CONQUER LIFE BY SETTING YOUR FITNESS GOAL

We’ve found some research that could change the way you see fitness. Most of us know how much fitness helps your health, but did you know that being active can also help you conquer your life’s goals?

A study of people training for a marathon in New York found that regular exercise improves people’s goal setting. Which makes sense. How? Because you need organisation and discipline – both at work and in other areas of your life. Kicking your habit of laziness could also help you ditch other vices. A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that smokers who exercised were twice as likely to quit and stay cigarette free than those who didn’t do any exercise.

Exercising and setting a business goal will energise you, makes you focus and give you self-confidence.

This is about you and your goal setting, but what happens when you are with a partner for a long time? Did you know that married couples do significantly less exercise? While marriage comes with plenty of health benefits, research suggests that singletons are much more likely to follow a regular exercise routine than those who are married. A poll commissioned by the Department of Health found that only 27 percent of adults they questioned met the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week and, of these, 76 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women were married. The researchers suggested that this is because married people ‘let themselves go’ as they become more comfortable with each other.

This then, is a call for families – as the best way to teach our kids to keep healthy is to be healthy. If we want to enjoy life to the fullest, we need to motivate the ones we love. Have a look at what is going on at home and try to set goals as a couple or family. It might seem difficult initially, but it could open your mind to a new way of life. Ultimately, it is all about mind-setting and changing habits.

Here’s some motivating facts to help you:

1- Exercise boosts brain power. It increases energy levels and serotonin in the brain, which leads to improved mental clarity.

2- Movement melts away stress. As much as it may stress you out just to think about exercising, once you actually start working out, you’ll experience less stress in every part of your life. Exercise produces a relaxation response that serves as a positive distraction. You’re not the only person who will benefit from more happiness and less stress in your life. When you’re less stressed, you’re less irritable – and that could improve relationships with your partner, kids and co-workers (Atkinson).

3- Exercise gives you energy. When endorphins are released into your bloodstream during exercise, you’ll feel much more energised for the rest of the day. The physical tiredness you feel after working out isn’t the same as everyday fatigue. Besides, once your body adjusts to exercise, you’ll have more energy than ever
Many people start exercising to lose weight, but it’s by no means the only benefit of an exercise programme. So whatever your weight loss goal is when starting a fitness programme, don’t make it your only goal. Strive to feel better, have more energy and be less stressed. Think about the small things that exercise does for you, rather than getting hung up on the narrow goal of decreasing the numbers on the scale.