Summer’s here, and just like clockwork, more people are out walking, biking, and getting active. And for good reason.
Do you cringe at the idea of exercise? Do you feel like it might take too much time, is boring, or too much work? It doesn’t have to be a chore – and there’s a lot of excellent reasons to get active regularly.
Why exercise at all? Check out these Reasons – and at the end, see a few easy ways to get active:
Reason #1: Burn Fat – Immediately.
This is obvious, but when your body works harder, it burns more fat. Taking a leisurely walk burns 175 calories per hour. Walk a bit more briskly, and you jump up to 250 calories per hour. Walk with purpose (about 4 miles an hour), and you’re burning around 300 calories per hour (of course, it depends on how much you weigh).
Reason #2: Get Stronger.
Exercising makes your muscles work. And when they do, they repair themselves to be stronger. Stronger muscles make you feel stronger, lighter, and put a spring in your step. And don’t worry, unless you’re working out specifically to get bulky muscles, you won’t. It actually takes a LOT of effort to make your muscles bulky….
Reason #3: Get Firmer.
Stronger muscles are also firmer and leaner. When your muscles are firmer, you feel stronger, firmer, leaner, and more fit – because you ARE more fit!
Reason #4: Burn More Fat – All the Time.
This is one of the double-benefits of exercise that makes it so worthwhile. Not only do you burn fat during exercise, there’s an added bonus: When you exercise, your muscles get stronger. And, when your muscles get stronger, they burn more fat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Reason #5: You’ll Sleep better.
The fact is that when you exercise, there’s all kinds of extra benefits, and sleeping better is just one of them. Your body is more relaxed, and needs the rest. These things together help you to sleep better.
Reason #6: You’ll Eat Better (maybe).
This one’s tricky – you have to pay attention on this one – because while studies show that people who exercise vigorously lose more weight, studies have also shown that people who exercise lightly tend to lose LESS weight than those that exercise vigorously – even less than people who don’t exercise at all. Why? Because when you exercise lightly, you tend to feel like you deserve to eat a bit more. But when you exercise vigorously, your mindset changes, and you want to eat better to make sure all that work isn’t for nothing!
Reason #7: You’ll Feel better.
Who wouldn’t feel better when they were stronger, leaner, sleeping better, burning fat all the time, and eating better? Your mood will improve, you’ll have more self confidence, and you’ll have a brighter outlook on life.
Tips for Getting Active
Getting active can mean a lot of things. Simple things like parking away from the building and walking farther than you normally would, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, to more dedicated activities like going to the gym or doing P90x at home are all ways to get active. Of course the more effort you put in, the more results you will get – but don’t feel as though you can’t get active just because you don’t have time. You CAN get more active without spending more time. For example, just ramping up your housecleaning from leisurely to vigorous effort increases your activity and burns an extra 150 calories per hour. Carrying extra weight increases your activity and burns more calories – so something as simple as throwing a couple of heavy books in a bag and carry them with you when you walk will make a difference. Walking more, taking the stairs more, and using the hand basket instead of the push cart at the store all are simple things you can do right now to increase your activity.