that can improve the structure and function of our brains. This helps to keep our learning, thinking, planning and judging skills in tip top shape, and can also work as a mood booster, providing a protective factor against anxiety and depression. 

Bone strengthener

Turns out, our bones get stronger the more we use them! Regular exercise provides an important barrier against the natural bone density loss that occurs as we age, which can help us avoid osteoporosis, fractures and falls in our twilight years. 

Cancer killer 

If that wasn’t enough, exercise has also been strongly linked to a lower risk of bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, oesophageal, kidney, stomach and lung cancers.

There’s also promising research around certain cancers of the blood, as well as those of the pancreas, prostate, ovaries, thyroid, liver, and rectum.

Is it time you moved your body today?!