One big mistake that some people make as they go about their journey into starting up on a health and fitness routine is thinking that their sole mission is losing weight.
While there’s no question that often weight loss is the prompt to get someone started on a health and fitness routine, it’s vital that you come to realize that exercise is about so much more than just losing weight.
Those who simply view their workout program as a means to an end – a way to shed those last few stubborn pounds are very likely to immediately stop doing their exercise routine once they do reach their goal weight, which in time could actually just make that weight come right back onto their body.
If you want to make fitness a part of your life, it’s vital that you realize just how much more there is to exercising than losing weight.
Let’s go over some of the biggest benefits that you must come to know.
Improved Self-Confidence
The very first big benefit that a regular exercise program will bring that many people completely overlook is the enhancement it will have on your self-confidence level. Simply put, those who workout regularly feel much better about their bodies than those who don’t.
They’ve seen just what their body can accomplish and are noting the positive changes taking place. When you put your body to work you come to value it for more than just how it looks and this is what will really help to enhance your overall self-confidence level.
Enhanced Heart Health
The second important benefit that a regular exercise program will bring is enhanced heart health. Maintaining a good cardiovascular workout program is one of the best ways to protect against heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions.
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of health problems many people do experience in today’s world and while this is also due to a number of other factors as well such as being overweight, inactivity is also a main contributor.
Greater Range Of Motion
Moving along, the next point that you need to note about the benefits that exercise will bring is that it will allow you to see a greater overall range of motion. With age, your muscles and ligaments are going to stiffen up if they’re not constantly being utilized and moved around.
By maintaining regular activity, you’ll feel more comfortable to move through a wider range of motion, which will then transfer over to improved performance on any other sports or activities that you may decide to pursue.
When your range of motion starts to feel restricted, it’s really going to influence the quality of life that you have, so this isn’t something to take lightly.
Stronger Bones
Another big plus to regular exercise is that it’ll be excellent for helping to strengthen your bones. Weight bearing activities, especially resistance training as then additional weight is being added to the body, is one of the top methods to promote stronger bones into your older years so you’re less likely to suffer from stress fractures or osteoporosis.
While getting in enough calcium in the diet is also a vital element in strong bone maintenance, by pairing that with an exercise program you’ll really be doing everything possible for your bone health.
Improved ‘Life’ Function
As you do start to age, another issue that you may start to come across is the inability to perform certain tasks that you used to with ease. This is quite normal and natural as you get older and comes as a result of a decrease in muscle strength.
Here again, unless you use it, you’re going to lose it, which is why you must make sure you keep exercising into your older years.
Don’t think that you have to be 60 to experience this either. Muscle mass loss will occur at any age with a lack of physical activity and once you’ve lost it, it’s not easy to get back.
Staying active will help you maintain your muscle throughout time so that you never experience this loss in strength and function in everyday life.
Stress Control
Finally, the last big benefit to maintaining a regular exercise program is that it will provide excellent stress control. Exercise is going to release a number of ‘feel-good’ endorphins in the body that will help elevate your mood, put you into a calmer frame of mind, and work wonders for combating stress.
Since stress does have a very large negative influence on your overall health standing, this is a huge benefit that exercise has to offer.
So as you can see, exercise is about so much more than just losing weight. While losing weight is definitely a very nice side effect from participating in a structured workout routine, there are too many other benefits to overlook as well.