One of the huge benefits that we don’t necessarily put to the face of exercise and fitness is the fact that it increases the quality of our blood circulation in our body. Sure, this benefit is lumped in with other benefits like the fact that it helps protect against heart disease and even stroke, both of which are linked to poor circulation and blood flow, but we don’t often think of it as a “standalone” benefit of exercise – particularly cardio exercise, like we should. Circulation is what gets your blood going to the different parts of your body, right down to your finger tips and extremities, which often will get cold if you have poor circulation.

I’ve had this problem my whole life, and I’ve noticed that it gets worse when I go on longer jaunts without working out, because working out definitely improves this circulation of blood to my extreme body parts like my fingers and my feet and toes. But the circulation of blood isn’t just important to keep you warm, it’s also important because blood carries oxygen to all your major organs, including your heart and your brain, and if that circulation is compromised you can end up with serious problems in both organs. So, you can see why good circulation is crucial to maintaining the health of your body and your mind.

Because blood carries oxygen to the brain, it may also improve your focus and your mental stamina, so it’s wise to exercise to keep your mind sharp as well. As with noticing my circulation improvement to my extremities, I also notice that working out a lot makes me a more focused person, and I’m able to complete mental tasks and memory tasks much more easily. Not to mention my energy levels increase dramatically since my blood is carrying oxygen everywhere it needs to go where it can be utilized for further breaking down into energy.

If you are concerned with increasing your circulation, give yourself a double whammy of exercise for circulation improvement and do cardio and also get yourself a good yoga DVD. Yoga not only helps to stretch the muscles out, it also helps to oxygenate them by improving circulation and carrying blood to areas that don’t get enough of it, which increases your energy and helps to get the blood flowing everywhere in the body.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 at 10:22 am and is filed under Fitness Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.