Exercising more and eating better will do more than help you get back into shape by burning off fat and building muscle.
A new health and fitness regimen will also help you feel terrific all day and sleep well at night.
Although this transformation may appear almost magical, there is plenty of science about how exercise regulates the hundreds of biological processes that improve metabolism.
If you’ve wanted to get into shape but never did anything about it, then now would be a good time to start.
Look for workout facilities where you can use the latest fitness machines and free weight equipment in a family friendly environment or if you are on a budget, you can put together your own DIY gym.
Why should I get in shape?
Perhaps, you’re a woman who just had a baby and now wants to get her old athletic body back.
Perhaps, you’re a man who has finally built a successful career, but while your bank account looks good, your body has taken a beating from all those long, hard hours at the office.
Or perhaps, you’re a young adult who has spent most of your waking hours in front of your computer enthusiastically learning how to code your own games but now wish you could get back that natural vitality you enjoyed when you were involved in sports back at school.
Regardless of your story, the quickest way to change your life for the better is to start taking better care of your health.
Why do doctors recommend that a person gets at least 60 minutes exercise a day?
Let’s take a quick look at five rewards from turning that wonderful day at the gym into a lifelong passion for excellent health:
You’ll reprogram your biochemistry
When you don’t exercise and don’t eat well, you wreck your biochemistry. This self-destruction happens at such a slow rate that it may take years for you to even notice the effects.
Although serious health issues may appear to happen overnight, the process of self-destruction probably has been going on for a long time.
The good news is that this process of creeping biological chaos can be slowed down or even reversed through a good diet and regular exercise.
They stimulate your body to produce the right biochemistry.
And you will notice the improved change, too, as your body produces more endorphins and catecholamines, the feel-good chemicals that signal you’re on track.
So if you happen to feel more peaceful, happy, and well-balanced, it’s because you’ve figured out how to reset your biochemistry.
This change in how you feel can have a positive chain-reaction: you’ll sleep better and experience good moods.
You’ll look and feel great
Exercise will literally change the way you look.
Those tired bags under your eyes will disappear. Your skin will be clearer and tighter. Your eyes will appear brighter.
As you burn off fat throughout your body, your face will get leaner. Those fine cheek bones buried under a thin layer of fat will now show up again. That double chin will disappear.
Without realizing it, you’ll exude a sense of confidence and vitality, perhaps even a boundless enthusiasm for life.
People will notice and comment that you look more attractive, but they won’t be able to figure out why.
At the most, they’ll assume it’s because you’ve lost some weight.
Naturally, your self-esteem will soar when people you haven’t seen in a while appear astonished at your rejuvenation.
You’ll be much healthier
Maintaining a healthy body weight does more than make you look and feel good, it also offsets the risk of some serious health issues associated with obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. Without quite realizing how it happened, you’ll also reduce or eliminate many nagging health problems like gastrointestinal distress and aching muscles and stiff joints.
You’ll age gracefully
Cellular aging is caused because of the degradation of telomeres, caps at the end of each strand or your DNA that protect your chromosomes.
These work like the plastic tips around the end of a shoelace that prevent the woven threads from unraveling.
While scientists have yet to figure a way to stop telomeres from shrinking, exercise and good nutrition is the next best solution to anti-aging.
Regular exercise will help you prevent the onset of many health issues that precipitate the aging process like osteoporosis, a sluggish lymphatic system, and an inefficient kidney and liver.
Other aspects of your life will improve too
It stands to reason that when your mind is clearer, your moods more positive, and your body more energized that almost every other aspect of your life will be positively impacted.
You’ll not only get along better with others, improving your family and social life, but you’ll also perform better at your job, improving your career.
What Exercise Should You Do?
While some exercise is better than no exercise, the best type of exercise program is one that has three well-balanced routines.
Ideally, in the course of the week, you should have a routine that builds aerobic strength like running or swimming, that builds muscular strength like weight lifting or calisthenics, and that improves flexibility like stretching or yoga.
On the weekends or on vacation – do active things outdoors like stand up paddle boarding, hiking or skiing.
It’s never too late to reap all the life-enhancing benefits of taking charge of your health and fitness.