What Happens to Our Body When We Do Not Exercise?
Have you ever wondered what if you gave in to laziness and stopped working out? Let's find out! Keep scrolling.
What happens to your health if you stop exercising?
Exercising regularly and staying in shape will keep you healthy and maintain your body's function. A healthy individual should also exercise for 45-50 minutes regularly at a moderate intensity.
Effects of not exercising or being physically active
It is certainly true that there are some lifestyle choices (such as drinking, smoking, eating junk food) that can be detrimental to our health, but not moving a muscle throughout can also be harmful.
Even though we speak and vouch for the benefits of regular exercise, we often forget that inactivity can be just as harmful, or even life-threatening. Let's look at one example. Despite studies finding regular, brisk exercise delays the aging process, not meeting the required level of physical activity can accelerate your risk of premature death, and causes more deaths globally than tobacco consumption or diabetes, according to a study published in The Lancet. While skipping a day or two of exercise (or even a week) won't do much harm to your body, there are a lot of graver risks if you go for longer periods without moving. Following are five such things that can happen if you don't exercise regularly or remain physically active:
Your heart becomes less efficient
Exercise keeps the heart active and pumping.
Regular aerobic and cardio exercise is associated with a lower risk of heart disease and a good heart rate. If you don't exercise or go a long time without any form of physical activity, you may experience your heart working poorly and have it affected your daily life. When you get a disturbed heart rate, you can experience shortness of breath, and coupled with a poor dietary regimen, you are more likely to suffer from heart issues and high cholesterol levels.
Your muscles weaken down
Exercise helps keep muscles in good shape and strengthens them. If you do not exercise or move around, you not only undo all the progress you've already made, but you can also lose your muscle strength and feel a lot weaker. In other words, your muscles weaken and you lose out on the bulk of your muscles that facilitate breathing and movement.
Picking up simple weights can seem difficult, and muscle function may not be as active or beneficial as before. You may also find it difficult to perform everyday tasks and activities if your muscles are weak.
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You can struggle to get a good night's sleep
Exercise plays a significant role in promoting good sleep, and if you're not getting enough sleep or exercising, you're putting yourself at risk of poor health. When you work out intensely and retire to bed tired after a brisk run, you're more likely to get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling energized. Exercise plays a vital role in facilitating sleep. Additionally, when you don't move around or stretch those muscles, you risk a bad night's sleep. Exercise is not only a great stress buster and sleep inducer, but not getting enough sleep can mean you are skipping physical activity for the day.
Moreover, poor sleep quality (and fewer hours) has also been linked to several metabolic and hormonal problems, including diabetes risk, weight gain, and poor mental health.
You lose out on endurance
Exercise increases stamina and endurance. In addition, if you do not exercise at all, you are at great risk of undoing all the gains and becoming relatively weaker, very soon. For your age, endurance is a key measure of fitness and health.
In a study related to this, they examined kayakers' endurance levels over time. When VO2 levels (the amount of oxygen expended during intense exercise) were compared to an only basic exercise, a whopping 11.2% drop was observed. When physical activity levels are lower, the drop may be even greater.
Your blood sugar levels get disrupted
We live in a country where type-2 diabetes is a major risk factor. It is a metabolic disorder characterized by a range of symptoms, but one of the changes that can disrupt blood sugar functioning is a lack of physical activity. I agree. Doing little to no exercise can significantly alter how your body processes carbohydrates, causing blood sugar levels to rise, inflammation levels to rise, and make you more susceptible to obesity.