How to Stay Fit and Health by NOT Exercising

Over exercising can harm us.  If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I’m all about keeping fit and healthy to live our best lives.  However, I’m also a proponent of life balance.  The 80/20 rule works. Try and exercise and eat and drink healthy 80% of the time and chill out and enjoy your treats 20% of the time.

It’s important to remember that rest days are VITAL for our health and fitness, both for the body and mind.  Importantly, over exercising can put dangerous strain on our muscles, bones and connective tissues, but also on our heart and minds.

How Exercise Benefits Us

When we exercise we get a huge amount of benefits:

• Our heart rate increases and as our heart is a muscle, it becomes stronger and more efficient.
• We flood our body with oxygen and nutrients due to elevated breathing.
• We sweat and kick start our bodily systems which help us to detoxify.
• Feel-good hormones called endorphins flood our body, which help to reduce pain and make us feel totally awesome.

BUT!  There is a cut-off point where exercise can become harmful to us.

How Over Exercising Harms Us

Over exercising can ask a high price of our bodies and mental health:

• We end up breaking down our tissues beyond their ability to repair.
• Our bodies release a stress hormone called cortisol which is not good for us in large quantities.
• When our bodies are flooded with cortisol, our immune system is compromised.
• Over-exercising, especially during the afternoon and evening, can negatively impact our sleep.
• The burden of expecting ourselves to be super-human can negatively affect our self-esteem.
• When our health fails us it can lead to frustration, anger and worst, depression.

Ignore the Bright, Shiny Buttons

We are all human and it’s important to remember that. We get so used to seeing the bright, shiny images of people on social media that we begin to think that’s the norm. But it’s not!

I’ve met a lot of people who are in the public eye and what you see on their feeds doesn’t always represent the real deal.  Normal doesn’t really exist. What is normal anyway?  And actually, who wants to be “normal”?

Balance is Key

It’s about balance.  In essence, you need to learn to listen to your body intuitively.  If you feel exhausted and know that you’ve worked out 3 or 4 times during the week already, take a break.  If you’re feeling lethargic and haven’t exercised for the past 3 days, get your butt off the sofa and take action.

Exercising for optimal health is a balancing act. Too little and you’ll suffer, too much and you’ll suffer too.  Learn to listen to your body, but make sure it’s not your mind finding excuses not to exercise.  We are a nation of overweight and obese people – so take that as a clue.  What’s more, generally, we need to workout more often than not.  Make your health a priority.  Why wait for that diagnosis when you can start taking action to get healthy now?

Join Me?

I can help you get started for FREE.  If you’re interested, leave me a comment below or send me a private message on my private Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/katehartleyuk/.

Here’s to #progressnotperfection ♥

Interested in more exercise related articles? Take a look here:

6 Reasons Why You Need To Take Rest Days and Avoid Injury

7 Reasons Why I LOVE Exercising Barefoot

15 reasons why walking in nature is your best health booster

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