We’re celebrating 50 years of helping Canadians move more!
Leading an active lifestyle is not a passing trend or fad. Nor a pop-up movement or flash-in-the-pan initiative. Making physical activity a key part of your everyday routine is a fundamentally life-changing decision that actually makes all aspects of your life better.
That’s exactly why for the past 50 years ParticipACTION and its partners have been bringing an accessible, fun, and approachable voice to sharing and promoting everything that active living has to offer.
To help celebrate five decades of keeping Canada moving, we’ve put together a list of 50 of the most amazing ways engaging in physical activity can impact your life – such as boosted mood more energy, and even a better night’s sleep.
Mental
1. Better stress management (decreased cortisol and adrenaline circulating)
2. Increases resiliency
3. Decreases stress reactivity
4. Prevents the onset of depression
5. Decreases symptoms of depression
6. Decreases symptoms of anxiety
7. Better self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence
8. Boosts positive moods (endorphins, neurotransmitters)
9. Helps you relax and unwind
Cognition
(thinking and learning)
10. Overall enhanced brain function and structure (parts of brain grow in response to PA, increase neural connections created, better communication between grey and white mater of the brain)
11. Improves executive functions (staying organized and on task, prioritization, planning)
12. Prevents cognitive decline
13. Staves off dementia and Alzheimer’s
14. Better convergent (using logic; single solution) and divergent (using imagination; multiple solutions) thinking
15. Improved memory
Workplace
16. Increases productivity
17. Improves creative problem-solving and decision making
18. Better job satisfaction
19. Enhances leadership potential and ability
20. Keeps you cool under pressure
School
21. Better attention and focus
22. Better emotional regulation
23. Enhanced self-regulation
24. Score better on tests
25. Readily engage in higher-level thinking
Physical
26. Better heart health
2.7 Prevention of certain cancers (breast, colon, endometrial)
28. Prevention of type 2 diabetes
29. Stronger bones preventing osteoporosis
30. Stronger muscles
31. Reduces risk for sarcopenia (muscle loss with aging)
32. Improved balance
33. Better sleep
34. Greater physical literacy
35. Keeps you regular
36. Improves your sex game
37. Increases energy
38. Lowers blood pressure
39. Relieves physical tension
40. Decreases ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) and increases ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL)
41. Supports better posture
42. Supports better skin health
43. Better overall health-related quality of life
Family
44. Better bonding time
45. Opportunity for healthy role modeling
Community
46. Enhances social connectedness
47. Breaks down barriers
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