Canyon Ranch (Arizona)

Your body was built to move, and you must move it to be healthy. You know that exercise is good for you, but do you know how it benefits you?

1. Exercise prevents or slows heart disease by improving vascular reactivity-the ability of the blood vessels to readily and easily open and close as more or less blood flow is needed.

2. Regular exercise is like taking heavy-duty antioxidants. Our bodies "rust out" over time as tissues are degraded by free radicals. Exercise slows and even reverses the aging process by reducing inflammation and releasing the body's own antioxidants.

3. Exercise lowers the amount of adrenaline circulating in the body, reducing the damaging effects of stress and the propensity of blood vessels to spasm.

4. Exercise also relieves stress through physical release that relaxes the whole body and gives the mind a rest. Moving the body lifts the spirits.

5. Exercise increases lean body mass. Greater muscle mass increases metabolism and improves the ratio of "good" to "bad" cholesterol in the blood.

6. Exercise tells your body, "Burn sugar." You burn calories faster during exercise and continue to burn them faster for 24 to 30 hours after your workout.

7. Exercise helps prevent gradual loss of bone and muscle with advancing age - a process that starts between the ages of 25 and 30 in sedentary people.

8. Exercise keeps you younger at a molecular level: The telomeres on the ends of the DNA strands of regular exercisers are on average as long as those of sedentary people who are ten years younger. Shortening of telomeres appears to be one of the fundamental processes of aging.

9. Exercise improves vagus nerve tone, which is critical for heart health.

10. Exercise pumps up immunity, in part by promoting efficient circulation of the lymph, the fluid that clears infection and toxins from the body.

11. Exercise stimulates production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a substance that functions like fertilizer for brain cells.

12. Many forms of exercise get you outside, and there's no substitute for fresh air and time spent in the natural world.

13. Exercise promotes good sleep. Regular exercise alone cures many cases of insomnia. Ecclesiastes has it right: "The sleep of the laborer is sweet."

14. Exercise makes you look better. A fit body simply looks younger and more attractive.

15. Exercise is fun - ask any kid - and can be a great shared social activity.

www.canyonranch.com
(800) 742-9000