It seems like there is an endless list of benefits that come from exercise, and that list certainly does not exclude your hearing. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise can help with weight loss, prevent a cornucopia of diseases, boost your mood, boost your energy, promote better sleep and… it can be FUN! OK, so, the list doesn’t directly include hearing loss, but exercise can and will impact your hearing health in a variety of ways.
These boots were meant for walking…
We wrote about the link between female obesity and hearing loss earlier. The same study found that women who were more active had a 15% lower risk of hearing loss than those who were less active. Now before you break a hip, don’t take up any fitness regimen that your body can’t handle. The women considered more active in the study just walked at least 2 hours every week. That’s under 20 minutes per day! Women who only walked 1 hour or less each week were considered less active and did not see this benefit. So put on your walkin’ boots and get out there!
Would you like a side of hearing aids with that?
Regular exercise has been shown to prevent many diseases, the most commonly discussed being heart disease and diabetes. Obviously this is a huge benefit in and of itself, but there’s an added bonus. Many diseases, such as diabetes, come with a side helping of an increased risk of hearing loss. So, when you exercise to avoid these health issues, you’re also exercising to decrease your risk of hearing loss. Cheers to that!
Get pumped
It’s nothing new that there’s a strong link between hearing loss and depression. Well – research shows that exercise is an effective but underused treatment for mild to moderate depression. That’s because exercising causes your brain to release feel-good endorphins which automatically boost your mood. In short – exercise can help combat some unpleasant side effects of hearing loss*. So make like Hans and Franz on State Farm (or SNL) and pump that iron to pump YOU up!
The benefits of exercise are numerous, and helping your hearing is just one of many more reasons to start, RE-start, or continue living an active lifestyle. What is your favorite way to stay active? Are you resolving to exercise more this New Year? Let us know in the comments below!