Why and When Should You Exercise?

Why and when should you exercise has been always asked among, well everybody. No matter how you slice it, exercise is the best thing you can do for yourself. Ask any health professional and they will tell you that it keeps your heart healthy, bones and muscles strong, and most importantly, it’s excellent for your mental health.

You may be thinking: Why exercise? When should you exercise?

Let’s begin with the why

As mentioned above, the physical benefits of exercise are crucial for our health but are officially being put off to the side for this blog post, for good reason. The tables have turned since #Covid19 came on to the scene. These days we need to exercise for different reasons. Let me count the ways…

1. Your parents are driving you crazy
2. Your siblings are driving you crazy
3. You can’t see your friends IRL
4. Zoom classes are not the same as IRL
5. You can’t go to CAMP

Number 5 is a biggie. Especially in my house.

You can feel the tension beginning to boil and you just can’t stand it. What to do? Best advice? Run, baby, run!

Why running?

According to @runnersworldmag, when you perform any type of aerobic exercise, you develop resilience to stress. The release of endorphins can help release anxious feelings and will in turn, calm you down and give you time to think things out and not react so quickly. 

Don’t like running? Walk briskly. Hop on your bike. Swim if you have access to a pool or a lake. Anything to get your heart pumping and your frustrations out. Although your problems may not go away, you will feel better. Much better.

When should you exercise?

I don’t know about you, but my schedule these days looks completely different than it did 12 weeks ago. The one thing that stands out? I definitely have more time. Plan your day with a scheduled time to work out, and stick to it.

However, if you are looking for expert advice, it’s best to exercise first thing in the morning. For the first time in a long while, last Monday I let the sun wake me up and I was on the streets by 6:30 AM. I was eating breakfast at 8:00 AM. Why was I so happy? Here are three lovely reasons:

1. It was one thing that was crossed off from my day. 
2. There were no distractions. My phone didn’t ring or ding. No email to check, yet.
3. Running in the heat can be so uncomfortable. It’s way cooler in the early hours of the morning.

Running, walking, cycling, swimming – ANYTHING that will get your heart pumping can be your best ally during this challenging time that we are all going through. Choose a time during your day that works best for you and stick to it. You will not only come out of this time obviously stronger, but you will also become the king or queen of resilence if there ever were such a title. 

Heck, I’ll make it a title and go create a crown.

I’m so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to write what I’m passionate about and what I think will serve others. If you would like me to write about you and your passions for the Braves The Waves Journal, or for your own company, please be in touch.