By David Blyweiss, M.D.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of exercise as a way to stay young, healthy and energetic. But if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, here are 6 more reasons why you should get moving:

1. It promotes better and easier sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, exercise can help ease you into slumberland. Just don’t exercise too late at night. It takes time for your heart rate to come down so if you’re doing jumping jacks and immediately expect to drift off shortly after, chances are it won’t happen.
2. It’s a quick way to blow off some steam. Pounding a punching bag, taking a run or participating in an aerobics class can help you get rid of all your aggression or frustration. The key is to find an activity you enjoy to help release stressful feelings.
3. It improves your sex life. Exercise can increase stamina and lead to a better opinion about your body. That, in turn, can lead to a more positive sex life. According to a new study, exercise may also lead to a higher sexual arousal for women and less erectile dysfunction for men.¹
4. It boosts your energy levels. Relaxing in a comfy chair with junk food and your beverage of choice may provide temporary relaxation, but if you’re not careful, you’ll pack on the pounds. Being overweight may lead to less energy, which means even doing basic things becomes a chore. Exercise can increase your energy levels, build strength and make your day-to-day tasks (i.e., grocery shopping, traveling to and from work, playing with your children) easier and less time consuming.
5. It lowers your blood pressure without medication.² Regular physical activity can help you avoid high blood pressure, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and other illnesses. Exercise will also decrease triglycerides and increase good cholesterol.
6. It enhances brain function. Two new studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine report that regular exercise protects against a decline in cognitive function.³ While more exercise will give you more protection, even a daily dose of low-intensity exercise can help keep your brain firing on all cylinders.

What’s the best way to exercise so you can make sure you’re getting all these terrific benefits? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t involve spending an hour on the treadmill three times a week. There’s a new type of exercise that’s proving to be better for young and old alike called high-intensity interval training or HIIT.

HITT involves a burst of short-term high intensity exercise followed by a recovery period. For example, after warming up for a few minutes, do a 30-second sprint—walking or running as fast as you can—followed by 3 or 4 minutes of easy walking. Repeat 4 to 6 times. The workout ends with a 3 to 4 minute cool-down.

Or sprint up a flight of stairs as fast as you can for 20 seconds eight times per week. When that becomes easy, try doing six 10-second sprints with 10 seconds of recovery between each sprint; three 20-second sprints with 20 seconds of recovery; two 30-second sprints with 30 seconds recovery; or one 60-second sprint. Do these in 4-8 mini-sessions a day, 2-3 days a week with a full day of rest in between.

I won’t kid you, starting a HIIT program is hard at first. But, regardless of the shape you’re in, your cardiorespiratory fitness will get better over time. You just have to give yourself a chance.

And the payoff is huge! Several studies have found that the benefits of HIIT are far reaching and long lasting when compared to other cardio workouts.4 Better yet, according to one of these studies, just 2.5 hours of rigorous HIIT training extends the same benefits that are found after 10.5 hours of long distance training!
That means you’ll get all 6 of the benefits I’ve already mentioned in a lot less time.

Around the age of 50, we all start to lose muscle mass and reaction speed. Over time, everyday activities like climbing stairs, recovering when we stumble, moving quickly to get out of the way or standing up from a chair become difficult. HIIT can help keep that from happening.

Just be sure to check with your doctor before starting any type of exercise program, especially if you’ve been sedentary.

What’s the best way to exercise so you can make sure you’re getting all these terrific benefits? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t involve spending an hour on the treadmill three times a week. There’s a new type of exercise that’s proving to be better for young and old alike called high-intensity interval training or HIIT.

HITT involves a burst of short-term high intensity exercise followed by a recovery period. For example, after warming up for a few minutes, do a 30-second sprint—walking or running as fast as you can—followed by 3 or 4 minutes of easy walking. Repeat 4 to 6 times. The workout ends with a 3 to 4 minute cool-down.

Or sprint up a flight of stairs as fast as you can for 20 seconds eight times per week. When that becomes easy, try doing six 10-second sprints with 10 seconds of recovery between each sprint; three 20-second sprints with 20 seconds of recovery; two 30-second sprints with 30 seconds recovery; or one 60-second sprint. Do these in 4-8 mini-sessions a day, 2-3 days a week with a full day of rest in between.

I won’t kid you, starting a HIIT program is hard at first. But, regardless of the shape you’re in, your cardiorespiratory fitness will get better over time. You just have to give yourself a chance.

And the payoff is huge! Several studies have found that the benefits of HIIT are far reaching and long lasting when compared to other cardio workouts.4 Better yet, according to one of these studies, just 2.5 hours of rigorous HIIT training extends the same benefits that are found after 10.5 hours of long distance training!

That means you’ll get all 6 of the benefits I’ve already mentioned in a lot less time.

Around the age of 50, we all start to lose muscle mass and reaction speed. Over time, everyday activities like climbing stairs, recovering when we stumble, moving quickly to get out of the way or standing up from a chair become difficult. HIIT can help keep that from happening.

Just be sure to check with your doctor before starting any type of exercise program, especially if you’ve been sedentary

References:

1. Maio G. Physical activity and PDE5 inhibitors in the treatment of erectile dysfunction: results of a randomized controlled study. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2010;7:2201-2208.
2. Staffileno BA. Blood pressure responses to lifestyle physical activity among young, hypertension-prone African-American women. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 2007;22:107-117.
3. Middleton LE. Activity energy expenditure and incident cognitive impairment in older adults. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2011; 171:1251-1257.
4. Zuniga JM. Physiological responses during interval training with different intensities and duration of exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011;25:1279-1284