The importance of a regular fitness routine in our lives can be crucial towards our health, happiness and success. Regular exercise is important for everyone no matter your age, young or old. Science has already proven that exercise can prevent deadly diseases as well as keeping us fit and healthy. And there are also many other benefits to exercising regularly too! Such as weight control/ loss, boosted moods, relieving stress, gaining confidence, disease prevention and many more. Let’s take a look at some of these benefits in more detail…
Improved mental health
Everyone knows that excerising helps you physically but not so many people are aware of the incredible mental benefits it has too. You might be wondering, how? well, exercising releases endorphins which send pleasure to our brains as well as reducing stress and anxieties. It will boost your phsyical and mental energy so you have a clear and stronger mind to take on tasks. Without exercise it’s common to feel mentally drained and it’s not uncommon to hear of peoples mental health signficantly improving after starting to exercise more. So get moving and feeling good!
Maintained body weight
It’s no secret that exercising is the key to weight loss. However, you must exercise regularly to maintain this weight loss over time. Hitting the gym once or twice a month won’t keep maintained body weight. Also, exercise will increase your metabolism greatly, so yes that’s even more calories burnt woohoo! If your goal is to lose weight then you must ensure that you’re not eating more calories to compensate for those burnt in the gym though. Getting a personal trainer and dietitian/ nutritionists can be extremely helpful if you’re starting out your fitness journey. They will help you plan your fitness routines/ goals and meal plans so you can reach your full potential. And feel confident with your progress!
Increases your life expectancy
Regular exercise has been proven to increase someone’s life expectancy for up to seven years! This is because of the many health benefits that come with regular exercise. Such as mood-boosting, strengthening bones and prevention from life-threatening diseases. Research has shown that people exercising for 70+ minutes a week will live an average of 1.8 years longer than someone who does none. That’s only 10 minutes a day! If this fact isn’t enough reason to exercise regularly, then what will be?
Reduces your risk of injury
Exercises will reduce your risk of injury significantly by strengthening and increasing the range of movement in your muscles. For example, if you opt for strength training in the gym (with exercises such as lifting weights, circuit training, push-ups, pull-ups etc) then you will become much stronger over time. This will help you perform significantly better in all different types of sports and strenuous activities. However, whilst strength training helps reduce the risk of injury it’s also important to focus on flexibility and we’d highly recommend yoga or pilates classes! It will improve your flexibility so you increase your range of movement in joints and also improve posture.