Page 45 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

2. Boost circulation
When you exercise, your working muscles produce chemicals that leave the muscle cells and dilate (widen) tiny capillaries (blood vessels). This makes it easier for blood to reach your body and brain cells, bringing more nourishing oxygen-rich blood to your cells. Another beneit of better circulation is that you’ll nourish your internal organs. So you feel good on the inside – and on the outside, too!
One of the reasons is that exercise boosts the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers and feel- good chemicals, which helps to boost your mood.3 And as regular exercise helps to tone and shape your body, you’ll have another reason to feel good!
So go on, get moving!
This health information is brought to you by the health and wellbeing team at rt health fund, who can be contacted on 1300 767 388 or visit www.rthealthfund.com.au/etu.
People who exercise regularly experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who do not exercise regularly.
Black Dog Institute
5. Tone up the right places
Everyone has target areas they’d like to tackle. Aerobic exercise blasts fat from all of you, but you can target your problem areas. Fat from around the exercising muscle is used for energy as the muscle grows, enabling you to trim down and irm up trouble areas.
Lifting weights can really help
to tone up! Aim for strengthening exercises with weights at least twice per week for up to 30 minutes, to slowly build up your body’s muscle.
If you haven’t exercised for some time, speak with your doctor irst and get the help of a qualiied personal trainer who can ensure you get your technique, posture and balance right.
Your posture is about the way various parts of your body align in relation to one another. Good posture can help to prevent fatigue, headaches and
chronic muscular tension. Perfecting your posture can
also help to boost circulation,
aid digestion and may help
you sleep more soundly.
For good balance, you have
to be able to control a number of muscles in order to prevent falls, which may help prevent injuries as you age.
6. Feel good about you!
Australia’s Black Dog Institute says, “Numerous studies have shown that people who exercise regularly experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who do not exercise regularly. Several trials have shown that regular exercise of moderate intensity can be an efective treatment by itself for mild-to- moderate depression.”2
3. Support the muscles that support your joints
Exercise helps to build strong bones and maintain strength and lexibility. Strength and lexibility is important at every stage of your life but especially as you get older.
4. Shape up!
Ever heard that if you build lots of muscle that it will turn to fat if you don’t exercise as much? Not true. Muscle and fat are two completely diferent tissues so it’s not possible to replace one with the other. But you can build muscle and reduce body fat with weight training and strengthening exercises. Muscle burns more kilojoules than fat because it needs a lot more fuel
to simply exist compared with
fat, which is a storage material. Exercising helps your body use up fat stores and gives a sleeker shape. That’s because muscle and fat take up a diferent amount of space in your body.
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THE ETU > SUMMER 2016
45