Exercise isn’t just good for your health; it’s also one of the most powerful tools available to help you lose weight. In fact, according to research published in the journal Obesity, people who exercised regularly lost more weight than those who dieted without exercise or exercised with dieting. And while some people think they have to sign up for a gym membership or spend hours at the gym every day in order to get fit and lose weight, there are actually several ways you can get moving right now—without breaking a sweat!
You burn calories when you move your body. Exercise increases the amount of energy (calories) you burn, which can help you lose weight. When you exercise, your muscles work harder than usual and need more oxygen to keep up with the demand for energy. This causes an increase in heart rate and blood flow throughout the body. The increased circulation also means that more fat is broken down into fatty acids for fuel during exercise, even after you’ve finished working out!
One of the biggest benefits of exercising is that it helps you build muscle mass, which increases your metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat does, so building more muscle will help you lose weight faster and keep it off for good. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue; in other words, it uses energy even when we are resting or sleeping. The more muscle you have on your body (and therefore the higher percentage of lean mass), the higher your metabolic rate will be–even when you’re not moving around!
The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be. Your body burns more calories to maintain a pound of muscle than it does to maintain a pound of fat. In fact, you burn about 10% more calories per pound of muscle than fat. In addition to helping you lose weight faster by burning more calories at rest, building muscle also helps boost your metabolism during exercise–so even if you don’t change anything else about your routine (and we hope that doesn’t happen), just adding strength training can make all the difference when it comes time for those last few pounds!
As you build muscle, your body becomes more efficient at using calories. This is because your metabolism increases and you burn more calories even when resting. When you have more muscle mass, it also means that the amount of fat on your body decreases. The benefits don’t stop there though! Stronger muscles improve overall body composition (the ratio of fat to lean tissue), which can help prevent osteoporosis and reduce the risk for heart disease or diabetes by lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels
Regular exercise helps regulate appetite so that you don’t feel as hungry during the day and are less likely to snack between meals. When you exercise, your body releases hormones called catecholamines (adrenaline) and serotonin that make you feel full and satisfied. This can help control how much food you eat at each meal, which in turn helps decrease overall calorie intake. You may also find yourself eating less because of the health benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle–you want to keep up with your workout routine! So try incorporating exercise into your daily routine as often as possible; even if it’s only 15 minutes every other day or three times per week at first (which is all it takes), this will help jumpstart positive changes in both body composition and mood!
So there you have it: five reasons why exercise is one of the best weight loss tools available. It’s not just about burning calories; regular exercise helps improve your overall health and fitness level, so that even when you’re not exercising at all, your body will continue to burn more calories than usual. Exercise also regulates appetite so that you don’t feel as hungry during the day, making it easier to stick with your diet goals!