Move a muscle and you can change a thought. Repeatedly move your muscles and you can change your thoughts, your outlook, your body's fitness level, shape and overall health. Aerobic exercise comes with many benefits that you can reap in as few as 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per day.
Weight
Aerobic exercise can help maintain or lose weight, as long as you keep your caloric consumption equal to or less than you burn off. If you make aerobic exercise and a healthy diet part of your regular lifestyle, you also can keep off the weight going forward. The number of calories you burn depends on the intensity and duration of your workout as well as your own weight. A low-impact aerobic activity such as walking, for instance, burns 183 calories per hour if you walk at 2 mph and weigh 160 lbs. Increase your pace to 3.5 mph and you burn 277 calories in that same hour. Break into an 8-mph run for an hour and you burn 986 calories.
Energy
Although you might initially feel beat after an aerobic workout, in the grand scheme of things aerobic exercise can increase your overall stamina and fight fatigue. Because you are moving for an extended period, aerobic exercise improves your cardiovascular and respiratory systems' performance. Your heart and lungs end up working more effectively and efficiently as they get stronger through regular aerobic workouts. This means your muscles receive more blood and more oxygen in that blood, as well as improved capabilities to use that oxygen.
Mental Health
Your mind gets a boost from aerobic exercise because it can increase your body's endorphins, the feel-good chemicals that leave you flying high after a workout. A regular exercise program can extend the boost even further by taking your mind off brooding thoughts and getting you out and about rather than in and watching TV. Your body's new toned and firmer shape also can increase your confidence and self-esteem.
Disease and Death
Fighting off disease and deterring death are two more aerobic exercise advantages. Aerobic exercise can help you live longer than you would with a sedentary lifestyle, MayoClinic.com says. Aerobic exercise gives your immune system a boost, which staves off viruses such as influenza and the common cold. Regular aerobic exercise lowers your risk of diseases and medical conditions such as high blood pressure, certain cancer types, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity with its many related ailments.
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