You hear it all the time, “exercise is good for you.” But how does pushing your body help you exactly? How does exercise help your energy and mood? Well, here, you can get the answers to those very good questions.

Helping the Body and Mind

How does exercising help your energy levels even though you are expending energy to exercise? Well, it is rather simple. First, the body is full of various chemicals. When you exercise, feel-good chemicals are released into your body. While it does not seem like it in the moment, especially when you are out of shape, but your body is improving until you get into a routine. Your body is conditioned for it.

Not to mention exercise helps your body sleep, not only wearing you out, but giving your body an outlet. It is a cycle that exercise is meant to create. You exercise regularly, you sleep better and feel better, thereby, having higher energy levels.

The best part of exercising is, of course, the weight loss. This is a double-whammy reward. First, you have the opportunity to lose weight. How much you want to lose is entirely up to you. You are not expected to burn off tons of weight, no. Instead, if you are feeling self-conscious about a few pounds you might have gained over the winter, then start on your own regiment that burns those extra calories. You will feel better without it and feel more confident. And hey, if you do lose the weight, it was all you! You should definitely feel good about it.

Where to Start?

If you are looking to start on a workout regiment, stop at sports stores for your needs. Sports stores tend to have quite a selection of gym equipment, considering sports stores are all about sports (obviously) and being in shape is, arguably, integral to playing. Exercise, in general, can be reduced to two kinds: cardio and strength, as does the equipment. That comes straight from the Cleveland Clinic.

Strength is, of course, all about improving one’s muscles. Strangely enough, when you strength train, you muscles are actually being “damaged.” Think of it like this, when a bone breaks and heals, that point of fracture actually thickens to improve the strength of the bone. For muscles, it is not any different: your muscle fibers heal and form new muscles, thickening in the process. If you strength train, do not lift, pull–anything–that is too much for your body to handle. Instead, strength training is all about pushing boundaries little by little.

Cardio training is improving one’s endurance, how long you can do an activity before you run out of breath and can’t push yourself any further. Distance runners have excellent endurance, in fact, that is the reason they are “distance” runners. And improving cardio takes very little time out of one’s day. In fact, if you spend as little as 30 minutes a day running or even walking–anything that involves cardio–then you already improved your cardiovascular health.

If you need a little encouragement, try out music. It has be known for improving your performance by at least 15 percent.