Exercise – It’s What You Need To Do!

The benefits of exercise are plentiful! It’s not just for gym rats or CrossFit junkies – it’s for you too!

In fact, if there was one change you could make that would positively impact every other area of your life, it would be the addition of exercise to your life.

Skipping exercise is risky! It’s like driving a vehicle with bald tires. Sure, you will get where you are going – most of the time – but you are perpetually putting yourself and those in your vehicle in danger. Even half worn tires greatly increase the chances of hydroplaning on wet roads.

That’s not all, bald tires are more likely to blow out, especially at high speeds, and they make stopping more difficult. Bald tires also compromise the handling of the vehicle increasing the potential for an accident. You don’t want that!

Simply replacing worn tires greatly enhances your driving experience and minimizes costly incidents. Exercise enhances your life and helps you naturally ward off many heath issues, stress, and improves your mood!

Would you be willing to commit 30 minutes at least 3 times a week to exercising if you knew it would increase your productivity and so much more? I know – life is moving fast, sometimes way too fast! I feel it too. It’s a chore keeping up with your many responsibilities and trying to connect with family and friends too.

In the hustle and bustle of life, the first thing we cut out of our schedules are spending time with God and exercising – perhaps two of the most important and needed parts of your day!

Need a few more reasons to squeeze in that 30-minute exercise time? Consider the following about exercise:

1. Sharpens Your Mind

What if exercising enabled you to complete your work quicker and more creatively? Exercise sharpens your mind, improves your memory, and makes you more alert. Exercise also increases concentration and stretches your mental stamina. Studies show that regular exercise can even help prevent cognitive decline – it keeps your brain young!

2. Lowers Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

Exercise naturally combats stress, anxiety, and depression. And it’s drug free!  If you suffer from any of the three – you’ll want to make an effort to regularly include exercise into your life.

The best options for stress busting works outs…

• Brisk walking, jogging. or running
• Swimming
• Dancing – plus it’s fun!
• Biking
• HIIT workouts
• Pilates
• Kickboxing
• Team sports
• Circuit training
• Strength training

When it comes to restoring calm and lowing stress consider these options…

• Yoga or Christian Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Breathing exercises
• Stretching
• Strolling in nature
• Gardening

There are options galore! You are sure to find ways of moving that are perfect for you! Be sure to mix up your work outs. Training in a variety of ways gets the best results.

YouTube is overflowing with options and they are all FREE! I’ve shared a few of my personal favorites above!

3. Boosts Your Energy

You need to have energy if you want to operate at your best!

Energy produces energy. Too often we get it backwards and don’t exercise because we don’t feel like we have the energy to do it. That’s when you need to exercise the most. Even a quick 30-minutes of exercise will give you the jump start you need.

If you are approaching your “to do” list with energy and focus, your tasks will get done in less time.

4. Improves the Quality of Your Sleep

Sleep issues are rampant these days! Either people are struggling to get to sleep, struggling to stay asleep, or waking up in the wee hours unable to get back to sleep. That lack of sleep has an impact on your work as well as the other areas of your life. While it’s not a good idea to work out right before going to bed, making time to exercise at some point during the day will positively impact your quality of sleep so you  wake up feeling rested and ready to rock your day!

Now exercise is jut one part of improving your sleep, but an important part! You were made to move not to be sedentary.

5. It’s a Healthy Choice

The saying “use it or lose it” applies to exercise for sure! Your strength, flexibility, and endurance all hinge on how active you are. If live an inactive lifestyle it will adversely affect your health. In addition, regularly exercising can provide these health benefits:

• Helps you maintain a healthy weight
• Keeps your heart and lungs healthy
• Boosts your HDL – the good cholesterol and lowers your bad cholesterol
• Helps prevent stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes
• Decreases back pain
• Lowers the chance of cancer
• Lowers blood pressure
• Improves your mood and just makes you feel better!
• Improves your muscle tone, balance, strength, flexibility, etc.

6. Enhances Creativity

Some of my best ideas have come to me while working out! When your body is busy and working hard, it allows your brain to work in a different and more creative way.

Need to solve a problem or feeling a little stuck? Take a break, take a walk, exercise, and discover the difference a little movement has on boosting your creativity!

7. Lifts Your Mood

Exercise sets off happy endorphins that have a way of lifting your mood. Even if you don’t enjoy exercising, you’ll enjoy the way you feel afterwards, making it worthwhile.

The benefits don’t stop there – exercise positively affects how you feel about your appearance, boosts your confidence, and improves your self-esteem. Pretty sweet side perks if you ask me!

8. It’s Fun!

When it comes to exercise, there seem to be people who love to work out and those who don’t. If you are in the don’t love it category, I would challenge you to rethink that. Exercising doesn’t have to be running until you are ready to lose your lunch or doing so many push-ups that your shoulders ache for days. Simply making time to move in a way that makes you happy is exercise. That can include things like walking or hiking with a friend, dancing, roller blading, yoga, or Pilates; really the options are endless! Keep experimenting until you find a few ways to move that you absolutely love and look forward to.

9. Forces You to Prioritize

If you’re going to make space in your life for exercise, you’ll need to make some changes in order to fit it in. It’s time to prioritize what’s really important in your life and work right now and what can go. That’s not easy – but prioritizing will naturally move you towards a more balanced, happier, more productive way of life. That’s a great big bonus!

Ready to incorporate exercise into your life? Take baby steps. You’ll be pleased with how quickly you progress!

Time to beef up your exercise? Try something new! Keep your work outs interesting.

Imagine, what would a little exercise do for you?