We all know that exercise is good for us – nobody ever regrets doing a workout,

because we all know how much better we feel afterwards (even though painful is an

understatement when we are in the middle of our fourth set of push-ups and our trainer

then kindly informs us that jump squats are next…) – I’ve compiled a fun list of 10

reasons to exercise, so you can refer back to it the next time you are considering not

showing up for your workout and remind yourself of why it’s worth doing!

1) Exercise is a workout for your brain too! Regular exercise helps to improve your

mental functioning and boost mental clarity – which allows you to be more productive in

your daily life. This is because exercise increases your heart rate which allows for more

oxygen to be pumped to your brain, and exercise also increases levels of serotonin – a

feel good hormone – in the brain.

2) Leading on from our previous fact involving serotonin, exercise can help reduce

stress in your life by boosting the production of hormones called endorphins in your

brain, these endorphins relieve pain and give off feelings of euphoria! Combine this with

the confidence boost exercise instils within us and you are well on your way to a more

relaxed life.

3) Exercise helps you sleep better! Working out can help to relieve symptoms of

insomnia, improve the quality of your sleep and increase the time you spend asleep. We

have already covered how exercise can reduce stress, and stress is a key factor in

contributing to a restless night, and when you are physically active your energy

expenditure is higher, which makes you more ready to rest at the end of the day.

Overall, exercise has been proven to increase time spent in the most physically

restorative sleep phase of “deep sleep” – deep sleep helps your immune functioning and

supports your heart health.

4) Exercise, when combined with a healthy diet, can make you live longer! Research

has been proven time and time again that regular exercise helps to ward off life

threatening ailments such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high

cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, dementia, osteoporosis, cancer and more. Who

wouldn’t want that?!

5) Perhaps the most fun fact of all is fact number five, exercise enables you to eat more!

Working out helps to build muscle in your body, and muscle burns more calories pound

for pound than fat, meaning the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic

rate is and the higher your body’s need for energy is – and of course exercise in general

burns calories which will naturally increase your appetite. Just remember to still be kind

to your body and make wise food choices when you get the munchies post workout – of

course you can still treat yourself to your favourite cookie every now and then, but make

sure that 80% of your diet is based around nourishing whole foods to help fuel you

through your training!