Over the past few decades, movement and exercise have often been sold to us as a punishment for what we ate, as a method to create a certain physique, and as a practice of exhausting yourself. We believe, and science shows, that there are many more reasons to move your body that don’t pull on self shaming, or require you to deplete or exhaust yourself. Yes, it is helpful to build resilience through testing your limits from time to time, but we can also choose to move our bodies because it feels good, and leaves us feeling good for many years to come. 

Here are 4 reasons why you should move your body every day that don’t involve aesthetics:

1. Our lymphatic system is a part of our immune system and it supports with removing waste from the body in the form of lymph fluid. Our muscles support in moving this lymph fluid so that the body can get rid of it. Think of the lymph fluid like the sewage of the body. If we don’t move our body, the sewage sticks around. Exercising and movement aids us to remove the sewage from our bodies. If it is not removed, it has the potential to have a negative impact. We move to support our lymphatic systems.

2. Many of your connective tissues, like your ligaments, and the tissues around your joints, do not receive direct blood flow. This means that the only way those tissues can get rid of waste or bring in new nutrients is through diffusion. When we move our joints pressure is put onto the tissues surrounding and the joint itself. The pressure applied to the tissues helps diffuse waste out of the tissues. When the pressure is released, new fluid is drawn in, which includes water and nutrients. This is one of the reasons why we also work to move our joints through their full range of motion. We move so that our connective tissues without direct blood flow receive the nourishment they need.

3. The old saying is true… if you don’t use it you lose it. Our body is efficient. It will not maintain processes or tissues we don’t use. When we stop exercising, our body will not maintain our muscle tone or our mechanoreceptors for long. Mechanoreceptors are receptors around our joints and in our tissues that help us to sense touch, vibration, pressure, and more. They are part of our proprioceptive system meaning that they help us to understand where we are in space. When the body decides that we are no longer in need of these receptors it can reduce our range of motion at the joint or in the tissue and reduce our ability to sense where we are in space. We move so that we can maintain our spatial awareness, mechanoreceptors, and range of motion.

4. Movement and exercise aids us in metabolizing stress hormones. We have to admit that daily life comes with many stressors in our modern world. Our stress response causes a cascade of processes that release a concoction of hormones into our bloodstream, including adrenaline, cortisol, and more. If we live in a constant state of stress then these hormones stick around in our bloodstream and leave us feeling extra anxious. When we exercise, we aid our body in metabolizing these hormones so they don’t linger. We move so we can metabolize hormones we no longer need.

There are many ways to get your body moving. Going for a walk, running around the yard with your kids, practicing yoga, dancing in the kitchen, doing mobility work, strength training, swimming, etc…. the list of options is endless. We hope this encourages you to move you body more regularly to support your lymphatic and immune system, to nourish your connective tissues, to maintain your spatial awareness and range of motion, and to metabolize stress hormones. You will feel better because of it!