3 Often Overlooked Exercise Benefits | Transformation Wellness For Women

There are few things that offer a greater return on investment than that of exercise.

Sure, exercise can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, but, as with all investments, the key question to ask yourself is: “Is it worth it?”

Of course, my answer as a health and fitness coach is obvious: YES, it’s worth it.

Whenever we embark on a long-term investment journey, whether it is a money investment, relationship investment, or in this case, exercising as a health investment, to stay in the game, you have to keep your eye on the end result – what could be if you keep at it.

And while the long-term gain is important to remember, it’s also vital to have short-term rewards along the way to keep you motivated.

For example, investing regular time and energy into a friendship can reap deep and lasting long-term rewards, but you get short-term rewards along the way as well – a friend who is there to listen to you vent about your bad day, someone to help you shop for an outfit for your upcoming high school reunion, or someone to celebrate with when you have a new grandchild.

The long-term benefits of exercise are clear, but like other worthwhile investments, they require small, consistent commitments.

Otherwise, you simply may not acquire ALL of the benefits.

Today, I want to talk about 3 Often Overlooked Benefits of Exercise that you gain in the short-term.

I believe these three things alone build a strong case for you to continue to make exercise an investment that you find worth the effort on a regular basis.

Overlooked Exercise Benefit #1

A few weeks ago, I released a podcast with Margie Gayle, who is an Integrative Body Psychotherapist.

We talked quite a bit about the importance of the breath, which led me to share with her how I find myself often holding my breath or breathing shallowly.

I don’t have to tell you that these are not ideal breathing practices, but they are things that I do have to be aware of and change when I notice them.

One great thing about exercise is that if you’re working hard enough, you have to take big, deep breaths.

We often talk about exercise as being a great stress release because it releases hormones like dopamine that fills our body with positive feelings.

However, let’s not forget that exercising after a stressful day at work, for instance, can provide relief simply by forcing you to take those big, deep breaths.

Now you know another reason why you feel so satisfied after a good workout – it’s all that oxygen uptake!

Overlooked Exercise Benefit #2

There’s no doubt that you build physical toughness when you work out.

Lifting weights, pushing through the “burn” to complete your reps, and walking on an incline on a treadmill without holding on – stopping not when you’re tired, but when you’re done with your 30 minutes – all builds physical toughness.

Yet, what’s often overlooked is that as you’re building physical toughness, you’re also building mental toughness – the two go hand-in-hand.

What mental toughness is essentially, is resilience, or as author Angela Duckworth titled it in her popular book, Grit.

Grit is your ability to persevere, to endure through difficulties.

Whether it be work matters, relationship issues, or just one of life’s curveballs, we never know when we’re going to need to tap into our grit.

Again, exercise builds physical toughness that translates to mental grit – don’t forget that.

Overlooked Exercise Benefit #3

Last, but not least, keep in mind that because Sleep, Nutrition, Mood (Stress Management), and Exercise are all connected, when you exercise, it makes the other areas come easier.

For example, we know that a good night’s sleep promotes a good mood that day, you’re more likely to make healthy food choices, and you might just be more motivated to exercise.

Likewise, when you get a good workout in, you’re more likely to get a good night’s sleep, wait until you get home to eat dinner (rather than stop for fast food on the way home from work), and, as I mentioned earlier, the release of those “feel-good” hormones you earned during exercise, has probably put you in a better mood as well.

In other words, when you work on improving one health area, you’ll notice that the other areas start improving too, which leads to even greater health advantages.

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