How Fitness Leads to a Better Quality of Life

Achieving optimal health and fitness doesn’t seem like an important feat at this point in your life. Your top priorities could range from earning more money, having better relationships or in general, living a longer, happier life. Well, the good news is that you can have all those just by being fit and healthy. Yes, making your fitness your priority can positively impact all those areas of your life that you desire to be successful in. It’s like hitting several birds with one stone. Meanwhile, if you solely focus on making more money and become too busy to exercise or eat right, then your health can suffer and you can end up broke paying off hospital bills. The same is true with happiness. You cannot enjoy and celebrate life when you are sick because you will be too worried about your physical well-being to get out there and have some fun.

Obviously, the only way to go is to achieve health first in order for the rest to follow. Here is how fitness can help you attain a better quality of life – the kind of life that you have been dreaming about.

 

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Your physical health first

What will you gain by being fit and healthy? The first and most important benefit of healthiness is physical prowess and being free from debilitating illness. You are actually putting yourself at risk when you do not do anything to make even the most minimal forms of exercise. A study on adults and their sedentary lifestyles showed that those who watched more than 4 hours of TV a day increased their death risks due to variable causes by 46% and death by cardiovascular disease at 80%. Longevity is another factor that is adversely affected when you do not take time to exercise or eat nutritious foods. The body will slowly lose it strength and stamina. The body’s ability to function in an optimal manner will also diminish.

On the other hand, those who are active physically and are able to maintain a healthy weight can live approximately 7 years longer than the sedentary, obese ones. Moreover, physical activity lowers blood pressure and boosts your good cholesterol levels. Moderate exercises such as brisk walking are particularly helpful in improving blood circulation and managing high blood pressure. Physical fitness also prevents bone loss while increasing muscle strength and the ability to do even more intense exercise activities.

Mental and social development

The benefits of physical fitness goes beyond what your eyes can see because the positive effects to your mental and social development are likewise invaluable. Because you are conscious about your long-term wellness, being fit and healthy can give you the willpower to finally quit smoking or abandon any other bad habits that have been preventing you to live your desired lifestyle. Exercise releases a lot of tensions in the body and allows you to steadfastly deal with stress. As a result, you fall asleep quicker, sleep soundly, and wake up with a spur of energy as a result of having rested well. Instead of feeling anxious or depressed, you will find yourself feeling more enthusiastic and optimistic than usual.

You too are a social being and healthiness is key to attaining adaptive social adjustments. With proper diet and exercise, you will be able to put your weight under control and ultimately, improve your self-image. In turn, a high self-esteem will encourage you to interact more with other people and in sharing and doing physical activities together. You will become more confident to face other people and share more of yourself as a human being. In no time, your overall healthfulness will lead to more quality social interactions and stronger relationships.

A most coveted salary upgrade

How in the world can hitting the gym help you make more money in corporate America? In June 2012, a study was published in the Journal of Labor Research emphasizing how employees who have a regular exercise regimen earn more at 9% up against their lazier counterparts. This is not really a new finding as this result have already been discovered before. In previous studies, similar results have been found although its been hard to determine if there is true causation. It is possible though that employees who exercised regularly have brought this sense of discipline with them at work that made them earn more. Meanwhile in other studies, a correlation has been found between employees’ salary and the amount of time they spent for exercise.

More recently, this link between earnings and employee exercise has grown stronger. A researcher by the name of Vasilios Kosteas at the Cleveland State University conducted a study and gave each subject a score based on how they are a good fit to what can be qualified as a regular exerciser profile. He then compared the scores to similar individuals in which some did not exercise. The results revealed that indeed, those who exercised earned 9% or more than those who failed to exercise.

The opposite likewise holds true on the other side of the spectrum. There are also studies that have revealed how those who are not healthy have a tendency to make lesser money. For instance, in a study conducted in 2007, it was found that obese women earned less than those who were in a good shape at 18%. Overweight participants likewise had less family income at 25%.

And for those who are wondering how gym time can actually make you earn more still, there is a recent study which shows exactly this. The definition of regular exercise is set as workout time for at least 3 hours in a week. If the average wage hourly in the U.S. is at $23.41, then employees spend worth $70.23 at the gym. However, because the exercising employee earns on average $84.28, that is still approximately 20% more of the value equivalent to that time that has been spent working out at the gym. This proves how gym time is worth it in the end.

Healthy entrepreneurs and success

If you are a business owner, being healthy tends to make you more successful as well. However, being able to maintain a regular exercise routine and a nutritious diet is easier said than done when you have you so much to deal with as an entrepreneur. Keeping healthy is the last thing on your mind. All your energy and efforts are focused on making your passion business work that you don’t care staying up late, working more hours, and even skipping meals. No matter what the cost, you will give it your all for your business because it is what you want to do. If you were superman or wonder woman this kind of super busy lifestyle could work.

For an average human being like yourself however, it could mean getting sick down the road or sacrificing relationships as you have less time for yourself or your loved ones. The unfortunate thing is that, there are some things that could get destroyed that can never be built again. When you neglect your health to achieve success only in your career has more downside in the long run. What is the use of all that entrepreneurial success when you will suffer from a heart attack after a year? What is all the money when your personal relationships break down?

Meanwhile, if you stay fit and healthy, you will not only improve your ability to make money but you will also be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor longer together with your loved ones. It has been proven to boost your energy and productivity levels. If you are like any other business owner, you want to get more done in much lesser time as possible. To illustrate on how you can help yourself achieve this, imagine needing 2,200 calories daily in order to maintain your current body weight. The brain is going to use up about 20% of that calorie intake or specifically, 450 calories for its full functioning. Now, when you do not take care of that part for your brain, how can you as an entrepreneur run your business and actually succeed if you neglect your most important asset?

A day in the life of a typical founder or CEO is very demanding and stressful. You wake up early from a poor night’s sleep, grab something to go on your way to the office, and spend the whole morning in and out of meetings that could extend until lunch time. The afternoons are no different with more meetings and more coffee to keep you awake. Of course the evenings are spent finishing endless tasks for the next morning. You have no room for a full, nutritious meal or some form of physical exercise which seems okay as long as you finish what needs to be done. Meanwhile, your brain is being deprived of the glucose and the energy that it needs for proper and optimal functioning. You keep this going and one day, an unfortunate surprise can happen.

It is imperative to stick with foods that are rich in lean protein as well as carbs with a low glycemic index. In this way, you can be given a steady release of the glucose and the energy that will fuel your brain and ensure that it is firing in all cylinders without the risk of fatigue. Aside from this, it is also important to exercise to keep your mind sharp and help improve your brain function. For older entrepreneurs, physical movements and activities have shown to delay neuron and brain power deterioration. Immediately after you exercise, you will feel that productivity boost with an increase in mental alertness and improved mood. Even something as simple as a 10-minute walk when done consistently will add up to permanent increases in baseline energy level that takes effect for a long time.

Natural stress buster

The pressure associated with being a startup entrepreneur is almost unfathomable. Stress is one of the most detrimental side effect to running your own business especially when it’s your first time and almost everyday, you wonder where your next dollar is going to come from. And when you let the anxiety eat you alive, your judgment begins to get clouded and the decisions you make can became rash and illogical. A convenient quick fix would be to drink stimulants such as coffee and when they are done in excess, they tend to increase the production of the stress hormone in the body called cortisol. Apparently, stress levels get elevated and serious health issues loom in the distance. Weight gain, diminished immunity, poor sleep quality, work burnout, fatigue and ultimately, hospitalization can take place.

This is the story of the burnt-out business owner that we often hear about. Untreated stress often leads to health complications that are typically GI-related. Author of “Uncertainty,” Jonathan Fields wrote in the Huffington Post how his immune system gave away and how he suffered from a perforated intestine that had a mass the size of a baseball that required emergency surgery. Believe it or not, this happened in just a few weeks of drinking lots of double espressos and sleeping only a couple of hours each night. Being a rookie at that time, he went out of his way to hit deadlines to prove himself and he probably did – but at the expense of his health.

If you are healthy however – you exercise and eat nutrient-rich foods – you have yourself a natural stress buster that will help you manage anxiety and depression. Stress will always be there with the deadlines, board meetings, targets, and time crunches that you have to deal with. But when you are healthy, you are arming yourself with the right defense against these challenges. Internally, regular exercise and the right diet have been shown more effective when compared to Zoloft in perking you up.

A sharper memory

What does extreme exhaustion do to your memory? It kills it, literally. In a study on aerobic exercise, it was found that the exercise increased the volume of the part of the brain that deals with memory and learning called the hippocampus. The participants in the study did some walking for about 15 minutes daily or a total of 120 minutes in a week. Moreover, regular exercise does not only decrease inflammation in the brain and throughout the body but importantly, it stimulates the release of the growth factors that provide protection for the brain and keeps it young. It does not even entail going to gym and spending hours there because a mere 10-minute walk can already give you such a positive effect. So a quick spur of movement during break time or in between a project you are working on has been found to boost your mood, productivity, energy, and a host of many others.

Accelerating brain function

The thing about being fit and healthy is that it affects both your internal and external functioning and in this case, enabling you to make make smarter decisions faster. You know how it is. You go through a busy day and decide to take a break and play some games on your mobile. Before you know it, you have already wasted more than an hour and now your tasks are not even finished. You tell yourself how much you need to focus, be more disciplined, and have the willpower to resist such distracting temptations. Fortunately, maintaining your health and wellness can help a lot with this.

In a study done on young adults and adolescents, it was established how physical exercise improved executive functions dramatically – self control, learning, memory, and decision-making. And it did not even require a complicated process for such critical functions to improve. What happens is that when you move more, your heart rate also increases together with blood flow and oxygenation to the brain. This does not happen though when you sit for more than 8 hours a day staring at your computer. You simply have to move and the more you do it, the better for your brain’s functioning.

Several studies have likewise found how 30 minutes of biking or cycling has resulted in better and faster performance in a cognitive test series that was given to the subjects. Along with meditative practice, this validates how working out should be a part of your daily health habit just like that of a typical millionaire.

In pursuit of longevity

How long do you intend to run your business, spend time with loved ones, or enjoy the life you have worked so hard for? Because if you want to live longer, then you have to work at being fit and healthy first and foremost. There are no guarantees of course but all things being equal, longevity is the most coveted price of health and wellness. And if you don’t want to die young it is important to avoid the risk factors that could lead to me metabolic syndrome which is the precursor to heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes among others.

Whether you are a solo-preneur, a startup founder, or an employee of the year trying to keep up to others’ expectations, you can get subjected to a lack of sleep, too much reliance on stimulants, skipping meals, and constant exposure to stressful situations. Sadly, all these four factors increase your risk towards developing metabolic syndrome. In the same way, when you gain too much weight and go out of shape, the risk of developing any disease for that matter or having a poor health condition also increases. Worst, you will not be able to function at an optimal level nor will you have the capacity to earn more or be able to upgrade your company’s revenue potential. The mere symptoms that lead to a metabolic syndrome actually impair your capacity to perform at your level-best. With weight increase, your energy level will decrease. Men in particular will tend to have higher levels of the female hormones while women will have even higher levels of the female hormones. Consequently, productivity will decrease, sleeping patterns will worsen, and stress levels will elevate.

As such, you have to be able to achieve that balance between working on your short-term goals while having your long-term goals in mind as well. Certainly, this is not going to be easy because when you are already bombarded with so much you need done for the day, you will almost instinctively choose to cut corners to save you some time. However, if you want to build a long-term career or build an empire and then live long enough to witness its grandiosity, then you have to change into a healthier lifestyle. Being fit and healthy will not only boost your productivity but enable you to make more money with high energy levels, a quick mind, emotional stability, and a positive self-image.

Taking care of you for others

One of the first to benefit as you work towards being fit and healthy is no other than yourself. It’s not always easy to take care of your needs because on your list is a host of other important things that need your attention. You have to balance your time and energy between your career, family, personal life, friends, business, and all other commitments. Typically, at the bottom of that list is taking care of you by spending time for exercise and preparing healthy food. And most often than not, those two simply get ignored, shove off, or forgotten. Making yourself a priority seems too much of a bother. However, you will realize too late that when you fail to take care of yourself, much of those you deem important are going to suffer, including your relationships with others.

Women in particular are a natural at taking care of others first before themselves. What they don’t realize however is that, when you are able to put yourself in good shape, then in turn, it will enable you and empower you towards better relationships with others. You will see how you will feel much better about yourself and how you will feel like there is so much more you can give and share to others. Being able to eat better and exercise regularly will allow you the benefits that extend to your relationships with significant others in your life.

More to give to others

Do you notice when you feel so drained that you can’t even respond to the person talking to you or give him the attention that he needs? This is what typically happens when you are not able to take care of yourself first. As they say, you cannot give what you do not have and you cannot give out energy or motivate others when you do not feel motivated yourself. A good illustration of this concept would be the oxygen mask analogy in the airplane. You have to put on your oxygen mask first before you can go ahead and help the person beside you. This is true in emergency situations but it is likewise applicable in day to day living. Daily self-care should be a most welcome routine for you and should not come as an emergency when you are already sick and have no other choice but to take care of your needs, mind what you eat, and have a regular form of exercise.

Your body is much like a car. When it is rundown, in bad shape, and has not had regular maintenance service, it will not be capable of transporting anybody to his destination without any troubles down the road. On long drives, expect a number of flat tires, overheat, the engine light constantly flashing, or other car issues that cannot be easily resolved. Meanwhile, if the vehicle is in perfect shape with regular car maintenance, you can expect nothing but a smooth ride with the passengers enjoying the travel in a comfortable manner. You can choose which car you want to become but if you want to have more to give others, to be able to help, to bring them to their destination safely, and to maintain a healthy relationship with them, then mind your own healthiness first. You will be able to help others in a more competent capacity when you are in good health and optimal condition.

Self-confidence booster

The thing about physical wellness is that it seeps through your entire being including how you see yourself and your capacity to develop to your full potential. When you do exercises and keep to a healthy diet, your body begins to transform, your posture improves, and you also start to like the way you look. This positive self-image helps you to feel confident to do anything and to believe in your abilities again. Strength training is not limited to the physical benefits because as a whole, you likewise feel strong enough as a person and radiate that strength to others. Physical fitness does not only let you see the amazing things your body can do but empowering you to have confidence in other areas of life.

Relating and interacting with others won’t be such a dreadful experience anymore as you begin to accept who you are and see your own beauty within. Getting into a relationship with confidence means being able to show your true self and share yourself without the fear of rejection. Most of the time, when you get rid of the extra weight through regular fitness activities, you also let go of heavy emotional baggage that often complicates relationships. With your newfound confidence however, being in a relationship will tend to help you grow as a person instead of cause you unnecessary pain.

More intimate relationships

Intimacy is an important part of being a human being. It is when you are able to relate deeply with others that you are able to live a meaningful life. Part of the reason why most people fear being too intimate is that they themselves feel ugly and undesirable inside that if they ever get close to someone, that someone might see that ugliness and only hurt them in the end. On the other hand, when you are fit and healthy, you know that you have worked on yourself, have gotten rid of the unhealthy, and have given yourself the best treatment it deserves. When you meet other people, you will feel confident about getting intimate because you know that you are in best shape.

The best part is that, when it comes to the opposite sex or whoever you are attracted to based on your sexual preferences, being fit and healthy extends to the bedroom. If you can have a better bedroom performance, then why not, right? A flexible and strong body has it benefits at the intimacy level. You may not be aware of it but lots of functional and internal changes occur in the body when you get into a regular exercise regimen and a nutrient-dense diet. Yes, you will look great and feel great but importantly, you will also have better blood flow, longer endurance, extra agility, more flexibility, and well-balanced hormonal activities. Combine all of these and you get unlimited potential in and out of the bedroom.

Quality couple time

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could go to the gym with your partner and sweat it out together like literally? Whatever it is that the both of you like doing as a physical activity, this type of bonding activity is going to be hitting two birds with one stone. It certainly is going to be exciting swimming together or biking or simply walking in the park as part of your quality time together. Having these kinds of shared experiences can really make your relationships stronger – romantic or not – because you always have something in common to talk about as well as something to look forward to, to do together. On the extreme side, being fit will allow you to share a passion for some extreme sports or activities that you could never do if you were unhealthy or often sick.

When you go out of your way to share that passion, no matter how physically challenging, it shows your partner how much you deeply care. Doing physical activities together creates this oneness and sense of being in sync with each other’s deeper selves. It will also help bring your relationship to a deeper emotional level as action often speaks louder than words. You can practically look each other in the eye, not say a word, and yet communicate love to the other. Both of you will feel more satisfied and fulfilled in the relationship. The good news in that, the happy hormones called endorphins are bound to surround you and make you feel closer to the other person as well.

Happily contagious

A fitter, healthier body is bound to bring you days of better moods and happier feelings. And the best part about that is, the good vibes is going to be contagious and you will see yourself attracting more people towards you. When you have that ready smile on your face, others can’t help but smile back at you and sometimes that will include strangers. You do not have to be Ms. or Mr. Congeniality if you don’t want to but the positive aura will certainly spread to other people and make other people gravitate towards you. You see, human beings tend to pick up on other people’s mood and happy moods tend to be very powerful.

In particular, exercises releases lots of endorphins that positively impact your mood and drives stressful feelings away. Make that regular exercise and you will also have that constant happy, energetic mood that everyone will be attracted to. You will find how co-workers, family, friends, and so many others will want to spend more time with you.

A sense of belonging

In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, love and belonging are at the third level after one’s safety needs are met. This means that human beings have a need to belong to a group in order to feel fulfilled and happy. Fortunately for you, when you are fit and healthy, it also allows you to do more physical activities and join in social circles that you otherwise would not have joined if you were not in shape. There are so many fitness and social groups out there where passionate hikers, runners, kickball lovers, or what have you, are just waiting for you to finally have the guts to join in. So when you are physically ready for the challenge, you also become socially capable to satisfy that part of you that feels the need to belong to a group.

Besides, joining in these physically active groups will influence you to stick to your health routine and be able to sustain that active lifestyle. People in these groups will also help you get into healthier habits more than simply going out, going out bar hopping, smoking and excessively drinking with friends. And you don’t have to wait till your old to get into a healthy lifestyle because you can do so now.

So you see, fitness and health really have positive impacts on your relationships and positive relationships in turn contribute to your healthiness in the long run. Taking good care of yourself first is imperative so you can develop that confidence in yourself to relate with others, be deeply intimate, and socialize in health-oriented groups. In this way, you will be able to recharge yourself in helping others and maintaining the relationships that you always wanted to have. Be that positive spirit anywhere you go and spread the positivity around you.

Overall Happiness

What do you think makes a person happiest? Is it wealth? Marital status? Or age? The answer is none of the above because a 2012 US Census data has shown that it is health that is a powerful determinant of happiness more than an individual’s income, age, marital status, or some other factor for that matter. The study was entitled “Economic Determinants of Happiness” and the data that was gathered by the US Census divulged how health is predictive of how happy a person can become more than his income. The results showed that those who qualified themselves as healthy individuals are 20% happier while those who described themselves as unhealthy were 8.25% less happy.

While people who belong to the highest income bracket, composing approximately 1% of the total population, are 3.5% happier than average, health still has 5 to 6 times more impact on an individual’s overall happiness up against above average earnings.

Meanwhile, those who are married have been found to be happier compared to those who are not married at 10%. However, this particular study included those who are divorced in the group which is not married. In other studies where divorced individuals were not included in the not married group, it was validated that not married individuals are as happy as the married ones.

As for having children, happiness is reduced at very minimal amount only at 0.24% for each child. The researchers believe though that this result can be attributed to the fact that most of the respondents in the study belong to low-income families. As such, their children can cause them unhappiness when the added expenses cannot be covered by how much they earn.

 

Are you ready to lose weight, build muscle, or feel more fit? Join Beachbody On Demand, and get unlimited access to Beachbody’s world-famous programs, including 80 Day Obsession, 21 Day FIX®, Insanity, P90X® and 100’s more. Don’t miss out on your chance for amazing results. Sign up today!