WHY WORKOUT-B1

Why should we take the trouble of putting ourselves through a workout every day? Many people believe that workouts are only for people wanting to build muscle or lose fat but this just isn’t true. Working out can have benefits that reach far beyond the regular ‘lose weight’ ‘get shredded’ stuff you hear all the time. In this article, there will be two different sections going over first the physical and then the mental benefits.

Physical Benefits

1)Stronger Muscles

Now, this may be the most obvious on this list, as you exercise, your muscles are put under stress and if you exercise hard enough then the body is forced to adapt the muscles which then grow back stronger and bigger. Training with proper intensity provides a stimulus that leads to Hypertrophy(muscle growth), of course in order to provide this stimulus you must make your training plan with the principles of muscle growth and progressive overload in mind

2)Body Fat reduction

The amount of body fat we carry on ourselves is very crucial for our health. If we are overweight or obese then we have higher chances of hormonal problems, diabetes, diet-related diseases, heart attacks, etc, this is why it is desirable to have a healthy body fat percentage, exercise helps us to do this because exercise not only burns off calories but also boosts our metabolism which can lead to better fat loss in the future. Another thing to keep in mind, is that exercise doesn’t cause fat loss by itself, it must be combined with a proper nutrition plan that has a calorie defecit

3)Supercharge your energy

Have you ever looked at someone and wondered, “How the heck is he so energetic and happy all the time”, well guess what, you can have that too, though some people are born with higher baseline energy levels than others that does not mean that you cannot have it too. Exercise improves blood circulation, improves breathing and helps make you active all of which give a boost to your energy, they can also release chemicals which make you happy, this happy mood then creates more energy which creates more happiness… It’s a neverending loop.

4)Better Sleep

Studies have shown time and time again that exercising can help you sleep better, it isn’t exactly known why but it may be related to the simple better functioning of the body and the proper use of muscles that one can get from exercise, this proper use of muscles reduces the imbalances and tightnesses we usually have in our body and may just help us relax more while sleeping. (Tip-Don’t do heavy exercise for at least 2-3 hours before sleeping or else it may actually get you too energetic and make you have trouble falling asleep)

5)Better Joint Health

Exercising in a proper manner can strengthen the tendons and ligaments, it also increases blood flow to the cartilage (the substance responsible for smooth movement of joints and preventing wear and tear of bones). The keyword is proper, if done with incorrect form or placing too much strain on the body then the exercise may actually do more harm than good, so be careful, before doing any exercise I would advise talking to your trainer and if you don’t have a trainer, there are thousands of videos on youtube on literally any exercise tutorial you want so feel free to search it up and remember, even if you think you know how it still won’t hurt to watch that tutorial but it will hurt if you get that form wrong.

Mental Benefits

1)Increases Focus

Intense exercise forces you to be in the moment. It’s very hard to let your mind wander off when all you can feel is the burning sensation in your quads during a set of squats. This then becomes a habit that carries on through your day. It helps you be more focused on the task at hand and less likely to get distracted.

If you want to increase focus and concentration further then you can add meditation or stretch into your daily routine. Bonus tip-Try not to use your phone between sets or during exercise because we tend to lose track of time and trust me time flies by when you are looking at Instagram.

2)Improves Mental Health

Exercise stimulates the entire body including the mind, a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week can help your brain to maintain old neural connections and create new ones more efficiently. In the long run, regular exercise can reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease in your old age.

3)Getting work done is easier

Isn’t it just so much easier to sit at a desk and get that report done, or finish that project rather than being in a gym sweating all over, being messy and dirty trying to finish your workout. It isn’t proven but rather a popular opinion that after doing hard physical activity general life becomes easier and more enjoyable. Even Joe Rogan (Host of JRE) says that he feels so much calmer and chill after his workouts, he doesn’t get bothered by little things anymore.

4)Helps fight addiction

Addictions include a whole variety of habits, it can be an addiction to social media, addiction to youtube, sugar, food, alcohol or even drugs. Whenever we develop a habit then it gets permanently wired into our brains, we cannot erase that habit completely, this is why most people trying to quit an addiction often fail, what we can do is to replace the bad habit with a good one.

Instead of scrolling through Instagram for hours, we could go for a walk, instead of alcohol we can have a jump-roping session. I think you get the point, the best way to remove a bad habit is to replace it with a good one and most people who get rid of addictions say that exercise was a crucial part of recovery.

5)Helps increase your motivation and willpower

Have you ever woken up feeling extremely sore and tired, we all probably have some more often than others,  now imagine this, you have a workout scheduled 30 minutes from when you woke up, you have no desire to workout, you just want to go back to sleep, your mind starts to make excuses and justifies why it’s ok to miss a day “oh, I needed the rest day anyway” or “I’m just overtrained” and the best one “Maybe my body just isn’t built for exercise”.

It’s what you do in those moments that determines the outcome, do you get up and get out of bed even if you don’t want to, or do you let your weakness take over. If you are able to hold your discipline in that one low moment then your motivation and willpower reserves increase throughout the day. Some believe that willpower decreases as you use more of it, I just don’t believe that, I think the more disciplined you are the more willpower you get.

After reading this I hope I could add some value to your lives, if you are considering to start exercising then trust me, do it today, start today itself and get the ball rolling. It’s often the first step that people don’t take, but once you start and stay consistent then it gets easier to stay consistent. 
Please go on to youtube and type “beginners workout “.

Thanks so much for reading, if you liked the article then do consider sharing it with anyone you think would benefit from an article like this. Once again I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to take the first step so please, don’t put it off anymore, start today start now, click off this page right now and go search yourself a workout on youtube, do not try to pick something perfect or long term, take my advice and just find some workout which you can do, optimisation and finding a longterm program can happen later, but most people get stuck in the planning phase, don’t be one of those people, go out there and do!

KEEP STRIVING