Exercise isn’t just about looking fit. Exercise is also about being healthy from the inside out. Regular activity can help boost brain power, reduce the effects of stress and the risk of developing disease, and even foster relationships.
Today fitness expert and former professional football player David Thompson shares ten insights on how exercise can help change your life:
- Exercise Boosts Brain Power. Exercise supports building energy levels and can support increases of serotonin in the brain, which can lead to improved mental clarity. Research shows that those who are active and exercise are more productive at work.
- Movement Reduces Stress. Exercise aids in production of hormones that help boost mood and help calm body and mind. You’re not the only person who will benefit from mood boosting endorphins and less stress in your life. When you’re less stressed, you’re less irritable, and that could improve relationships with your partner, children and co-workers.
Visit and join AdvoCare’s 24-Day JumpStart Facebook Group where you’ll find David’s collection of workouts!
3. Exercise Helps Build Energy Levels. You might be surprised by how exercising for 24 minutes in the morning can change your whole day. The hormones and overall stimulation of all your body’s systems contribute to feeling more energized throughout the day.
4. It’s Not That Hard to Find Time for Fitness. Everyone has 15-20 minutes to get busy exercising or moving. Sometimes 10 minutes of jumping rope is better than 20 minutes of walking or running. Take your kids to the park or ride bikes together – It’s a great way to incorporate physical activity while enjoying family time. Squeezing in two or three bouts of 15 or 20 minutes of activity is just as effective as doing it all at once. About half an hour a day is all you need to reap the health-promoting benefits of exercise.
5. Fitness Can Help Build Relationships. Think of what exercising with a partner can do for a relationship, whether it’s with a spouse, a sibling or a friend. Research has shown that people who have exercise partners stay with their programs and reach their goals more often than those who try to go at it alone. So plan to walk with your spouse, friend or family after dinner every night. For long-term weight loss, you need to have social support!
6. Exercise Helps Reduce the Risk of Developing Disease. Exercise has been shown to help slow or reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis (bone loss) and loss of muscle mass. Exercise can also proactively boost immune function, so if you get a cold or the flu, your down time may be reduced as you recover.
7. Exercise and Building Muscle Helps Burn More Calories. Pound for pound, muscle burns more calories at rest than body fat. So the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate. Eat well most of the time, splurge in moderation and exercise regularly.
8. Exercise Boosts Performance. Exercising supports increases in muscle strength as well as flexibility resulting in overall improvements in performance. As your muscles work more efficiently, and you’ll gain a greater sense of endurance, reaction time and balance.
9. Fitness Pumps Up Your Heart. Our cardiovascular systems can work more efficiently from the help of exercise. When the heart becomes stronger it pumps more blood per beat, which means it will not have to beat as fast to expend effort. It also helps exercise and the activities of daily life feel easier.
10. Weight Loss is Not the Most Important Goal. Don’t make weight loss your only goal. Focus on enhancing health, feeling more energized and being able to do more activities with joy to live a vibrant lifestyle.
Read More: “4 Reasons You Aren’t Building Muscle“
David Thompson, CPT, CGFI, ,LMT, Certified Sports Nutritionist is a paid contributor to the AdvoCare blog. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelors Degree in Speech Communication. He’s a former NFL standout, current public speaker, fitness consultant, author and business owner. David served as a fitness consultant for more than 9 years with AdvoCare International and on a national syndicated radio show for several years. David Thompson has been both a teacher and practitioner of resistance training, group fitness and athletic performance training for more than 20 years. He’s considered one of the top professional fitness trainers in the nation and is highly sought after as an athletic performance coach. David is currently the director of fitness and owner of the BURN Dallas Health and Fitness Center in Dallas, Texas.