The Immense Benefits Of Physical Fitness For Your Overall Being
“Exercise is the most potent and underrated antidepressant.” -Bill Phillips
Fitness and its culture has always been a staple in my life, as well as one of my very few passions. From an early age, there was something rewarding about the feeling of overcoming a controlled adversity. There is always this underlying feeling of personal growth and satisfaction in tearing yourself down physically, to build yourself back up, better than the day before. It’s poetic and even symbolic in so many ways.
Despite knowing it’s positive effects on the mind, body and spirit, there have been times where I let life get in the way instead of forcing the prioritization of it, and soon afterwards would feel the spiral of downward effects. First it’s missing a few workouts, then sloppier meals, sugar drinks and snacks, then beating myself up for it instead of holding myself accountable, admitting my faults and forgiving myself for it. Every time my mental health would start to feel like it wasn’t comfortable, it typically was when my physical health would start to slip as well. Now, after the complete revamps I’ve made in my life, I’ve put fitness back into my priority list as well as little goals each session to achieve, and in one week it’s amazing how far forward the correct type of movement can do for you. For me, I feel like the steady improvements made in my strength as well as physique reflect a lot of character and discipline, which are essentials for pouring over into our lives and becoming our best self. So, how can this article help you? Effectively, if you allow it. Here’s how: we’re going to break down the reason for it; how exercise affects our mind and body, and different types of fitness that can be best suited for your level of enjoyment and personal development.
First, let's look at the importance of improving physical health for our overall being and health.
It’s important to address as well, many other elements besides physical exercise can affect our mental health. You’ve probably been told at least once that “you are what you eat”, but I would argue that we are way more than that. We are also what we do, what we believe, as well as a product of our enviorment. We’re not always our thoughts, because everybody will continue to experience the mental challenges and obstacles of life, but it’s up to us to choose how we react to it and how we experience them. One guarantee I agree on that would shock more people if they were consciously aware of, is that we ARE our habits too, and those habits can have a negative effect on our mind and body, as well as spirit.
For example, if we make it a habit of not having healthy or consitent sleep habits, we start to see a cycle of feeling of being more tired and exhausted. Then that level of exhaustion can cause issues with how we choose to cope with our daily life, looking harder for more comfort in the things around us and other outlets (over/under eating, smoking, addictions, etc.) instead of feeling the comfort from sleep Then those can spiral down into lower and lower feelings of self-esteem as well as increase the feelings of stress and/or worry towards the things or people around us. And that’s just one habit of not getting enough sleep. That one negative habit repeated over and over can easily and steadily start to derail anybody. So what would happen if we started exercising, and made it a habit? Let’s look at immediate and short, along with long term effects we can see from physical exercise.
Immediately, with proper exercises under safe conditions, a reduction of stress is one of the biggest and most helpful feelings that we can gain from challenging our bodies. Regardless of the circumstances, exercise can be a wonderful outlet for people dealing with high stress or easily overstimulated. Bad day at work? Sounds like a workout can help clear your thoughts. Feeling like you have so many thoughts but can’t catch any? Exercise! Then you’ll be able to better and more peacefully gather yourself. And thanks to the American Psychological Association, we learned exercise also leads to an increase of norepinephrine, a chemical that can moderate your brain’s response to stress. Meaning, you can also learn how to cope and manage stress from outside and internal events better! More vigorous and challenging exercise have also been showns to increase levels of a protein called BDNF, which helps decision making, learning as well as higher thinking. You can also expect to start feeling levels of self confidence rise as well; after doing something you set and overcoming the small steps and obstacles, there yields a reward of immediate satisfaction of taking one step closer towards your physical goal.
Of course too, physical exercise also provides a solution in many other categories in the long run as well. When aligned with a proper nutritious diet and appropriate lifestyle, physical exercise will do as we know, and make an impact on your weight management, fat loss and build muscle. You can also develop and maintain strong cardiometabolic health as well improve your heart and lung health, improve bone strength and overall density. The CDC also confirmed that exercises can also play a huge role in the aid of prevention in eight different forms of cancer. Yes, you read that right. Eight. (Bladder, Breasts, Colon, Endometrium, Esophagus, Kidney, Lung and Stomach)
With all the possible benefits and only your health and its improvements, why aren’t more people doing it, right? Why don’t most people start, especially when they know that it’s better for them if they do?
The overwhelming answer is usually the same.
No idea how to start, or where. And honestly, how could you complain? The market is entirely too saturated with fitness influencers promoting whatever they do, whatever they take, and too much content with almost nobody actually saying anything useful or meaningful. And the over-abundance found on most platforms makes that first step harder to take, because other ways will have you thinking that first step will make you slip and fall because you didn’t buy their programs or their supplements.
As an expert, and as someone who has refined my own philosophy and own structure on achieving fitness goals over the years as well as program myself and others to success in their health goals and journey, I’m here to tell you know that taking the first step, regardless of how you approached it, is still taking the first step and that puts you SO much farther than you before you started, and way ahead of the people that never started. And in that first step, you’ve also conquered the hardest challenge: STARTING! And with that being said, let’s see how you can help take your first steps, rather new or new again, in your journey and how you can implement exercise to improve more than your quality life, but start to transform your physical health and find a form of fitness you prefer to help you.
Walking
Perhaps the simpliest, and easiest. This one is still a favorite for myself because 1. It can be done literally anywhere, and 2. Requires zero talent or skill. Rather it’s on a treadmill, or outside at a park, nature, on a hike, it doesn’t matter at all. Even if you take small walks after eating, walking will help your digestion and your food breakdown more efficently by putting your body in a simple state of motion versus sitting and letting your food sit and weigh you down. Rather it’s taking a walk outside or walking after you eat, walking is an amazing and simple way to start. This can also be a great way to practice starting mindfulness as well as gratitude.
Tips for Walking: Start! If you don’t know where to begin your journey in fitness, this is the easiest and requires zero talent. When you do so, take your time to be mindful of your enviorment and express as much gratitude as you can think while performing, and you’ll see a simple function turned therapetuic in some senses.
Forms of Walking: Rucks (power walking with a weighted backpack), Hiking, Power-Walking, Walking with a consitent tempo, Walking with very light weights
Jogging/Running
An increase in difficulty from walking, but still just as simply put, is just increasing the tempo from walking. Jogging and running can be as simple or complex as you want to. You can jog for 2 minutes, walk for 1 if you’re ready to increase difficulty from walking (or jog 1 minute and walk 30 seconds if wanting to start more safely) and repeat. Or you can build towards something like running 200m and resting one minute and repeating for 6 sets. This can evolve however you want it to and like it to, so how far you want to go is up to you. I can say though, honestly and effectively from experience, unbelievable mental grit can be built from training to being a runner. If that’s a self-challenge you would look forward to accepting, then maybe consider the training in becoming a runner!
Tips for Jogging/Running: Start slow, and do not burn out immediately! Even if your jogging speed is barely above or right at walking, do not exhaust yourself by going too hard too soon. Stay hydrated and just focus on taking your next steps one at a time.
Forms of Jogging/Running: Recovery Runs (short runs at an easy pace to aid in overallrecovery, great for weightlifters looking to add cardio steadily in their mix), Sprints, Hill Sprints or Interval Running, Base Runs, Tempo Runs
Strength Training
Ah yes, my bread and butter. This is my personal favorite form of fitness, the one I’m the most certain and confident on, due to history, knowledge and overall specialization. Strength Training doesn’t have to be doing Heavy Deadlifts for reps, or lifting an Atlas Stone over your head. Strength Training can be doing bodyweight squats in your living room. Even carrying more groceries in fewer trips is not only a form of Strength Training, but a great way to teach what progressive overload is! There is something so achieving of learning to battle something that’s always going to be constent and coming back each time with more reps and digging in to building your health and mental grit this way. Strength training can also be effective in not just muscular strength, but improving tendon and ligament health as well as mobility if perfromed correctly under the correct supervision.
Tips for Strength Training: Do NOT go too heavy too soon if you’re lifting weights, and don’t attempt what you cannot achieve. What I mean is, if you’re brand new to this, do not start with finding out your max Deadlift, if you have no idea how to properly perform a Deadlift. Start light, and make sure your technique is correct before continuing with weight progression. Even if you do sets up to 100 reps curling 5lbs Dumbbells and next workout seeing how many you do with 7.5lbs, is WAY better than maxing out your Squat, then adding more weight if you do not know how to properly perform the movement.
Forms of Strength Training: Calisthenics (bodyweight strength training), Weightlifting, Bodybuilding/Physique/Bikini-Prep, Powerlifting, Crossfit
Yoga
If you seek exercise, while seeking inner peace and deeper understanding, I do not think there could be a better or more beautiful form of physical art than Yoga. Yoga was originally and purely a spiritual practice (really though, still is) that involves different physical poses, deep and steady breathing and concentration. You can expect more than just benefits of strength, balance, coordination along with flexibility, but as well as a pool of mental benefits as well as calmness, mindfulness, heightened feelings of gratitude as well.
Tips for starting Yoga: 1. You don’t comform to the poses, the poses conform to you. You do what you can with the mobility you have each session and steadily improve what you can offer, to the best of your abilities. Don’t stretch too hard, too soon, when you can’t. 2. Maintain a Steady, and Deep Breathing The Whole Session. This was the best thing I learned with both Yoga and meditation, and it was originally advice from my dad, who’s one of the most knowledgeable Yogi’s I know. When I asked him and my mom more about how I could incorporate Yoga into my training, he said “the trick is to find your breath, and keep it consitent the whole ride through. Once you find that, the peace is like no other." And sure enough, my first session before bed, focusing more on my breath than the stretches, felt magical. 11/10 euphoria.
Forms of Yoga: Power Yoga, Hot Yoga (Yoga at a much higher temperature), Aerial Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Restoritive Yoga, Pranayama
Pilates
Recently, I began to open up more to Pilates, especially after having low back pain on and off for so many years. On top of its rehabilitation benefits, it is also amazing exercise! Pilates helps fine create optimal and highly functional strength, while equally tuning neuromuscular patterns through muscular balance. This will also build one helluva strong and toned core! This can be incorporated into any current fitness plan, or entirely on its own! Regardless, tremendous benefit can be made in overall function and performance with Pilates!
Tips for starting Pilates: Faster is not better. Not in any of the forms mentioned above, especially here. Even though certain movements can feel like an absolute ass beating while learning how to do it right, breathe, and assure the quality of your movements.
Forms of Pilates: Classical Pilates. Winsor Pilates, Stott, Reformer Pilates, Mat Pilates, Reformer Pilates, Contemporary Pilates
Martial Arts/Combative Fitness
This one may seem the most intimidating, but if you can overcome the initial nerves and jitters in doing your first class in whatever discipline, this will create a level of confidence that can’t be compared or gained anywhere else. My brother and I had a universal saying growing up, “I don’t care if you if you can throw a football farther, run faster, jump higher, if I can beat your ass, it doesn’t matter what you can do better than me.”
… Now, I’m older and not as angry or as giiant of an ego, I still do hold a degree of truth and empowerment in that statement. Even if you’re not intending to fight someone, and even if you only learn simple strikes, or spar/grapple under the safest rules, you’re not only overcoming physical obstacles, you’re literally fighting back against your limitations! Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is what I would recommend the most, due to its openness to all ages, accepting of regardless of your physical state, deep philosophy in training, discipline as well as effectiveness, but that isn’t to say you may not love something like Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai or overall MMA Classes!
Tips for Martial Arts/Combative Fitness Classes: Show up first. The first step is scariest, but you went get your ass absolutely demolished on Day 1 unless your ego really needs it. Be open, be honest, and don’t think you ever need to be at a certain element from the start. You’d be amazed how welcoming some martial art communities can be! Even taking a fitness class on YouTube can be empowering if starting in an MMA or Martial Arts enviorment is too intimidating.
Types of Martial Arts and Combative Fitness: Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Boxing
Dance
This one can be a fun one for multiple reasons; you can do a specific art, you can do a fitness type like Zumba or classes like that, you can go dancing with other people, or you can turn on music and not worry about anybody or anything. Dancing is freeing in so many ways and with so many different forms and classes avaliable online, there’s no real bad step to go here! Dance like an idiot again and feel the self-love start to build. It’s an empowering art form.
Tips for Dancing: I’ve been told I dance like a stripper and that there is zero reason, on this plane of existence and other realms, that a man of my build should have hips that move so smoothly and efficiently while dancing. So maybe I’m not the ideal candidate of advice on this one (or maybe the absolute best, however you choose to see it) But I would advice to embrace looking ridiculous if you do and go in with an open mind and heart! Just like our ancestors, be free with it!
Types of Dancing: Line Dancing, Contemporary Dance, Ballet, Zumba, Ballroom, Salsa, Hip-Hop Dance, Tap-Dance, Jazz Dance, Belly Dance, Swing
On that note, it’s important to advise that if you feel any pain (not discomfort, pain) stop immediately. Make sure you are safe to perform whatever form of fitness you choose, as well as safe to continue. Above all, listen to what your body needs. If you’re still sore from a tough Leg Day, and it’s time to train Legs again, rest. No goal is so important that you need to sacrifice your being to achieve. Please drink plenty of water and also follow a diet rich in overall nutrients for yourself.
With many years of being heavily involved in fitness, self coaching my way to high levels, becoming a trainer and helping others achieve their levels of success, I’ve experienced many different forms of how we can transform ourselves and the power we can embody when staying with a discipline. And fitness is no doubt one of the overall best ways to develop yourself, mentally, physically, spiritually no matter who you are or where you are. Don’t exercise because you hate how you look or don’t love something about yourself; do it because you do love yourself and you respect yourself enough to give your body the love it also deserves. May this provide a more clear path for you to confidently start somewhere you love and continue to grow.
Keep kicking ass and taking names, y’all! Be proud of all the efforts you’re making on your journey. Fighting is winning.
