There is always a strong focus on exercise when we are talking about weight loss, but everyone needs to exercise regularly. Everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are in a healthy weight range or not, being physically active goes beyond a number on the scale. There are several benefits to working out regularly, and you don’t even need to break a sweat, regular walks are good too!
Why You Should Start Exercising Today
- Weight Loss. If you are trying to lose weight, you need to exercise and build muscle. Building muscle will help you burn more fat and calories. You can’t do one or the other and expect to get results. You may drop weight initially by just eating healthier alone, but eventually you are going to need to start working out so you don’t plateau. Just remember, if you want to lose weight you can’t only exercise either. Weight loss is 80% healthy eating and 20% exercise – you can’t out-run a bad diet!
- Weight Maintenance. So you finally reached your goal weight and you think you are done? Wrong. Maintaining weight is said to be just as hard as losing weight. If you want to keep off the pounds, you are going to need to do some work to keep it off. But don’t worry, as long as you keep exercising and eating healthy, you shouldn’t have a problem maintaining weight.
- Heart Health. Besides eating a healthy diet, exercising is one of the best ways to keep your heart healthy. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week for healthy adults. 150 minutes of moderate exercise would be a 25minute walk per day. 75 minutes of vigorous exercise would be 15minutes of running 5 days a week.
- Endurance. Do you want to be able to keep up with your kids or grandkids? Regular physical activity can help you build the endurance you need to be able to keep up with kids, or your busy schedule.
- Gain Confidence. Exercising regularly makes you feel good. Reaching goals and achieving success fitness-wise will give you a boost of confidence. Every time you run a faster mile or lift heavier weights, you are achieving a new level of success!
- More Energy. Exercising regularly makes you feel more energetic. Always feel exhausted and groggy? Start working out! Almost instantly, you’ll feel that burst of energy. Plus, regular exercise makes you sleep better at night too!
Exercise should be a part of everyone’s lifestyle, just like eating healthy should be our focus in the kitchen! Find some sort of physical activity you love to do and do it regularly. Or you can always just take a nice walk! Either way, make sure you are getting your weekly recommended amount of physical activity! Remember, that’s 150 minutes of moderate activity OR 75 minutes of vigorous activity!
Just in case you need a few more ideas:
