Everyone knows that staying physically active is good for your body. However, were you aware that it also significantly impacts your hormonal balance? Getting enough exercise helps keep your hormone levels where they should be, which affects your bodily functions such as metabolism, mood regulation and reproductive health.
Your Body’s Key Hormones
More than 50 hormones are at work in your body, and each one plays a vital role in your biological functions. Today, however, we will focus closely on four specific hormones: Estrogen, progesterone, HGH and cortisol.
Estrogen
Estrogen is rightfully equated with a woman’s reproductive health. It does a lot more than that, though. For instance, it prevents calcium loss, which helps promote strong bones. Other important health benefits of estrogen include:
- Brain health – Mitochondrial function, aerobic glycolysis and regulation of glucose transport.
- Metabolism – Protects against adiposity, type II diabetes and insulin resistance. It also regulates your body’s expenditure and energy intake.
- Cholesterol – Increases good HDL cholesterol and reduces bad LDL cholesterol.
- Mood – This is thought to impact mood regulation, PMDD, and PMS.
- Heart health – Raising HDL cholesterol can help protect you from heart disease.
Progesterone
Without progesterone, it would be impossible for women to get through the early stages of pregnancy. Furthermore, this hormone supports a healthy menstruation process. Other functions of progesterone include:
- Boosting your mood.
- Supporting lactation.
- Creating a thicker uterus lining for conception.
- Supporting thyroid function.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
The levels of HGH in your body are produced by a pea-sized pituitary gland that is located at the base of the brain. Something so small might seem insignificant, but nothing could be further from the truth. HGH helps promote:
- Muscle tone.
- Recovery process.
- Boosted metabolism.
The bad news is that HGH begins to decline with age. Fortunately, you can help your body create enough human growth hormones by engaging in regular physical activity. In return, you’ll have a more youthful and vibrant body. If you exercise regularly and still have HGH deficiency, you can consult a doctor and get a prescription for synthetic injections. Additional benefits of maintaining proper levels of HGH for women include:
- Boosted immune system.
- Increased libido.
- Increased kidney function.
- Reduced blood pressure.
- Reduced body fat.
- Boosted bone strength and density.
Cortisol
Finally, we come to cortisol, better known as the stress hormone. Of course, referring to cortisol as a hormone that merely regulates stress does it a disservice. Instead, it plays a vital role in almost every aspect of your body’s tissues and organs. Maintaining correct levels of cortisol helps promote:
- Proper regulation of blood pressure.
- Keeping your metabolism working properly.
- Keeping inflammation at bay.
- Proper regulation of blood sugar.
- Controlling your sleep-wake cycle.
- Proper regulation of your body’s stress response.
How Does Regular Physical Activity Help Me?
To stay healthy and have the proper levels of hormones in your body, it’s necessary to spend 150 minutes per week performing moderate exercise. There is a wide variety of workouts you can try, such as:
- Brisk walking.
- Swimming.
- Gardening.
- Cycling.
- Jogging.
- Dancing.
- Water aerobics.
Working out offers several health benefits and simply makes you feel better. To ensure you’re helping yourself as much as possible, be sure to check whether or not you can sing. Once you’ve achieved moderate exercise, you should still be able to talk, but singing should be out of reach.
Benefits of Regular Physical Activity
Exercise is one of the best ways to keep your body working properly. Without it, your body’s hormones can get out of whack, impacting your mood, energy levels, and much more. Prime benefits of exercising include:
- Enhanced mood.
- Improved sleep quality.
- Boosted energy levels.
- Weight management.
- Disease prevention.
- Improved social bonds.
- Boosted sexual health.
- Stronger joints, muscles and bones.
People who live a sedentary lifestyle put their physical and mental health at risk. They have a much greater chance of being overweight, suffering from cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and certain types of cancer, having weak bones, falling and even premature death.
Did you know that approximately 110,000 deaths could be prevented annually by working out for at least 10 minutes daily? Studies have shown that people below the age of 60 need to take at least 8,000 steps per day to maintain proper health. If you’re over 60, it drops to a minimum of 6,000 daily steps.
Movement Equals Life
As you can see, ensuring you move regularly can make the difference between battling a debilitating disease and having a healthy existence. If you can’t commit to working out for 150 minutes weekly, put in as much time as possible. Again, even 70 minutes weekly helps reduce your risk of dying prematurely. Also, if you have an issue such as HGH deficiency, be sure to talk to a specialist about getting a prescription for HGH for women.