5 Exercises That Help to Strengthen Your Gut to Benefit Your Health
6 minute read
Promoting gut health is not a new concept. With the discovery that gut health is related to overall health and the importance of probiotics, caring for your gut should be very much on your to-do list.
The bacteria living in your gut help to regulate your immune system, digestive system, and your mental health, so it’s essential to keep them happy. Beyond probiotics, you can now give your gut a physical workout to help strengthen the gut community too.
Exercising for Your Gut
Studies have found recently that cardiovascular exercise not only helps your heart, but it boosts the strength of your gut bacteria too. By monitoring exercise, diet, and analyzing bacteria strains in bowel samples, researchers were able to find that exercise benefits the health of your gut.
Individuals with the highest cardiovascular performance had a higher count of Firmicutes in their gut. These bacteria are especially useful for preventing leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut syndrome is caused by stress, food allergies, and inflammation, and it leaves small holes in your intestinal wall. As a result, undigested food and other harmful particles can get through the gut wall and enter the bloodstream.
The danger in this lies in the traveling particles in your blood, which triggers negative immune responses and inflammation. Chronic inflammation can cause a host of diseases that include diabetes, Alzheimer's, and autoimmune disorders.
After six weeks of exercise, individuals with frequent digestive troubles were found to have different gut bacterial composition. They also were found to have increased fatty-acid production as a result of more beneficial bacteria being present.
Fatty acids are essential for reducing inflammation in the body as well as preventing diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Studies also show that the bacterial community changed again if the person became sedentary.
It’s important to note that developing an exercise routine is important for gut health. The gut environment can easily change based on your diet and lifestyle, and returning to an inactive routine will reverse any benefits the exercise did.
In addition to promoting gut health, regular exercise reduces the risk of obesity and can help you maintain a healthy weight.
The Best Exercises for Gut Health
When it comes to choosing exercises for your gut, you can never go wrong with cardiovascular workouts. In addition to this, certain exercises work to specifically promote digestive health and get rid of unwanted belly fat.
Removing belly fat is important to your gut bacterial community because fat causes inflammation. Inflammation can damage gut health and cause an imbalance in the microbiome, allowing for more frequent health issues.
The best exercises for your gut, both inside and out, are discussed below.
1. Brisk Walking
Walking is one of the easiest exercises to fit into your routine. Taking a brisk walk in the morning, during a break at work, or in the evening will do wonders for your gut.
Be sure to walk for at least thirty minutes to get the most digestive benefits. Not only will your gut microbes be happy, but walking helps to regulate bowel contractions and will keep you regular.
2. Cycling
Riding a bike is a great way to burn belly fat and promote digestive health. Cycling is gentle on your stomach and has the ability to smooth out digestive functions leading to more optimal digestion.
3. Crunches
Because crunches focus on the abdominal area, they are a good choice for promoting gut health. There are different varieties so you can switch up your routine to prevent boredom. Try long arm crunches, vertical leg crunches, and reverse crunches for optimal gut health.
Crunches of all types strengthen your abdominal muscles, and they remove belly fat, which can cause inflammation. Reducing inflammation means your gut can function more efficiently, and you can prevent common digestive issues like gas and bloat.
| Related: How an Unhealthy Gut May Be Behind Weight Issues |
4. Yoga
Yoga is a gentle form of exercise with specific poses targeting specific areas of your body. There are a number of yoga poses that have been shown to improve gut health dramatically.
Child’s pose, downward-facing dog, standing forward bend, and triangle pose all help to promote intestinal mobility by stretching stomach muscles. As a result, your gut performs better, and stress is decreased, which reduces gut inflammation.
5. Breathing Exercises
Many people are not aware that simple breathing exercises benefit the gut, as well as your overall health and well-being. Improper breathing can impact your digestion, which can cause acid reflux, heartburn, and bloating.
Sit up straight and practice breathing in and out slowly, and feel your stomach expand and contract. You want to make sure your abdomen is moving and not your chest as this would indicate deeper diaphragmatic breathing. This will help to manage stress and inflammation levels as well as improve digestion.
The Bottom Line
Exercising your gut will ensure that you promote digestive health as well as gut bacterial health. The strength of your gut can also be supported with probiotics and other gut-health supplements.
Many natural ingredients have the ability to promote gut healing as a preventative measure against leaky gut and other digestive issues. A combined approach for your gut is best, working both inside and out.
Your gut bacteria are there to help you, but the relationship is a two-way street. If you don’t support their health and community, they’ll become overrun by more harmful strains. As a result, your health will be at risk.
Probiotics and other gut health supplements are essential to keeping a balanced microbiome, but exercise can help too. Exercise does more than keep fat off your gut, and it boosts the strength of your gut from within.
