Benefits of Physical Fitness

I’ve been working out now for nigh ten years and it’s been a massive part of my life for all that time. When someone asks me why I work out, this tends to lead to epic rant that can last for hours. So you’re reading an article about the benefits of physical fitness written by it’s number one fan… prepare for an epic rant.

So just what are the benefits of physical fitness? What makes those hours and hours of gruelling work under the weights or on the tarmac worth it? Well it’s a long list. Physical fitness you see changes absolutely every aspect of your life, it makes you look and feel healthier, it makes you more capable, closer to your potential, it makes others stand up and take notice and it makes you feel confident and ready. Plus you can run a really long way or pick up lots of heavy things without getting out of breath.

When you see a guy or girl on TV in an advert or in one of those big budget dramas or films, chances are he or she has done a lot of work to get himself into that shape. He’s not Mr Universe, or Neil Armstrong, but without watching his diet and occasionally getting into the gym he would never have got the part. If you want to look desirable in order to sell something, you need to look healthy. Unfortunately, so backwards and mollycoddling is our society, that they then blame the media for making us feel insecure or insufficient. They blame the media for depression and for anorexia. But would you really be as likely to watch a movie where the hero was trying to pull a twenty stone woman? Would you be as likely to want an Omega if it was sponsored by Johnny Vegas instead of Bond?

There’s another solution – rather than complaining until the media is forced to hide the alternative to unhealthiness from us, why not do something about it and attain some kind of physical fitness yourself? When I watch an advert for Calvin klein, or see a cover of Men’s Health, I don’t feel inadequate – instead I find myself critiquing their physique. Good abs but the obliques could do with some work… they always forget the obliques! You see when you have good physical fitness yourself you can feel in with that crowd, proud and confident of your physique and start to feel successful and attractive as a result.

And then you will be able to sell things. I don’t mean you’ll be on TV selling underwear and Joop, but you’ll be able to sell yourself on a day to day basis. As you appear healthier you’ll instantly broadcast a healthy lifestyle and good genetics and people will want to hear from you – everything you say will be given extra credibility. It will help you in business, in romance and in your private life. You’ll be displaying to women that you’re better genetic material and to your boss or interviewer. Not only will you look healthier though, but you’ll act more confident as a result.

Confidence is a big benefit of physical fitness and a good physique will help you to appear more imposing just as you’ll begin standing with your chest puffed further out and lats spread more heroically. When you speak people will instantly pay more attention as it’s spoken from someone who has some physical authority in the room.

So being physically fit will drastically improve your confidence and get others to stand up and take notice of your success and health. It’ll help you progress you career and it’ll help you to attract members of the opposite sex. Really though, all these things are just side effects; the real benefits of physical fitness are in how it changes your body.

Firstly, increasing your physical fitness will prevent you from getting out of breath so easily. This will help you in a variety of tasks, enable you to walk and jog places without nearly keeling over, and will mean that you win all sorts of competitions and sports. Sick of being the weakest link in your five-a-side team? Improving your physical fitness will put an end to that. Furthermore, being physically fitter will lessen your chances of suffering from various unpleasant conditions including insomnia, diabetes, cholesterol and heart disease. If you’re overweight, or weedy and malnutritioned then you are at risk from a variety of life threatening ailments. On the flip side, benefits of physical fitness include stronger bones, better sleep, more energy, quicker reflexes, better immunity to disease, healthier skin and hair… your whole body will be transformed as you kick start it and propel it back into action.

Being stronger is also a great form of self defence which also gives you extra confidence. If you look weedy or overweight then you’ll be a target when you’re walking around the streets at night, but if you look like your made up of more muscle and have the fitness required to run then most muggers or trouble makers will move on to easier targets. Then if they do attack you you’ll be able to handle yourself far better – even if that just means running away and wearing them out. The same applies in pub brawls and if you’re younger, in the playground, and the sense of confidence it gives you makes training worth it on its own.

Working out doesn’t just improve your body though, there are also many psychological benefits of physical fitness. Firstly, exercise will improve your mood through the release of endorphins (responsible for the so-called ‘runner’s high’) that numb pain and leave you feeling euphoric and calm – they offer a great natural alternative to anti depressants or just a quick energy and mood boost. Similarly exercise stimulates the release of growth hormone and testosterone – both of which have many benefits (growth hormone repairs wounds and improves sleep while testosterone will increase your drive and determination). Testosterone even improves your sexual performance meaning everyone will notice the transformation if you work on your physical fitness.

As though that wasn’t enough, the benefits of physical fitness also extend to intelligence and regular cardiovascular activity has been shown to increase performance on IQ tasks. Furthermore recent studies have suggested that exercise stimulates neurogenesis (the birth of new brain cells) in the hippocampus (a part of the brain that’s largely responsible for memory). In other words then, working out will improve every aspect of yourself, you’ll have more energy, sex drive, sex, brain cells, strength, confidence, and skills. The benefits of physical fitness are in short all-encompassing.