One surprising aspect of fitness after 50 is how it affects your endocrine system. It is the organ system in your body that produces and regulates the hormones in your bloodstream. Hormones are chemical messengers that alert other vital organs when activating or disabling their functions to keep your body functioning optimally. Just as a thermostat signifies your heating and air conditioning system when it is on and off, so is your body. If you have menopause, you feel the importance of controlling your hormones every time you get a hot flash. So what can you do instead of stripping and throwing away your ice bucket?
First I will explain in plain English - without medical jargon to show. Instead I want to show you how and what you can do to get your hormones.
The pituitary gland in the brain produces growth hormone (GH) and production increases during aerobic exercise. This is important for muscle tone and bone density and also helps strengthen the tendons, cartilage and ligaments that literally hold you together. So if you have a mood swings that even chocolate can't fix and someone says, "Get it together," if you exercise, you can proudly say, "I'm fine, thank you."
Growth hormones also provide fat deposits for use as fuel rather than blood glucose that help you stay lean during exercise, which is also why exercise is important for people with diabetes and why it helps to keep your metabolism running during menopause.
You may have heard that the more you practice, the easier it is or less painful. The pituitary gland also produces endorphins. This is one of my favorites as it sends chemical signals to the brain to reduce anxiety, tension, reduce your appetite, suppress pain and give you a sense of excitement known as a "high runner" where you can exercise for longer with less. pain. Now you don't have to be a runner to experience this. The increased sensitivity to endorphins can be achieved if you have been living for several months as they repeatedly stay in your blood for a longer period of time causing "high runners" to last longer. Good thing.
Testosterone is produced in both sexes, in the female ovaries and in the male testis. Women have about a tenth of men but they still affect your metabolism by burning fat during exercise along with increased muscle strength and tone, and produce a sense of confidence. When you are healthy and strong, you feel good! Testosterone can remain in the bloodstream for up to three hours after exercise. In women, it can also benefit orgasm elasticity and that's not a bad thing.
This is another reason to exercise. Another hormone that helps break down unwanted body fat is estrogen. It improves your metabolism (burns fat as fuel), increases your libido and mood. Ovaries produce less than menopause but exercise can increase your blood pressure for four hours after exercise so you feel sexier and happier. Now it's better than valium and has far better side effects than any anti-depressant.
The thyroid gland produces thyroxine which again increases your metabolism in almost every cell in your body. This increase promotes the feeling of being more energetic, burning more calories which promotes weight loss. You get about 30% more thyroxine in the blood during exercise and it lasts for several hours afterwards. The longer and harder you exercise the longer it flows through the blood even when resting. You can literally burn fat stores long after exercising.
The adrenal medulla produces epinephrine (adrenaline) whose main purpose is to signal the heart to pump harder and also direct blood flow to the muscles that work using the fat stored in those muscles as fuel / energy. Although these chemicals flow through your bloodstream, they also activate the breakdown of carbohydrates (glycogen) in the liver and muscle. The higher the time and intensity of exercise the more epinephrin is released into the blood. But more is not always better. If you don't exercise for a while, it's a good idea to start with a beginner's fat burning program and an acceptable progression to prevent injury.
The human body is an incredible biological machine that is not programmed because it responds to the input we decided to put it on. If you sit down and eat, it reacts by weakening, fattening and damaging. If you exercise and eat nutritious foods it strengthens, tones and fights disease and disease. You finally decide how your body responds to your lifestyle. Exercising on a regular basis causes the body to respond to chemical signals that strengthen cells, burn fat and increase blood flow to all organs responsible for better body function and health. If you're not exercising, it's time to adjust your schedule.
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