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When we think of healthcare, we often focus on doctor visits, preventive care, lab tests and immunizations. But there are other factors that are in our personal control, like improving our diets, reducing stress and adding fun to our lives. Exercise is one of these controllable factors, and it’s highly effective at improving health.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, regular exercise provides a great array of health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, preventing diabetes, improving mood and cognitive function, and reducing mortality. For women, those benefits expand, thanks to their combination of hormones and health risks. Here’s four ways exercise specifically benefits women.

From the first menstrual cycle until menopause, women live with a shifting level of estrogen and progesterone that impacts their fertility patterns as well as also their brain chemistry and moods. When estrogen levels drop, such as before and during a woman’s period or leading up to menopause, women lose a natural source of the

“feel good” brain chemical called serotonin. This makes them more susceptible to moodiness, depression and anxiety attacks, such as the symptoms found in severe premenstrual syndrome or post-partum depression.

Exercise counters these hormonally-triggered mood swings by releasing endorphins, another mood regulator. Sometimes called the “runner’s high,” endorphins leave you feeling happy and relaxed after a workout.

“It’s our body’s way of substituting one natural chemical for one that is waning,” Dr. Horowitz says. “For some women, this may reduce or eliminate the need for serotonin raising medications known as anti-depressants.”

Even after menopause, when estrogen levels have permanently diminished, exercise can improve mood. One study of 60 women experiencing postmenopausal anxiety and depression found that the group of participants who exercised showed an 18 to 22%improvement in symptoms, while those who did not exercise showed no improvement.