This is what really happens Once you Start Exercising
To exercise or not? Does it really work? What happens when you do? Should you be running to the gym to get that dream body? Keep reading because you’re about to find out all the answers to these questions.
The first thing you need to know is that yes! Exercise does work. The only downside to this is that you only start seeing visible changes after a month.
Articles and videos that would tell you, “do this workout routine in three days and you’ll see changes” are all lies because that isn’t possible.
You want to make your exercise work for you? Then do this. First set your goal. This may sound generic but your exercise can’t work if you don’t know exactly what you want. Do you want a bigger butt? Do you want more thighs? Do you want to correct a walking posture? Set that goal!
After setting your goal, your next step is to put in the work. I know sometimes exercising isn’t easy. You want to work out and you have the zeal for it but most times when you start, you just find yourself giving up. Do you know why that is? Well that’s because you are not doing the right exercise for your body.
A common mistake most people make is that they start exercising based on videos they watch online but not based on what is fit for their body. For instance, you could watch a video online that says that running for 50 miles per day is good for your body and then you start doing it but find out that anytime you try it, you feel like dying and so you give up because you think exercise isn’t for you.
Now that you know this, let’s talk about what really happens when you start exercising and why you need to start exercising now.
Sometimes, people have this misconception that exercise is helpful only when you want to burn unnecessary fat. Well, this isn’t so because exercise has a lot of other benefits. For instance, do you know that exercise can help to relieve stress or lift your spirits when you’re depressed?
Research shows that exercise can help you reduce the stress hormone known as cortisol while at the same time increase the levels of feel- good chemicals in your body like serotonin and endorphins. When this happens, it helps to manage people suffering from anxiety and treatment plan. So when next you feel anxious or you feel depressed about life because nothing seems to be working out for you, try exercising. You’ll find out when you do this, it helps to keep your mind off your worries and put you in a good mood.
Exercise also helps you to sleep better and at the same time adds to your confidence. Exercise doesn’t just benefit you physically like helping you look fit, lose weight or gain more muscle. It helps you on a deeper and a more emotional level. You could as well brand exercise as the miracle drug that helps to reduce insomnia, memory loss, depression and Parkinson’s disease amongst others.
You probably don’t believe me because you’re wondering how all these is possible. Well, as I said earlier, your body naturally produces hormones when you exercise. Anytime these hormones are produced, each hormone in their own way helps to reduce stress levels. By the way, these hormones have a name. They are called Brain- Derived-Neurotropic- Factor, BDNF.
This is because you have just increased your heart rate which has helped to boost the flow of oxygen and blood to your brain. This in turn releases a special brain cell known as Dopamine which is responsible for motivation. Anytime you feel lazy or unmotivated, its because you lack dopamine, so if you want to try increasing its level then try exercising. Remember, the key is to do what works for your body as earlier mentioned.
I talked briefly on the physical benefits of exercise before getting to the emotional benefits and I’ll just like to say a few things about the physical benefits before we carry on.
First, exercise helps to increase your energy once you start. For instance, after a week’s cardio, you will notice that you have increased energy as a result of a rise in metabolism and mitochondria.
The second physical benefit I want us to talk about is weight loss and muscle gain. I bet you’re wondering how this is possible. Well, it's possible with the help of Mitochondria which are parts of your cells that convert fats, carbs and protein into fuel that helps your muscles to do their job. This is why you can notice a change in your fitness after about two months of workout.
If ordinarily, you can’t lift a weight of 3kg, you’ll find out that it’s now possible to lift a weight of 5kg. Your muscles become stronger as you progress, hence the changes. Now, I'm curious to know, do you exercise? If you do, what are the reasons for your exercise? Do you find it helpful or do you find yourself giving up immediately when you start? Please let me know in the comment section below.
You’ve been such a good subscriber so I have a tip to give you. Do you know that if you exercise for a long time, let’s say a period of six months whilst concentrating mainly on cardio, then you would have a 20 percent increase in your overall VO2 max. If you’re not familiar with the term VO2, it is a fitness indicator that measures the heart rate at which your body transports oxygen to your muscles. And when this VO2 increases, it means you’ll be able to do things better. For instance, you can run better in a shorter time span.
Once you start exercising, your blood pumps more and your heart rate increases. This process also helps to reduce your chance of getting a heart attack so if you know someone prone to heart attacks or if you are, then start exercising today. This won’t happen from a week’s exercise though. It is only possible when you have exercised for about six months. Exercise would also increase the supply of blood to your brain which ends up making it work better. It makes you focus better and can actually help to improve your learning and memory.
Now, let’s go to the other benefits of exercise that are not physical and which you probably didn’t know about. Exercise can help you sleep better. Are you shocked by this information? Well restlessness and insomnia is often caused by anxiety and depression. Anytime you exercise and you release the endorphins and dopamine we earlier talked about, your anxiety reduces which makes it possible for you to sleep. So if you find yourself restless and anxious especially at midnight, then why don’t you try doing a few exercises and get back to me in the comments on if it was helpful or not.
Exercise would help with your confidence and self-esteem level because when you exercise and you feel good about yourself, you’ll find out that you are now more confident. It is not everything you need to go to the hospital for and get drugs. Why don’t you try exercising more and you’ll be surprised at how helpful it would be.
I hope these benefits have helped to convince you to start exercising. I would like to add one important thing you should avoid when exercising which is over exerting yourself. In simpler terms, this means doing too much. Don’t go and say “since exercise can help with my depression, I would do it morning, afternoon and night”.
Start exercising today! Once you start, you may find out that you feel sore, your energy levels have increased overtime, you’re hungrier than usual, your skin may break out, and there are times you want to quit. Well, don’t worry too much about all these because they are perfectly normal. Keep going at your own pace and make it part of your everyday style.