Want to shed those extra pounds? Feel sharper at work and energized at home? Spend more quality time with your spouse? Enjoy dessert without guilt? These are good reasons to exercise every day.
Many people associate exercise with losing weight. But the number on your bathroom scale isn’t the only reason to exercise. If weight loss is your goal, terrific. If it’s your ONLY goal, you may have trouble sticking to a workout.
Exercise provides health benefits far beyond losing weight. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits. Today, we’ll look at nine good reasons to exercise every day.
Let’s dive in.
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What Is Your Motivation?
More people than ever live a sedentary lifestyle, though their reasons for doing so vary. Some say they are too tired to exercise. Others claim they’re too busy and don’t have the time. Many don’t own a single pair of workout shoes.
Gyms can intimidate people, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the machines. Or insecure about their appearance. Or they were never into fitness growing up. There’s even a word for this: gymtimidation.
Here’s the thing. Despite the growing and widespread aversion to exercise, people need movement. When you neglect to move your body, you increase your risk for certain health conditions. Obesity, depression, sleep problems, and more.
Daily activity prevents some of these problems. But until you have a reason to exercise, you likely won’t stick with it. You need a motivating factor to get moving and stay active.
What’s YOUR motivation?
9 Reasons to Exercise Every Day
Having trouble finding the motivation to exercise? Regular exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle, and it can help you live a longer and happier life. While weight loss tops the list for many, your motivation could be something else. Here are nine good reasons to exercise every day.
📋 DISCLAIMER – The content on this website is for general information purposes only. It does not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have health concerns, please see your health care provider.
1. Control Your Weight
We’ll start with weight loss, since that’s where many people start. There’s no doubt exercise can help you lose weight. That’s a given. But it also helps you manage your weight after the pounds come off.
If you’re already at your ideal weight, exercise helps in other ways – which this list covers. But the most obvious one is by burning the excess calories your body would otherwise store as fat.
If you want a leaner, healthier, more attractive body, make exercise part of your daily routine. Use a bathroom scale to track your efforts to lose weight.
A mobile calorie counter is another handy tool for your weight loss journey. MyFitnessPal is a good one to try. It calculates the number of calories you consume from food and those you burn from exercise. Get the FREE calorie counter app for Android or iPhone.
2. Boost Your Mood
Are you stressed out, frustrated, or depressed? Are you always tired and sapped of energy? Do you struggle to sleep? Just one workout session can energize you and boost your mood for hours.
Regular exercise fights fatigue and depression. Many psychotherapists recommend it as part of standard treatment. If you want to feel better all around, make exercise part of your lifestyle.
Exercise produces endorphins, “feel good” chemicals that lift your mood. It also increases your heart rate. This triggers norepinephrine, a chemical that may help you deal with stress better.
Exercise also helps you look better so you can feel better about yourself. It’s the key to healthy skin and a toned body. It firms your muscles, improves your posture, and gives your skin a healthy glow.
Do you struggle with adult acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or other skin condition? Protect your skin before exercising outside. In fact, it’s a good idea for everyone to use sunscreen sport lotion during outdoor activities.
3. Fight Chronic Disease
If you have a chronic condition, you might have questions about exercise. How often should you exercise? What exercises are safe?
The fact is, people with long-lasting disease need exercise. Physical activity helps you cope with your symptoms and improve your total health.
It may also prevent or lower the risk for chronic disease. Chronic conditions include heart disease, osteoporosis, depression, and diabetes.
The National Institutes of Health said exercise can cut the risk of diabetes by 60 percent. So take care of yourself, and make exercise part of your daily life. A low-impact activity like walking is a great place to start.
4. Reduce Sick Days
Do you wake up feeling out of sorts after a restless night? Do you take too many sick days from work, even when you work from home? Besides disease prevention, exercise keeps you fit, strong, and healthy.
Physical exercise is key to reducing colds and upper respiratory infections. It also helps you fight off the flu virus and COVID-19. Active people are less likely to feel sick – and better able to perform – than their sedentary peers. So get moving!
5. Strengthen Your Back
Back pain is a common reason for missed work days and visits to the doctor. In the past, doctors advised people with back pain to get bed rest and avoid physical activity. Today, they encourage gentle movement for most back pain cases.
Your doctor or physical therapist can recommend exercises to strengthen your back muscles. Ask about using a foam roller. For some people, it’s an effective way to stretch and massage tired, sore back muscles.
6. Ease Your Joint Pain
Do you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, other inflammatory joint condition? Arthritis hit me in my 40s, so I feel your pain! It affects my hands, hips, knees, and back – at different times and to different degrees.
Everyone needs exercise, but it’s especially important for people with arthritis. The right exercise can improve strength, lessen pain, and make moving easier.
Of course, it’s hard to think about exercise when your joints are swollen, stiff, and painful. Luckily, there’s no need to run a marathon. Even moderate exercise helps – and activities like raking the leaves or walking the dog count.
Combined with treatment, exercise can enhance quality of life for people with arthritis. It strengthens the muscles around joints and helps maintain bone strength. It increases energy and makes it easier to sleep. And it controls weight and improves mood and balance.
Exercises for arthritis put joints through a full range of motion. Weight training strengthens muscles to support and protect the joints. Ask your doctor about the best exercises for your joint pain. And use anti-slip knee pads for exercise and kneeling support.
7. Sleep Better and Longer
In case you need another reason to exercise, here’s one. Actually, here are two. Physical activity leads to better sleep. And when you get enough sleep, you improve other aspects of your health.
It’s a paradox, isn’t it? Exercise boosts energy, but it also improves sleep. Regular workouts give you energy during the day and restful sleep at night. This, in turn, improves your life.
How does exercise improve your sleep? According to the National Sleep Foundation, it alleviates insomnia by helping you fall asleep faster and stay asleep. It also reduces stress, which can keep you up at night.
Exercise improves your sleep quality by balancing the time you spend in each stage of sleep. Consistent activity increases your total sleep time and reduces daytime sleepiness.
8. Age Gracefully
The clock ticks on as the days grow long, and time stops for no one. You can’t stop the aging process or reverse it. But you can exercise daily to fight the effects of aging and improve your quality of life.
Physical activity is an important part of healthy aging. Exercise improves your strength, energy, and balance. It helps manage and prevent disease like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
Daily activity reduces stress and improves sleep. It helps control weight and blood pressure. It perks up your mood and may improve memory and cognitive function. Some studies suggest exercise may prevent dementia.
No matter your age, you can find activities for your personal needs and fitness level. Include all four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Check out Dynamic Aging for simple exercises for your whole body.
9. Set an Example
You help your children and grandchildren when you set a good example. A commitment to exercise shows them you care about yourself. When you are active, they are more likely to be active, too. And you’ll help ensure that you’ll be around longer for them.
There are many easy and fun ways to build exercise into your daily routine. Find activities to do with your family in all four seasons. For example, take your family mall-walking in the winter. Go bike riding in the spring. Swim laps with kids in the summer. Go hiking in the woods in autumn.
Wrapping It Up
Exercise has SO many benefits – for health, fitness, wellness, and life. But until you have a reason to exercise, you might not stick with it. Now that you know some good reasons to exercise, choose your motivation and get moving! ◻️
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Now It’s Your Turn
Thank you for reading my post. Now it’s YOUR turn to chime in. What motivates you to exercise? What activities will you embrace to improve your health and wellness?
Let’s fill the comments with friendly conversation. Scroll down to leave a response, ask a question, or say hello. And if you like this post, please give it a share.
Blessings, Annette
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