5 Benefits of Exercise That Are Not Related To Weight Loss

 

People struggle with a lack of motivation every day, even when it comes to simple tasks. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find time to do things that would benefit your health and improve the quality of your life.
Let’s assume that you’re overweight, or underweight. You have no energy to live your life normally, you are fatigued and feel like there’s no hope for improvement. Maybe you already have an eating disorder, and it’s weighing down on your mental health, so you decide to change your life and start exercising. Let’s say that you are a beginner and you want to research the benefits of exercise, decide if you want to make the first move of organizing your day, and finding the time to exercise. You google, you look through pictures, hashtags, and motivational posts, and they have one thing in common, they glorify weight loss.

You already know that you need to lose weight, and it being one of the top reasons to exercise depresses you, so you just give up and make no changes. It is even worse if you are underweight! Why would you want to lose more weight? You just want to have hope, to feel stronger, and healthier. So, how are you supposed to find encouragement, and motivation to start exercising, when it only reminds you of your weight?
Leading a healthy, balanced life, that implements regular exercise, has many benefits besides weight loss. Your worth is not measured by the scale, and being thin does not guarantee that you will finally be satisfied, happy, nor healthy. Here are the top 5 benefits of exercising, according to our coach Sofiia, that will actually motivate you to get moving every day, and change your life for the better.

1. Improved brain function

Regular physical activity does not just improve the health of your body. In no way can we deny that it helps you build muscle, and help build bone density, but your physical body is not the only thing affected by exercise. Regular movement and exercise also help with brain health and function. Your cognitive health will improve immensely, as it will help you problem solve, learn, focus, balance, and even remember.

2. Endorphin release

Daily movement, whether it is exercising, dancing, or running, helps your brain release endorphins. Endorphins are a natural mood booster, your body releases them to help with stress, anxiety, tension, and pain. Being concentrated on your body’s movements, might make you forget the day’s frustrations, and improve your overall mood.

3. Reduced risk of chronic illness

There are a lot of types of exercise and physical activity. Each and every o

ne of them is important and can help you live a longer, healthier life. Exercise may not only help with the symptoms of chronic illnesses but also reduce the likelihood of getting one. . Raise your heart rate with aerobic exercise such as cardio, improve your muscle strength with strength training, and work on your flexibility with yoga and stretching for joint and bone health. Implementing all of these types of physical activity during your lifetime will help you prevent or fight illnesses such as dementia, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, asthma, and even cancer.

4. Improved mental health

We’ve already mentioned how exercise can help your mental health, but let us note the most important part. Exercise can have a positive impact on your struggle with depression, anxiety and ADHD, the most common mental illnesses of this modern age. Your outlook on life can change as you will get a sense of accomplishing something beneficial, something productive that will get you out of bed in the morning.

5. Better sleep

Sleeping disorders are more and more common among teenagers and young adults. These disorders can follow well into your adult life and have a negative toll on your health. Research proves that even 30 minutes of daily exercise may affect your daily sleep, and help you sleep better. In adults, It can reduce sleep onset – the time it takes to fall asleep, and the need for sleep medications.

Conclusion

Exercising regularly, whether you choose aerobic exercise, strength training, yoga or running, can immensely improve your overall health, mental health, and brain health. If you haven’t begun your fitness journey, consider doing so and read the benefits mentioned above as a reminder. Your weight cannot determine how healthy you are, and focusing on the number of the scale going down won’t help you be the best version of yourself.

If you need help with starting your fitness journey and looking to educate yourself on the important aspects of fitness, the FitSof Push Start 4-week beginner program is your beginner’s guide through the instructed exercise, workout schedule, nutrition, and tips for consistency. Go to our shop and purchase the program to take the first step on your fitness journey.

Fitness Then and Now: 5 Positive Developments

 

 

Fitness has developed and modernized through the years, but different forms of physical exercise have been around forever. We’ve went from only stretching to Hula Hoops and weird fitness devices in the 50’s and 60’s, to Jazzercise, Aerobics and Bodybuilding in the 70’s and 80’s. Also, we slowly made a shift of our exercise environment from working out in groups and outdoors, to homely, individual workouts.

However, we have also progressed with our understanding of nutrition. It was a slow, but much needed progress from the restrictive diets in the 20th century, but also the toxic diet culture from the 90’s and 2000’s. The toxic dieting and diet culture as a whole, made people battle with their body image, confidence and societal beauty standards. Unfortunately, this lead to a lot of unhappy people and development of a lot of eating disorders. But, times have changed and so have we, we have learned from our mistakes and now we know better. Let’s look throughout some positive changes that Fitness world has gone through.

 

The Fitness Mindset has changed

 

Along with the body positivity movement, came along inclusion, and acceptance of each body type, but also a desire for change and improvement. People started attacking the toxic diet culture and ignoring society’s beauty standards, by trying to be healthier and happier. The mindset “nothing taste as good as skinny feels”, low calorie diets, and ignoring whole food groups is no longer a thing in the 2020’s. A new generation of women and men are focusing on balanced nutrition, aiming for stronger bodies, healthy habits and watching out for their mental health.

More women in certain Fitness fields.

 

In the past, women were mostly included in sports and fitness practices that were considered more “feminine”. Sports like gymnastics, forms of exercise such as Aerobics, Pilates, and dancing-influenced exercise such as Jazzercise and Zumba. Bodybuilding is something that women rarely did in the 20th century, because they were discouraged from it. Nowadays, more and more women participate in strength training, weightlifting and bodybuilding, with it becoming trendy amongst teenagers and young women on social media. Women are now certain that weightlifting won’t make them look masculine, and the positive impact it can have on their health, so, it’s no wonder that most women spend their time in the gym now.

 Variety

 

Nowadays, there is something for everyone! People can enjoy a variety of physical exercises, training and movement. Pilates is growing in popularity again, strength training and weightlifting at the gym are at an all time high, and yoga is still highly popular, but those are not the only options anymore. HIIT, Hot Yoga, Water Aerobics, Circuit Training, Cardio Fusion, and Barre are only a small percent of what the fitness world offers now. You are able to explore, find the most enjoyable way to move your body and thrive!

 

 

Growing knowledge and understanding

 

As we already mentioned, the progress of Fitness has been undeniable, and we are continuing to learn and improve. There are more ways to move your body and exercise, but we have also invented new exercises and movements. You can see varieties of the same exercise, targeting the exact muscles you need it to, and with internet connection its accessible to anyone! Information is flooding on social media, and you can see fitness tips on ways to train and to improve, basically anywhere. You can also find online research articles, and fact-check everything if you want to!

 Equipment

 

Lastly, there are all sorts of equipment you can use, according to what type of fitness you practice and what your needs are. There are many types of mats, weights, activewear for any type of home workouts if you enjoy Pilates, Yoga or Aerobics. There are also affordable options to invest in a home gym, and get equipment such as a treadmill, a barbell, a smart bike and similar things you can find at the gym. Again, there is something for everyone.

We hope that these five developments in Fitness helped you see the positive side of the Fitness world!
There are a lot of improvements and progress to be made, but let’s focus and cherish what we have achieved so far.