Don’t let today’s title fool you, this has nothing to do with the financial cost of training but everything to do with the health costs of not. Regular exercise has too many benefits to talk about in one blog but today I’m asking you to consider your longevity and then ask yourself, can I really afford not to train?
Not the easiest of weeks for me by any stretch on the imagination, I won’t bore you with the details because frankly, you don’t need to know. However, I still trained 3 times and got out for a long walk with the dog at time of writing. (I’m planning on running Sunday, but this will probably be posted by then.) Now, those sessions weren’t the best sessions I’ve ever done but tipped me along and kept me on track. The biggest thing they did for me was they allowed me to clear my head. So, while I may feel they weren’t incredible sessions I can guarantee that if I had said “sod it” and not went and done them, my mental space would be 10 times worse now than what it is. That brings me on to today’s inspiration. A sort of ah ha moment when thinking what I would discuss. The thought just kind of came and went, “God, if I hadn’t trained this week I really would’ve been in a bad place, I’m happy I made the time.” Boom! This week’s topic.
This week, I’d like to go over some of the mental and physical benefits to regular exercise. Maybe you’ve heard of these before and know them and for some of you all of this may be ground breaking. Either way, hopefully you take something away from this week’s blog.
Mental Benefits
It’s no secret that training has an incredible boosting impact on your brain. In an age where many diseases are fought through drugs and manufactured medicine, it’s imperative to remember the oldest and one of the most successful anti-depressants is exercise.
Anti- Depressant Impact
When you exercise your body releases chemicals called serotonin and dopamine. Now, I’m not an expert of neurotransmitters and the chemical breakdown of the body by any means and nor will I try act like I am, however, the few studies I read on the topic claimed that while a large number of studies have proven that regular exercise can combat the neurological effect of anxiety and depression, clinical trials and treatments are still leaving it to the side and relying on chemical compounds to give the same impact.
They also claim that further studies are needed to determine the impact of exercise on other mental diseases. To me, this is quite clear, exercise is good for your brain, plain and simple. I 100% don’t need research to tell me that because of my own anecdotal evidence. However, it’s worrying the amount of research that is out there on the topic yet the amount of people who still get prescribed anti-depressants every day. Is it negligence, lack of education, big company funding or all of the above? Whatever it is, get two steps ahead of this and include regular exercise in your weekly routine. Find something fun that works for you and stick with it. Someday you’ll need an outlet and it will be there for you.
Achievement, Goal Setting, Productivity and Confidence
There are other mental benefits that come from regular exercise. Goal setting and achieving those goals has a wonderful impact on the brain. Setting small, attainable goals every 2-3 months is a not only a great way to keep focused and on track but the high you get when you reach your end goal is pretty good. For me, I feel such a sense of achievement, currently, my goal is to floor press 100KGs by September. (you lot know now so I’m going to have to get it). There’s a lot of evidence that regular goal setting in exercise/sport and achieving those goals also spills over to other aspects of your life that aren’t fitness related. Those who used goal setting in exercise have been proved to have higher levels of productivity than those who don’t use the simple technique.
Finally, training 100% gives me more confidence, don’t need to explain this one too much because it’s pretty simple but if you feel good about yourself, you’re obviously going to be in a better mood than if you weren’t happy with your physical appearance. Look good, feel good, am I right?
Physical Benefits
This really depends on the type of training you’re doing, each style of training will bring it’s own benefits but regular exercise boils down to getting stronger (more on this in a second, it’s not just what you think.), fitter and increasing overall health.
Improving Strength
Straight away when we say increasing strength most people will automatically think about improving muscular strength, but it goes further than that.
Muscular strength is a pretty important component for long term health. I was only talking about this with someone at the start of the week on the real-life implications of strength training. I explained to him how simple daily tasks are quite similar to some of the movements we have him do in the gym. Something simple as linking a lunge pattern to walking up the stairs. It mightn’t be a major concern to most people in their 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s but as we age, without resistance training, our muscles could weaken and waste away over time. All of a sudden, those stairs start getting a little bit harder. I am partial to the benefits of resistance training in particular, Afterall I am a strength coach. Resistance training is a great way to improve bone health from youths right through to older aged adults.
Regular, consistent training is key to improving the overall strength of our body. Healthier individuals will find it easier to fight off common illnesses than those with poor nutrition who also neglect exercise. The literature clearly shows links between exercise and health, whether that’s decreased likelihood of disease, improved heart health, increased cardiovascular health… the list goes on. I’ve mentioned on this blog before of a client who was in serious trouble with her health, specifically blood pressure, who at this point has done a complete 180 health and fitness wise and is now in amazing shape compared to her first time walking into us. Coincidently, she got a big fright one day from walking up the stairs.
Having a regular exercise routine where you’re constantly progressing yourself and challenging yourself is literally a free* life drug! With the billions that get spent on healthcare, and on preventable diseases in particular it’s amazingly frustrating to know just how much good our industry can do with the right funding, exposure and backing from the right bodies. I see money pumped into gimmicks and national broadcasters creating shows that promote exercise in the wrong light, when with a little help and common sense we could really change the future of this nation’s health.
But then again, who am I? Just another strength coach seeing the declining health of not only our nation but many others around the world.
Am I frustrated that we’re turning to medicine now more than ever instead of outdoors and exercise? Yes.
Is it annoying to see more and more processed goods being made while whole food consumption seems to be dropping? Yes.
Do I feel companies need to be held accountable for the s**t they put out there regarding their products and the impact their marketing campaigns have on people? Absolutely.
But I’m just me, writing my blog trying to educate one reader at a time on how they can transform their life.
So, if you want to keep health costs down, if you want to improve longevity, if you want to improve your mental health and ability to fight off mental diseases, if you want to get stronger, fitter and have more confidence can you really afford not to train?
Rory.
*Some forms of training are not free. :)