Reasons to Exercise (Other Than Weight Loss)
What Is the Point of Exercise?
What is the first answer that comes to mind when asked, "What is the point of exercise?"
For most, the point is weight loss.
In fact, exercise has been so entangled with the concept of weight loss that populations have lost the ability to consider any other benefits exercise may offer. But there are in fact many reasons to engage in physical activity, such as mood regulation and emotion processing.
Unblocking Your Mind
By moving your body, you can unblock your mind.
If you are struggling with stagnant thoughts, such as ruminating over a breakup or lacking creativity from writer's block, exercise can help unblock your mind.
The combination of changing positions, changing environments, taking in more oxygen, and flushing out toxic byproducts from your cells allows your brain to push past any blockages you may be experiencing. Exercise changes your hormone levels and your physiological state, which in turn changes your mood and your thoughts.
Simply by moving, stretching, lifting weights, or engaging in an active hobby, you can spark creativity and move beyond your block.
Avoiding Injury
Exercise, particularly weight training, strengthens bones and muscles. As we age, this becomes more important for two reasons:
Muscle loss occurs more rapidly
Injuries have greater consequences
Without intervention or routine exercise, we start losing muscle mass in our thirties, and that loss accelerates as we age further. We also become more prone to injuries.
Consider a 20-year-old who experiences a fall versus an 80-year-old. The elderly person is far more likely to suffer an injury, such as a broken hip. This could require surgery, and it could lead to a loss of mobility or independence. However, with consistent exercise, the likelihood of these more dire outcomes decreases.
Exercise helps us to avoid injury. It also helps extended the period in which we have a higher quality of life.
Boosting Your Mood
Exercise releases endorphins, which reduce anxiety and boost your mood.
Also, exercising increases your need for oxygen, so you inherently breathe deeply, activating your vagus nerve. This activation shuts down your fight-or-flight stress response, allowing you to experience calm and clarity. Beyond that, freeing your energy and body response from stress allows your systems to focus on digestion and repair.
You feel better mentally when you exercise because of the immediate shift in hormones and the longer-term repair of your internal tissues. You experience better sleep, fewer aches and pains, and less fatigue.
Some Exercise Options
Active Hobbies | Outdoor Movement | Indoor Movement |
Rec sports | Hiking | Body weight exercises |
Dancing | Jogging | Local gym |
Martial arts | Skiing/Snowboarding | Home gym |
Rock climbing | Swimming | Yoga |
Tai chi | Walking | Group fitness |
Geocaching | Parkour | Barre/Pilates |
Gymnastics | Bike riding | Weight lifting |
Processing Emotions
When you experience high-stress events, trauma, or strong emotions, your body is flooding your system with adrenaline and activating the sympathetic nervous system. This response is beneficial for helping you be alert, but when you want to process these emotions and move forward with your life, you must turn off this system.
As mentioned above, exercising activates the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system. Exercise also helps you burn off that adrenaline that flooded your system.
Emotions are feelings, but they are also associated with certain hormones and physiological responses.
To move through negative emotions and process trauma or strong feelings, you must burn off and turn off the hormones and responses related to those negative emotions. Exercise does this.
Enhancing Your Memory and Brain Performance
Exercise encourages the growth and health of new brain cells.
Exercise also reduces the risk of dementia, enhances memory, and boosts brain function. These are benefits that can't be gained through diet alone.
Given that jobs and careers in modern-day times are focused on our brain performance, boosting that performance can lead to better jobs, promotions, and better finances. For children, it can lead to better school performance.
Making Exercise Positive
It can be difficult for some to form a positive association with exercise. This might stem from not looking like the fitness models shown in social media posts. It also may stem from not feeling successful if weight loss does not result instantaneously.
Shifting your mindset to encourage positivity around exercise can take time. Here are a few ways to help you make that shift:
Select a form of exercise you enjoy
Wear clothes that feel comfortable
Remind yourself of the benefit you are hoping to achieve (not related to weight loss)
Reward yourself for completing a workout
Ask your family or friends to engage in exercise with you
Don't overdo it
Make it purposeful
One mistake people often make is assuming they have to exercise at a high intensity. However, frequent, very low-intensity exercise has been shown to be even more beneficial for one's health. Just getting up every 30 minutes or so and moving around is actually incredibly beneficial for longevity.
Creating a new mental image of what exercise looks like is vital to making it feel positive.
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