There are many misconceptions about exercise and its effect upon the head. ‘Exercise is harmful’. Nonsense. There is no evidence to support this contention. There is a large body of opinion which holds that exercise, appropriate to age and physical condition, continued through your life span will help to reduce the possibility of heart and blood vessel disease.
Exercise, in mild form of course, is recommended as part of the recuperative phase in cases of heart or coronary disease. Evidence is also on hand that indicates exercise is beneficial to the function of the cardiovascular system.
A healthy heart can obtain many benefits from a good exercise program. Research has shown that the heart of a trained person has a smaller acceleration of pulse rate under stress. and that it returns more rapidly to its normal rate afterwards than that of an untrained person; that it pumps more blood per beat at rest, and that it can pump more during exercise; that it has more richly developed small blood vessels supplying the heart muscle and that it functions more efficiently. An efficient cardiovascular system means a better supply of food and oxygen to the muscles (as blood is the carrier of these items) and a quicker recuperation after exertion, be it work, play, or exercise.
A cautionary note: persons over thirty-five years of age, and anyone who suspects that they may have something wrong with their heart, should have a thorough medical examination before engaging in a vigorous exercise program. Experts have noted that a heart already injured by disease will suffer extra abuse through extreme forms of exercise. Sudden violent exertion after a period of inactivity is to be avoided.
How does one de-stress while breathless on the extremities diverts the mental stress to the physical action and actually creates alpha waves in the brain that generate a calm state of mind.
As you continue to work the cardiovascular system, the endorphins released vice you the elevated mood improved moral. When this is repeated frequently enough, you start to look forward to that very activity that causes the “high”. It feels great when it’s completed and the results are indisputable. This is reason enough to keep at exercise.
