It’s no secret that sticking to an exercise routine brings great positivity to your life. Keeping active means you’re far more likely to be at the correct weight, which in turn means your body will be healthier. Health is an enormous factor in our feeling of wellbeing, the others being companionship and stress. Surprisingly adhering to an exercise regime also benefits these other factors too; read on to find out how.
Group Exercise Improves Your Social Life
Another important benefit that you can gain from exercise is a revitalised social life. Taking part in a team sport is not only a great way of getting your heart rate up, it’s also a great way to make new friends. Local football teams are always looking for players to join. Don’t worry about being too old or not skilled enough. Nigeria’s most capped player ever Vincent Enyeama helped the Super Eagles to the World Cup on three separate occasions and was still giving it his all on the pitch in his mid 30s. One could even argue that Nigeria’s odds have suffered without Enyeama on their side – maybe if you get really good you could fill those boots!
Group sports, as well as being a way to broaden your social horizons, are also a very effective way of exercising. High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT is all the rage in fitness circles at the moment, and group sports are a perfect example of it. HIIT is effective because the body is required to work at maximum capacity for short bursts and then work at a comfortable level for a longer period of time. #
Sticking with football as an example, you’ll need to slowly jog around the pitch until the ball is passed to you – this functions as your comfortable level of exercise. However, once you receive the ball, you may need to sprint up the pitch with it, dodging players from other teams – this functions as the high intensity part of the workout. Working in this way for a whole game of football provides you with a great workout and an effective way of burning fat.
Exercise Reduces Stress
Stress is one of the biggest negative factors in the modern lifestyle. Our ancestors used to spend the majority of their time outdoors, where their biggest stressors were predatory animals and perhaps threats from other groups. These threats passed quickly, enabling our inner fight or flight response to work as it should do, strongly, for a short period of time.
Unfortunately, in our modern lives we are exposed to stressors that are less urgent and far more prolonged, meaning that our fight or flight response is rendered useless. However, this doesn’t stop our bodies from releasing the hormones that illicit this response, which can leave us in a state of near constant stress. When left left unchecked, this can lead to exhaustion.
Thankfully, exercise is an incredibly effective way of balancing the chemicals that your body releases. After around twenty minutes of exercise, our bodies start to release endorphins. These chemicals create feelings of contentment and wellness, which is why we feel that little ‘buzz’ after a short workout. Our bodies love the feeling of these chemicals, so we gradually learn to associate exercise with feeling good, which makes us want to exercise more. If you can push through the pain of your first few exercise sessions, then you’ll quickly begin to look forward to that post workout glow.
Getting Outside is Good for Us
When our mothers used to tell us to go outside and get some fresh air, they may just have been onto something. Exercising in the great outdoors is good for our mental and our physical health. Running on a treadmill is a perfect place to start your routine, but after a while it can get a little dull. If you move your run outside you’ll experience several benefits. The first is that you will burn more calories; running outside requires our muscles to work to balance us on uneven terrain, using more energy than running on the level surface of a treadmill.
Secondly, you’ll sleep better! Our circadian rhythms are effected by the daylight hours that we experience, so working in a brightly lit gym just before bed will stop our brains from recognising that it’s nighttime. Conversely, if we exercise outside on our lunch break or before work, then we’ll experience true sunlight and get to work feeling rejuvenated. Allowing ourselves to reconnect with nature is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that you get a proper night’s sleep.
