We get it. You’re constantly being told that you should exercise for the sake of your health. This lifestyle recommendation is consistently placed at the top of every list—right after ‘eat healthy foods.’  When you get down to the nitty-gritty, though, it’s no wonder exercise is emphasized so much. Not getting enough physical activity comes with high costs. Costs for your health and your finances. It’s also associated with a wide range of “modern diseases”, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. So let’s have a look at the benefits of exercise.

Unfortunately, exercise isn’t a part of many people’s agenda. In the USA, only 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 high school students get the recommended levels of physical activity.^[1] This isn’t just an American problem, though. Insufficient levels of physical activity are prevalent worldwide, with almost two-thirds of adults and 80% of the young population in Europe falling short of the minimum recommended amounts of exercise.^[2]

Even worse: 

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at what exercise does for the body, which body functions it enhances, and how the menstrual cycle impacts energy levels.
We don’t have a detailed workout plan for you, but after reading this article, we hope you have some ideas about what you can do to move more and why it’s important.

While we all know that exercise promotes weight loss, it does a whole lot more than just that. It can reduce the frequency and severity of cardiovascular disease, improve strength and mobility, and even improve bone density. Plus, it helps people sleep better and longer—which in itself can lead to better health. 

Did you know?  Lack of exercise has been linked to not one, not two, but a whopping 35 chronic diseases.^[4] In fact, studies show a strong association between exercise and reduced rates of death from any cause.^[5-7] Increased physical activity has even been shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and to reduce the risk for certain types of cancer^[8].

Many women are looking to lose weight post-pregnancy or during menopause.  Physical activity can be a valuable tool to reach that goal. 

What may be new to you is that it also helps to maintain bone density and prevents osteoporosis, which hits postmenopausal women particularly hard. In fact, the prevalence of osteoporosis in women over the age of 50 years is 3–4x greater than in men^[9].

Women can notice that the energy levels for their workout correlate with the phases of their menstrual cycle. This can be explained by the changing hormone levels throughout the different menstrual phases^[10].

The cycle can be divided into 4 main phases: menstruation or early follicular phase, late follicular phase , ovulation and the luteal phase.

During the first phase, the menstruation phase, the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone levels are at their lowest. Estrogen rises gradually thoughout the follicular phase, which marks the first half of the menstrual cycle.  During that phase it may be easier to get active than in the previous weeks. During the follicular phase, the metabolism of women is very similar to men. A study showed that women in the fasted state perform better in the follicular than in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. 

In the week after the menstruation ends, the late follicular phase, estrogen and testosterone levels begin rising quickly in preparation for ovulation (releasing an egg from the ovary). This is why energy levels and perceived strength might begin to increase. 

Around the time of ovulation, estrogen levels peak. Which is about two weeks before the next period for most women.. During the luteal phase when estrogen levels fall quickly after ovulation and progesterone levels begin rising, women may feel more tired or sluggish than usual. This does not mean that they should not exercise. In fact, being active might be a great mood booster and give more energy.

In the week before the next period (late luteal phase), women’s bodies need more energy (it increases about 90-280 kcal). This higher amount of needed energy can lead to cravings and mood swings. It seems that estrogen is responsible for increasing energy intake during this phase. Well, it has been hypothesized that estrogens reduce appetite and energy intake and during the late luteal phase estrogen achieves its lower levels. On the other hand,women notice that their heart rate before their exercise will be higher during the second half of their cycle.^[11] This observation is due to the progesterone peak. It’s also likely that exercising itself feels harder. However, physical activity may help premenstrual symptoms (PMS) get better even if energy levels are low.

In other words, women may notice that their perceived energy levels, and the willingness to work out change, but the immediate benefits of physical activity should be encouraging enough to at least get some steps in.

So we talked about energy levels, but what actually happens to the body when we perform some exercise?

When we’re working out, our body adapts to the positive stress that exercise induces. Yes, exercise is stressful to our bodies. But in a positive way. This adaptation comes in many forms: While it looks like only our muscles are working, many other tissues and organs are in fact working to support them. Every person functions much like an orchestra where every instrument plays its part. 

Have you ever found yourself in a situation that you are tired after your hard day of work, even though you’ve “only been sitting” at your desk? We feel you, working out after an exhausting day, doesn’t sound very appealing, but…. Exercising more actually does give you more energy! Or if you need some energy to start the day: It has been shown that exercising first thing in the morning can be key to wake you up. 

So the next time you feel tired after work, change into your workout gear and get moving to resist the temptation of your couch.

Besides the energy boost let’s talk about some of the other benefits of physical exercise:

You may have heard, or experienced yourself, that you lose weight when working out but eating the same. Increased physical activity causes our bodies to accumulate less fat and use up more of our existing fat for energy. This is especially true when practicing moderate intensity endurance training since your heartbeat is elevated for longer periods of time. 

During short periods of activity and high-intensity exercise, muscles rely predominantly on stores of energy within themselves. But when exercise is sustained over a longer period, a larger supply of energy from outside the muscle is required. This is where the liver comes into play.

The liver and the muscles utilize a well-controlled system of communication to maintain metabolic balance during exercise. The process relies on both organs, along with the pancreas ( the organ responsible for secreting insulin) to regulate blood glucose and insulin and keep those muscles going. 

But that’s not all. It’s not only the big muscles and your blood glucose that benefit from exercise. The advantages of physical activity extend to the cardiovascular system as well, improving the function of the endothelium—a thin membrane that lines the inside of the heart and blood vessels. Exercise reduces resting blood pressure and heart rate improves blood flow, and enlarges the microvascular network as it forms new blood vessels and arteries.

When looking at your blood report you or your doctor will notice the following positive results when you are exercising more: