What Happens to Your Body After Just One Workout?

Regular exercise is the cornerstone of good health, a healthy weight, and disease prevention. The Centers for Disease Control recommends 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise most days of the week, but while improved health is the result of consistent exercise, just one workout affects you right away, and the benefits are countless. If just one workout can produce these results, imagine what working out most days will do for you!

1. It Improves Your Mood. Exercise improves your mood and can dramatically improve the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders. Countless studies have shown that even just a few minutes of exercise releases numerous neurotransmitters that make you feel good. The most well-known of these are endorphins and serotonin. Endorphins have been shown to cause the feeling of a "runner's high," which makes you want to continue exercising. Serotonin is linked directly to reducing depression.
2. It Helps You Focus. Exercise also benefits your brain by improving your focus. When you move your body, blood flow to your brain increases and helps kick your brain cells into high gear. This makes you feel much more alert during your workout, and the clarity and focus benefits you for hours afterwards. Just ten minutes of moderate exercise will kick your brain into high gear, so if you tend to feel sluggish and slow at work, a brisk morning walk will whip those brain cells into shape for the day.
3. It Reduces Stress. After just one workout, you will experience much lower levels of stress. And in fact, exercise is recommended by medical professionals as the number one way to relieve stress. The combination of the extra blood moving through your brain and the release of endorphins reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and makes you feel less stressed out in general.
4. It Lowers Your Risk of Diabetes. Any exercise you perform — whether the recommended amount or far less — causes subtle changes in the way that fat is metabolized in your muscles, which improves insulin sensitivity. Insulin insensitivity means that the insulin produced by your liver to lower blood sugar levels isn't doing its job properly. If you have risk factors for diabetes, exercising most days of the week can dramatically reduce your chances of developing it.
5. It Changes Your DNA. Surprisingly, even just a few minutes of exercise can change your DNA in a good way. Working out actually alters the genetic material in your muscle cells and may help lower your risk of developing diseases for which you have a genetic disposition.
6. It Improves Sleep. Exercise helps you fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep during the night, and it improves the quality of your sleep. If you suffer from insomnia or tend to wake up frequently at night, getting some exercise within four hours of bedtime can help you get the quality zzzzzz's you need.