Do you want to be more productive at work? At home, do you feel less tired? Do you want to spend some quality time with your partner? What if you could eat a cookie without feeling guilty?
Exercise is the answer if you responded “yes” to all of these questions (and who wouldn’t?).
Physical activity has numerous advantages that go beyond the apparent. (Of course, a healthier body and a clean bill of health aren’t bad either.)
If you’ve been seeking for inspiration to start an exercise program or get back into regular exercise, here are 10 fitness statistics to help you get off the couch.
1. Exercise Increases Mental Capacity
According to professional trainer David Atkinson, exercise not only benefits your physical health but also your mental health.
“Exercise improves mental clarity by increasing energy levels and serotonin levels in the brain,” says Atkinson, director of program development at Cooper Ventures, a branch of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas.
All of this contributes to a more productive day.
Todd A. Astorino, assistant professor of kinesiology at California State University-San Marcos, states, “It is apparent that individuals who are active and who exercise are significantly more productive at work.”
Improved productivity not only makes you a better worker, but it also benefits the rest of the team. According to Astorino, companies with fewer lost work hours and sick days have lower health-care costs and a better bottom line.
2. Movement Helps to Relieve Stress
Even if simply thinking about exercising stresses you out, once you start working out, you’ll notice a reduction in stress in all areas of your life.
“Exercise induces a relaxation reaction that serves as a pleasant distraction,” says Cedric Bryant, the American Council on Exercise’s chief exercise physiologist. It also helps to lift your mood and keep despair at bay, according to him.
More happiness and less stress in your life will benefit more people than just you. According to Atkinson, when you’re less stressed, you’re less irritable, which can help you have better relationships with your partner, kids, and coworkers.
3. Exercise Provides Energy
You might be shocked at how changing your entire day can be as simple as listening to a 30-minute training tape in the morning. “You feel significantly more energized the remainder of the day” when endorphins are released into your system after exercise, says Astorino.
It’s also easier to do regular chores like lugging groceries and climbing stairs when you enhance your strength and stamina. This will also make you feel more energized throughout the day.
According to Atkinson, a typical excuse among his customers is that they are too fatigued to exercise. While exercise may make you feel fatigued at first, he claims that this will pass quickly.
He claims that the physical tiredness you experience after working out is not the same as everyday fatigue. Furthermore, after your body has adjusted to exercise, you will have more energy than you have ever had.
4. Finding Time for Fitness Isn’t That Difficult
The solution, according to Atkinson, is to make better use of your time. Consider slaying two birds with one stone.
Take your kids to the park or ride bikes with them, and you’ll get some exercise while spending quality time with your family, he says. Go for a hike, take the kids swimming, or play backyard games like hide-and-seek, tag, softball, or horseshoes.
Schedule a meeting on the jogging track or the golf course at work, he suggests.
Also, forget about dragging yourself to the gym and doing a proper workout for an hour or more. Instead, incorporate short bursts of physical activity into your daily routine.
Atkinson says, “Everyone has 20 minutes.” “Everyone has ten minutes to jump rope, which is sometimes preferable to 20 minutes of walking or running.”
According to Astorino, squeezing in two or three 15- or 20-minute bursts of activity is just as efficient as doing it all at once. An active day can include vacuuming the house in the morning, riding bikes in the park with the kids in the afternoon, and taking a brisk walk in the evening.
According to recent US government standards, you should do at least 60 minutes of exercise per day to lose weight and keep it off, adds Astorino. However, you only need to exercise for half an hour per day to gain the health and disease-fighting benefits of exercise.
5. Fitness Can Assist in Relationship Building
Consider the benefits of exercising with a partner, whether it’s a spouse, a sibling, or an acquaintance you used to see for lunch once a week.
Not only that, but exercising is always more enjoyable when done alongside someone, according to Astorino. So make it a point to go for a walk with your partner every night after supper. Instead of lunch, meet your relatives for tennis or an exercise class.
Furthermore, Astorino claims that those who workout with a partner are more likely to stick to their plans and achieve their goals than those who go it alone.
“You need social support for long-term weight loss,” Astorino explains.
6. Exercise Aids in Disease Prevention
According to Astorino, studies have shown that exercise can help reduce or avoid heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis (bone loss), and muscle loss.
It also aids in the alleviation of some components of the aging process.
“Because exercise strengthens the muscles and joints, it reduces your chances of having some of the aches and pains and difficulties that most adults have,” Bryant adds, “mainly because of the sedentary lives they lead.”
He claims that if you don’t overdo it, exercise can even increase immune function, allowing you to spend less time sick with a cold or flu.
“There isn’t a single major health issue where exercise won’t help,” adds Byrant.
7. Exercise Increases Your Heart Rate
Not only can exercise help combat sickness, but it also strengthens the heart, the body’s most essential muscle, according to Bryant. This makes exercise — as well as day-to-day chores — feel more manageable.
Bryant claims that “your heart and cardiovascular system will perform more effectively.” “Plaque will build up less in the heart. It will become a more efficient pump as time goes on.”
“As the heart becomes stronger, it pumps more blood every beat, resulting in a lower heart rate at rest,” Astorino explains. To exert the same amount of effort, “it won’t have to beat as fast.”
Astorino claims that just a few days after starting to exercise, you’ll see a difference “The body quickly adapts to the stimuli it is receiving, making it simpler. You will experience less exhaustion. When it comes to breathing, you won’t have to exert as much effort. You shouldn’t be in as much pain or discomfort as you are now.”
8. Exercise Allows You to Eat More
Muscle burns more calories at rest than body fat, pound per pound. As a result, the more your muscle mass, the higher your resting metabolic rate. You also burn calories while exercising, of course.
All of this implies that “cheating” on sometimes with a cookie won’t set you back ten steps. “Is there anything you can eat? No, not at all “According to Atkinson, “When you exercise frequently, though, you can afford to enjoy some of the things you actually appreciate. When you’re not working out, you can get away with more of those things in moderation.”
9. Exercise Helps You Perform Better
You may notice that your clothes fit better after a few weeks of consistent exercise, and that your muscular tone has increased, according to Atkinson.
According to Atkinson, you may notice your newly pumped-up muscles in other ways, particularly if you’re a casual golfer or tennis player, or enjoy a friendly game of pick-up basketball. Consistent exercise will help you strengthen your muscles, enhance your flexibility, and boost your overall performance.
Bryant explains, “Your muscles will perform much more efficiently, and you’ll get a stronger sense of endurance.” Your response time and balance will also improve, he claims.
10. The Most Important Goal Isn’t Weight Loss
Many people exercise for the sole purpose of losing weight. However, it is far from the only advantage of exercising.
According to Bryant, people who begin fitness programs are often sold on the long-term aim of weight loss, which can be disappointing. People have a hard time adhering to something if they don’t see immediate benefits.
“They should really think about their degree of functioning in daily tasks,” Bryant says.
“That could be enough to entice them to come back for more.”
So, whatever weight loss goal you have when starting a fitness program, don’t make it your exclusive objective. Make a conscious effort to feel better, have more energy, and be less worried. Rather than getting hung up on the limited goal of a scale number, notice the small things that exercise does for you.
“Exercise must become a part of a person’s life, not an afterthought, if the goal is to lose weight and improve health,” Astorino says.
RELATED: THE SIX MOST EFFECTIVE WORKOUTS FOR LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE