Exercise Should Not Be Optional
Terry Sandhu
July 11, 2008
Exercise is a key factor for anybody who wants to lose weight. Exercise will substantially decrease the time for you to reach your weight loss goals. However it doesn´t just stop there, exercising will enhance your life in many positive ways. A lot of people have a dread about exercising because it can be difficult at the start, especially if you are not used to it. The key point to remember is that it is only by doing the difficult things in life, do we reap the greater rewards.
Weight loss is just one positive side effect you receive from exercising, exercise will also:
Give you more energy
Make you fitter and stronger
Increase your ability for utilizing more oxygen
Make you more confident and increase your self esteem
Release endorphins in your brain which makes you feel happier
Increase your lifespan
Allow you to be a role model for people around you
Strengthen your heart
Decrease the risks of major illnesses
Strengthen your immune system
Boost your metabolism so it works more efficiently
Improve your posture
Make you look and feel more attractive
Improve your self image
Improve your ability to cope with stress
Help you to look and feel younger
Compensate for the natural muscle loss that occurs with age
With all these additional benefits it would seem crazy to avoid exercise, but so many people do, and do not realise the major benefits that they are missing out on. Of course exercise will be hard in the beginning and this will be true for most people. What makes it hard is that your muscles need to get used to being used in ways that they are not accustomed to. This is what causes the aches and soreness the day after an exercise session. At first glance this may seem a bad thing but in reality it is a good thing because you are waking up muscles that may have been asleep for a long time.
Of course your muscles are going to complain when you first start using them, this is because they are being taken out of their comfort zone. The good news is that your muscles learn to adapt pretty quickly to the stress that exercise will place on them. They do this by becoming stronger and by increasing their endurance capabilities. When you first start out, just do enough exercise so that you are pushing yourself just a little beyond what you think are your limits. For the first few days you might feel a little sore, but if you continue doing the same amount of exercise, the soreness will stop after a week or so. It stops because your muscles have adapted and when this happens it is time to do a bit more exercise. Your muscles will keep on adapting by becoming fitter and stronger, and you just keep repeating the process.
The hardest part of exercising is the first few weeks. The reason it´s hard is because you are trying to introduce new behaviours into your life, and your body is not a big fan of change. Your body likes smooth sailing and doesn´t take kindly to change. The good news is that if you do something often enough your body will not have any choice but to change. Always remember that in the beginning; never overdo it because doing more than you can cope with is going to result in you giving up. Just do enough so that it is going to test you a little. After a few weeks things will become easier, and then you can increase in slightly larger steps because your body will have come to terms with what you are doing.
Never ever compare yourself with others when it comes to exercise. You will be exercising in way that is going to be challenging for you, it doesn´t matter what anyone else can do. Regardless of how much exercise you start with, always keep in mind that if you continue, the improvements will come, it cannot be any other way. Another thing to remember is that whatever you are doing today is more than what you were doing a few weeks ago, so you are already improving.
One final tip is that you should try not to think of exercise. If you spend too much time thinking about it, it will start to play on your mind during the day. It will get to the point where you may start dreading exercising when you finish work, and you would have talked yourself out of doing it when the time comes. Try to avoid thinking about it and just do it when the time comes. Most people spend more time thinking about exercise than spending time actually doing any, which really makes no sense at all.
There are countless methods of exercise, spend some time figuring out what you are going to do. Read the benefits on this page on a daily basis to help you keep motivated, and be frightened of the potential risks you may place on yourself if you don´t exercise.
Weight loss is just one positive side effect you receive from exercising, exercise will also:
Give you more energy
Make you fitter and stronger
Increase your ability for utilizing more oxygen
Make you more confident and increase your self esteem
Release endorphins in your brain which makes you feel happier
Increase your lifespan
Allow you to be a role model for people around you
Strengthen your heart
Decrease the risks of major illnesses
Strengthen your immune system
Boost your metabolism so it works more efficiently
Improve your posture
Make you look and feel more attractive
Improve your self image
Improve your ability to cope with stress
Help you to look and feel younger
Compensate for the natural muscle loss that occurs with age
With all these additional benefits it would seem crazy to avoid exercise, but so many people do, and do not realise the major benefits that they are missing out on. Of course exercise will be hard in the beginning and this will be true for most people. What makes it hard is that your muscles need to get used to being used in ways that they are not accustomed to. This is what causes the aches and soreness the day after an exercise session. At first glance this may seem a bad thing but in reality it is a good thing because you are waking up muscles that may have been asleep for a long time.
Of course your muscles are going to complain when you first start using them, this is because they are being taken out of their comfort zone. The good news is that your muscles learn to adapt pretty quickly to the stress that exercise will place on them. They do this by becoming stronger and by increasing their endurance capabilities. When you first start out, just do enough exercise so that you are pushing yourself just a little beyond what you think are your limits. For the first few days you might feel a little sore, but if you continue doing the same amount of exercise, the soreness will stop after a week or so. It stops because your muscles have adapted and when this happens it is time to do a bit more exercise. Your muscles will keep on adapting by becoming fitter and stronger, and you just keep repeating the process.
The hardest part of exercising is the first few weeks. The reason it´s hard is because you are trying to introduce new behaviours into your life, and your body is not a big fan of change. Your body likes smooth sailing and doesn´t take kindly to change. The good news is that if you do something often enough your body will not have any choice but to change. Always remember that in the beginning; never overdo it because doing more than you can cope with is going to result in you giving up. Just do enough so that it is going to test you a little. After a few weeks things will become easier, and then you can increase in slightly larger steps because your body will have come to terms with what you are doing.
Never ever compare yourself with others when it comes to exercise. You will be exercising in way that is going to be challenging for you, it doesn´t matter what anyone else can do. Regardless of how much exercise you start with, always keep in mind that if you continue, the improvements will come, it cannot be any other way. Another thing to remember is that whatever you are doing today is more than what you were doing a few weeks ago, so you are already improving.
One final tip is that you should try not to think of exercise. If you spend too much time thinking about it, it will start to play on your mind during the day. It will get to the point where you may start dreading exercising when you finish work, and you would have talked yourself out of doing it when the time comes. Try to avoid thinking about it and just do it when the time comes. Most people spend more time thinking about exercise than spending time actually doing any, which really makes no sense at all.
There are countless methods of exercise, spend some time figuring out what you are going to do. Read the benefits on this page on a daily basis to help you keep motivated, and be frightened of the potential risks you may place on yourself if you don´t exercise.
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