Physical Fitness: How to stay healthy physically AND mentally

I am a huge supporter of taking regular exercise and maintaining physical fitness and I am inspired to write this article as someone who has just taken her own medicine.

Get fit

Over the last few weeks I’ve been working on various tests on social media (and it’s taken up a huge percentage of my time).  So I let my regular exercise routine slip.

I generally do my physical training in the morning, shortly after I’ve woken up.  I like to think I make good use of the raised cortisol levels we all enjoy first thing in the morning – and I think cortisol really does play an important part in motivating me to get my exercises done.

Once midday comes around I’m generally ensconced in business projects and by the end of the day my energy levels begin to taper off quickly.

As the social media tests were one of my top priorities, I was running them in the morning and ignoring my needs for exercise … until last week.

I created this infographic a while back, and never was it more true.

When you least feel like exercising, that’s when you need it most. Click To Tweet

Exercise benefits

I had noticed that over the course of the few weeks I’d foregone my exercises, my whole body was starting to seize up.  My muscles were shortening, my flexibility was decreasing and I felt generally crappy and crabby.

I love having a healthy and exercised body.  It just makes me feel so much better for myriad reasons.

So last week I restarted my routine and LOVED it.  My endorphins were surging through the roof, I felt more energized, I felt so much more content with myself.  I was more relaxed and felt in control of my day, instead of being randomly led by various projects.

What’s more, I was allowing myself just a small amount of time to do something which can only be beneficial for me.  Heck, if I can’t find a mere 30 – 60 minutes daily for my exercises, surely there is something seriously wrong with my time management.

Within a week I could feel the tone returning to my muscles and I was able to stretch to my previous limits.  In short, I felt amazing.

Exercise and mental health

I find it hard to single out one aspect of why I love exercising so much.  I think if I had to choose just one reason, it would be that it brings out my inner warrior, helping me find more courage and create greater determination when things in my life appear scary or challenging.

I am nearly 46, am a single mum to my son and daughter and am one of the happiest and healthiest people I know – and I put a large amount of that down to the fact that I take regular exercise.

So why should we be making exercise a priority?

Exercise gives you mental as well as physical strength. It boosts your sense of self-esteem and creates an inner confidence in your ability to live your best life.

Exercise boosts your self-esteem, your confidence and strengthens your inner warrior. Click To Tweet

When you prioritize exercise, you are prioritizing your health and your commitment to you.  When life is constantly speeding around us in an unrecognizable blur, the fact that you are taking some time most days, to practice something that is good for you, helps you to claim responsibility for your life.

Exercise as a stress-buster

Exercise helps to beat stress and anxiety.  When we are working out, we are pumping oxygen and blood around our bodies.  Oxygen and blood are full of life-giving nutrients that we need in order to live our best lives.  Why schlep along your life when you can spring from one experience to the next?  Life isn’t a rehearsal, so the sooner you grab it by the you-know-whats, the sooner you have the opportunity to excel.

Exercise makes us feel great!

Exercise makes us feel great!  When we exercise our brain releases a chemical called dopamine.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter concerned, among other things, with the pleasure centre of the brain.  Dopamine helps us to find the motivation to make exercise a regular activity.  The more we see and feel the benefits of exercising, the more we feel inclined to exercise, thanks to dopamine.

Dopamine is also linked to increased focus and memory, so we have exercise to thank for helping our brains become more efficient.

Exercise gives us energy

Exercise gives us energy.  You may have visions of you collapsing in a sweaty heap after a hard work-out session – are these visions reasons for not exercising?!  Exercise doesn’t need to involve seeing stars, feeling sick or as though you’ll never be able to breathe normally again. Gentle, regular exercise is all it takes to offer considerable benefits to your overall health.

Exercise, due to the increased rate of breathing and heart-pumping, means that our bodies are flooded with the nutrients we need in order to stay healthy.  And when we are healthy, we feel happier, and when we are happier, we tend to have more energy.

Exercise promotes sleep

Exercise helps you to sleep better.  Sleep is enhanced by exercise for several reasons.  As a race we are designed to be active, so from an evolutionary standpoint, our bodies are getting nearer to what they need when we take regular exercise which means we stand a better chance of sleeping when our bodies are in a state of homeostasis.

Sleep is improved because exercise helps us to cope with stressors more easily and a relaxed mind will sleep more deeply.

A by-product of exercise, when taken outdoors, is exposure to UV light. UV light has a positive effect on sleep patterns due to the melatonin production within the skin.  For an in-depth article on the importance of UV light, click here.

Exercise boosts your confidence

Exercise boosts your confidence. When you have the body you want (within reason!) you feel so much better for it.  Your confidence will soar when you are happy in your own skin.

And please don’t read this and think to yourself “oh yeah, that’s great, but I don’t have the body I want”.  If that’s the case, begin right now.  Today.  Start to exercise and you’ll soon have the best body you can achieve.  And I promise, you’ll feel so much better for it.

Depending on how you exercise, it could also create new friendships for you. If you don’t like the idea of exercising alone, join an exercise club of some sorts.  It could be a walking group, boxing club, standard gym, swimming group, bouldering club, tai chi club … the list is endless. Find something you are interested in and work out how you can weave exercise into it.

Exercise helps you overcome addictive behaviours

Exercise forms a strong and positive relationship with areas of your life you may have problems with, such as drinking too much, drug addictions, smoking habits.  When you are trying to quit a dangerous or bad habit, combine it with regular exercise. Exercise will help to support you through the darker days and also give you a much-needed self-esteem and confidence boost.

Exercise helps you to be your best you.  When you are feeling confident, in control of your life and body, all aspects of your life will also be enhanced.

With a fit body and mind, your creativity will be boosted, patience improved, focus sharpened, sex life enhanced, belief in self strengthened, confidence sky-rocketed.

Make exercise a priority in your life. You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your loved ones.  Be your best for you and be your best for them.  It is one of the few things in life that can be done entirely for free and has such an expansive and positive knock-on effect to so many other aspects of your life.

What are you waiting for?

For more information on the benefits of walking, follow this link to Keith Foskett’s article on Walking-What’s the point?

For more information on the importance of UV light, follow this link to Why We Need UV Light.

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