Whether the message is coming from your doctor’s office or public service announcements flashing across your television screen, we are constantly being made aware of the reality that in order to live healthy lives, regular exercise is a must. However, the arguments for doing so go far beyond what many of us take time to consider. Exercise is not merely a tool for losing weight or another method aimed at improving one’s appearance. While we all know regular exercise that serves to increase one’s heart rate and burn calories can do such things, researchers, scientists and health care professionals are letting us know exercise can do so much more to enhance our lives. Firstly exercise, as defined by regular physical activity that serves to elevate the heart rate for 30 minutes, can help to prevent high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, type II diabetes, and a variety of other disorders and diseases. These diseases are of particular significance since they are chronic diseases that often come to adversely shape the lives of individuals diagnosed with one or a few of them. Researchers have found that regular exercise can also improve both one’s sleep and energy level. A better night’s sleep enables you to better concentrate during the day, increasing your productivity. Additionally, exercise can serve to boost energy levels via mechanisms that increase the efficiency of our bloods circulation, allowing our bodies to more readily expend energy on what it is we need to do in our daily lives. These findings also lead us to another particularly important benefit of regular exercise: mood enhancement. Studies have shown that physical activity serves to improve overall mood via mechanisms in the brain that allow us to feel happier and more content after working out. An improved mood can serve to increase the amount of happiness and joy we experience on a day to day basis with our family, friends and coworkers. The research has made it clear the benefits of exercise extend far beyond the parameters of weight loss and general change in appearance. Regular physical activity can literally change the way we experience our daily lives and the world around us. We have 24 hours in one day. In that single day, there are 1,440 minutes. All it takes is 30 of those minutes, five times a week, to make a change. You can bike, walk, swim or whatever you prefer. What’s important is to find what is most fitting for you and stick with it. Your new life is waiting.