What are the benefits of keeping fit?

The physical benefits of exercise might seem obvious, but it’s always worth spelling them out. Getting regular exercise makes your whole system work better, from your cardio-vascular machinery to your digestion to every joint and vein in your body. It builds up your strength and makes your blood pump around your body, improving the flow of nutrients in and waste products out. It improves your posture and stamina and is probably even better than dieting at helping you to lose weight.

But regular exercise brings much more than physical benefits. After only a couple of sessions, the effect on your energy levels is remarkable. With regular exercise, getting out of bed in the morning seems a much easier proposition, and your energy throughout the day will surprise you. You’ll concentrate better, feel more alert, and be much calmer when dealing with problems.

This effect on stress is one of the most remarkable and rewarding results of regular exercise. Whether it’s to do with the release of endorphins into the system during exercise or just because you’re standing up straight and strong and everything’s working, the certain fact is that you become far less prone to stress. When you’re getting exercise, situations that previously might have seemed like great mountains of trouble become simply obstacles to be put in their place and dealt with.

As well as the benefits afterwards, while you’re doing the exercise can also be a surprisingly useful moment for solving problems or coming up with ideas. It may be because you’re not usually talking to anyone and have no other distractions, or because the regular breathing involved in exercise gets your mind working in a different way, a little like meditation or yoga, but tough problems often seem to work themselves out while you’re exercising. New perspectives can be considered, issues dealt with and resolutions made. And, even if they’re not, the rhythmic sound of your breathing and the regular thumping of the blood in your ears can be very calming.

The other benefit of exercise, once you get over the initial shock of rediscovering your muscles, lungs, limbs and sweat, is that it’s enjoyable. Whether you’re on the road, in the water, on a treadmill or on a yoga mat, you’re strengthening your body, freeing up your mind, reclaiming an important part of your life and having fun too.