Articles

7 reasons why you should exercise

Regular exercise is important to improve body composition, strength and cardiovascular health. Many people are starting to develop health issues such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to leading a sedentary lifestyle and a diet high in processed foods. Exercise and a greater understanding of the implementation of nutrition will keep you fit and healthy. Below there are 7 reasons why it’s important we exercise and reduce the obesity epidemic that we are facing.

1)     Burn body fat. – Personal Trainer London

From an aesthetic point of you regular and exercise and a healthy nutrition plan will help you to melt body fat and increase muscle development. By improving your body composition you will look and feel more defined, improving your self confidence and increasing your energy levels.

2)     Improve muscular Pain

Through strength and conditioning you will be able to improve muscular imbalances often developed through sedentary living such as lower back pain developed by weak core muscles. Exercise will strengthen your body through out decreasing muscular pain and improving the quality of your life.

3)     Increase lean muscle tissue _- Personal Trainer London

Resistance training should form the cornerstone of your exercise. It’s important to include weight training regularly and build lean muscle tissue because it elevates your metabolism meaning you will burn more calories at rest. In fact, one pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories each day at rest – compared to a measly 9 calories per pound of fat. When you exercise your body composition will change to contain more lean tissue, thus resulting in extra calories burned while you rest.

 

4)     Increase quality of life and stay young.

Tim D. Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London, led a study on the effects of exercise on aging. The results were astounding. They found that exercise appears to slow the shrivelling of the protective tips on bundles of genes inside cells (called telomeres), which means a slowing of the aging process. The study highlighted that regular exercise can delay the process of aging keeping you looking and feeling younger.

5)     Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Regular exercise and healthy eating helps to control the body’s blood sugar levels. Through muscular development and achieving better body composition will improve insulin sensitivity which will prevent type 2 diabetes developing.

6)     Decrease high blood pressure and harmful cholesterol levels

Regular exercise will lower high blood pressure by strengthening your cardiovascular fitness. This will develop the efficiency of the heart making it more effective at pumping the blood around the body. By eating whole foods low in salt and sugar and implementing a good exercise program you will lower the risk of developing heart disease by lowering HDL levels.

7) Feel Better about your self. _ – Personal Trainer London

Exercise secretes endorphins around the body which elevates your mood. You will feel less sluggish and more focused at work with higher energy levels in everyday life.

The best way to improve body composition successfully and lead a better quality of life is to work with a personal trainer. They will produce a tailored made program that enables progression and holds you accountable. They will coach you to perform each exercise correctly, improving technique and developing strength to aid in stripping body fat.


THE END OF FOOD TEMPTATIONS – LONDON PERSONAL TRAINER

Why does temptation always win?

In today’s society, temptation is on every high street, in every supermarket and pretty much everywhere else you may think to look.

In addition the abundance of tempting edibles, you also have deeply ingrained positive associations with indulging. For example:

  • Tempting food is seen as a reward.
  • Tempting food is turned into comfort food.
  • Tempting food then becomes food for stress relief.
  • This then becomes a habit.

Don’t let temptation defeat you anymore.  A Personal Trainer London can help you take control and fight back by using your most powerful weapon……no not your fist…..but YOUR BRAIN.

A Matter of Perspective.

Overcoming temptation is very important and the only way to do this is by associating negative things in place of positive ones. Use the 2 steps below to harness the power of your mind to become stronger than any temptation.

Step one: Create A Strong Negative Association with all the BAD STUFF

  • If you believe that burgers and chips are the greatest food and you set your mind to think that they are your favourite, then you will never lose weight and will always remain unhealthy.
  • You have to ask yourself why you dislike tempting and indulgent food?
  1. Unhealthy
  2. Increases weight
  3. Decreases energy
  4. Destroys confidence
  5. Completely reduces the quality of your life
  6. Ruins your love life.
  • Whenever you come face to face with these temptations, STOP and think about the list you have created stating why these foods are bad. It’s about time you kick these unhealthy foods off their pedestal and to replace them with something a lot more healthy in its place. Personal Trainer London can help you.

Step Two: Create a Strong Positive Association with all the GOOD STUFF.

  • Now you have cleared your mind of these unhealthy temptations, fill the void with healthy foods such as fresh fruit, crispy vegetables and lean meats.
  • Same as we did with the unhealthy list, create a list and ask yourself what you love about healthy foods-
  1. Healthier
  2. Reduces Weight
  3. Increases Energy
  4. Builds Confidence
  5. Drastically improves quality of life.
  6. Enhances your love life.
  • Surround yourself with healthy foods and a Personal Trainer in London. Take a stroll down to the natural food stores and take a look. Have casual walk down to your local farmers market and do a little shopping there. And finally clear your kitchen of any unhealthy foods.

By taking these techniques and applying them to yourself, you will soon find that healthy foods are more appealing to you. A Personal Trainer in London can help you achieve your goals.


TIPS TO KEEP YOU FIT ON HOLIDAY FROM A LONDON PERSONAL TRAINER

Did you know that the average person gains almost a pound a day while they are on holiday?

The reason is simply down to the fact that you are missing workouts, eating larger restaurant meals and over indulging in snacks and not to mention an increased amount of alcohol.

Here are 6 holiday tips from a Personal trainer in London you should consider before packing your bags. These will help you come home fitter, not fatter.

  1. MAKE A DECISION- this is probably the easiest step to consider when trying to avoid putting on the pounds, however it is also the most overlooked due to is simplicity.

Visualise yourself returning home in a fitter state to when you left home. Allow yourself to bask in the excitement that you would feel.

Remember, when you can feel what accomplishment is like, it will keep you motivated throughout your holiday and will help to steer you away from the inevitable temptations that will be around you.

  1. Personal Trainer London says GET MOVING- Try to avoid inactivity, such as sitting around for hours by the pool. It may feel great to do nothing and just chill out but this is where the pounds quickly creep up on you.

 

Choose activities that keep you active and you will soon see the calories burn away, also try and avoid indulging in unnecessary snacks.

  1. INDULGE IN PORTION CONTROL- wherever you go to eat, whether it be a 5 star restaurant or a fast food diner, you will be met by the same problem…..GIGANTIC PORTIONS. Here are a few tips that you can follow in order to combat this issue:
  • Get a separate box and before you begin to eat your meal, place half the portion in there. This will help with creating a healthy portion size.
  • Pay more for your food and eat less. QUALITY>QUANTITY
  • Reduce snacking. Have a structured meal setting.
  • Eat your food slowly; do not rush through your meals. Allow your brain time to register the food.
  1. EAT NATURAL SWEETS- The average person consumes approximately  46 teaspoons of sugar daily. The average person on holiday can consume even more than this.

These sugary calories may taste delicious, but they come at a high price.

  • Sugar causes the body to believe its hungry- this is due to the fact it causes  massive insulin rush and therefore causing blood sugar levels to drop.
  • Sugar causes weakness in the skeletal structure of the body- increasing vulnerability for osteoporosis. This is due the removal of calcium from your bones to allow your body to process sugar.
  • Excess sugar is stored in your body as fat. The liver can only store a limited amount so that means the body needs to find somewhere else to dump this, So the only place it can do so is on your belly, thighs, hips and back of arms- ALL THE PROBLEM AREAS.

 

BET YOU WILL THINK TWICE NOW WHEN DECIDING IF YOU’RE GOING TO ORDER DESSERT. HAVE A BOWL OF FRUIT INSTEAD.

  1. STAY AWAY FROM FRIED FOOD- Fast food restaurants are extremely appealing to holiday goers, simply because of the convenience factor they pose, low prices and quick service. But all of that is definitely not worth putting on a few extra pounds for.

A single gram of fat contains 9 calories whereas protein and carbohydrates only contain 4 calories. So it’s pretty clear to see that eating fast food will definitely increase your caloric intake. These extra calories are certainly not ideal.

Still not clear enough for you…..ok….look at this way then. Take a normal potato and bake it for 10 minutes and you have a meal that is 110 calories with 0 grams of fat. If you then take the same potato and make fries out of it….you then have a meal that is 380 calories and has 18 grams of fat. Now which one sounds healthier and more appealing?

Frying food not only adds extra calories, it also comes with added health risks:

  • Heart Disease
  • Diabetes
  • High Blood pressure
  • OBESITY

 

  1. PERSONAL TRAINER LONDON HOME WORKOUT- If worst comes to worst and you book a hotel that does not have a gym or you prefer your privacy, you can do this work out in the comfort of your own hotel room:
  • Body Weight Squats: . Complete 12-15 repetitions.
  • Do Jumping Jacks, High knees, or jog in place for 30 seconds.
  • Body Weight Lunges: . Complete 12-15 repetitions.
  • Do Jumping Jacks, High knees, or jog in place for 30 seconds.
  • Push Ups:  Complete 12-15 repetitions.
  • Do Jumping Jacks, High knees, or jog in place for 30 seconds.
  • V-Ups:  Complete 15-20 repetitions.
  • Do Jumping Jacks, High knees, or jog in place for 30 seconds.

London Personal training

People would rather spend days on their couch than anywhere else.

People who would rather have a root canal than go do a workout.

Some of us have our lazy days, but more and more people are turning laziness into an occupation.

What about you? Check if the following describe you:

  • You would rather passively observe than participate in activity.
  • You’re a master at making excuses.
  • You try to find short cuts to do everything

If that is you, don’t worry. There are many reasons why people become lazy.

  1. Deprived of Sleep: When you haven’t slept, it is easier to be unmotivated, which can make you lazy. Make sure to have at least 8 hours of sleep a night in order to maintain enough and a sufficient amount of energy that you would need to keep you going throughout the day and to function at your best.
  2. Caffeine Boost: Abusing yourself with large amounts of caffeine every morning would help you for a couple of hours, until it drains your energy and become even lazier than you were. Try to avoid the caffeine rush, and let your body rely on its natural energy.
  3. Bad Habit: If you make your self do the same lazy routine by jumping on the couch straight after work every night, it will turn into an automatic habit and not a conscious decision. To break this habit is quite easy; instead of crashing on your coach automatically, consciously get up and do something productive – like going to the gym.
  4. Inactivity: When you don’t exercise in your spare time, and your job most of the time keeps you on a chair for house, this will accustom your body to inactivity. It is time to wake up those sleeping muscles that you don’t use and make yourself more familiar with the joy of moving about and physical activity. An easy way to get out of being lazy and inactive is going on small walks in your spare times for about 30 minutes when you have time. Once you’ve broken yourself in with consistent walks.

Missing Link in Optimal Health

More and more people are getting sick, have prescription medications and need to visit the doctors more constantly. This is because they are more likely to be suffering from nutritional deficiencies and lacking from the main nutrition that you need.

People always have a different opinion as to what exactly to eat for optimal health. That’s why your diet always lacks important nutrients even when you make every effort to eat healthy.

Victoria Boutenko wrote the book “Green For Life” in search of the perfect human diet. She absorbed all the information and research she could and discovered an interesting observation.

The Chimpanzee Connection: Apparently, 99.4% of our DNA sequence is shared with chimpanzees, making them and humans most closely related animals than any other species.

What does this have to do with anything? Chimps are in much better physical shape than humans, and are naturally immune to cancer and other fatal human illnesses that are quite common.

Through Victoria’s research, the main reason for the chimpanzee’s superior health is due to their diet. Humans and Chimps have greatly different eating habits

It’s All About The Greens: Chimps eat items that hardly exist in the human world, a diet particularly high in dark leafy greens! While us humans are enjoying our pizza and burgers.

So when Victoria focused her studies more on dark leafy greens. She discovered a super-food crammed with huge levels of nutrients.

Here are 3 amazing facts about greens:

1. Greens are packed with healthy fats! Aka… amino acids/protein. 

Dark leafy greens are in fact a legitimate main source of protein believe it or not.

Chains of amino acids make protein molecules. When you eat chicken, the protein is already in chains of amino acids that have already been assembled into complex protein.

When eating dark leafy greens, you get a plethora of individual amino acids that your body then takes and assembles them into complex protein chains.
2. Greens give you lots of insoluble fiber. 

Fibres are important to get rid of unwanted toxins in your body. Insoluble fiber from greens absorbs several times more toxins than its own volume because of its sponge-like structure. A few on many benefits of fibre include:

  • It reduces cholesterol
  • It can reduce the risk of cancer and prevent it
  • Fiber makes the risk of diabetes less and help with existing diabetes
  • Fiber can reduce over eating and help to shred unwanted fat.

3. Greens help with homeostasis. 

Homeostasis is a process to keep the stability of the internal environment of the body. The body works consistently to make sure the body is regulated and maintained stable properties of the body such as pH or temperature. This is very important for optimal healthy and your body is constantly working towards this.

For homeostasis, your body requires a large quantity of vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Greens provide all of these in high amounts.

 


5 things that stop you from losing weight

1: You’re Mind

When you want to achieve a goal, your mind is always your number 1 ally. In opposition, if your mind isn’t set for success, it’s more likely to drag your efforts down than to help you.

  • Take the time to picture yourself looking how you’ve always wanted, and visualise yourself in that ideal weight.
  • Immediately reject any negativity that comes to mind that goes against your goals.
  • You WANT to be fit, but you THINK of yourself as fat. Try place the thought in your mind that you ARE fit and you ARE attractive, this would help you to act as so, and boost yourself to head towards your goals.
  • Stop believing that you can’t achieve that body of your dreams, picture it on yourself and GO FOR IT!

2: Fear

You might not even know that you are afraid of the changes you would have to go through in order to lose weight. Until you have triumph over this fear, you are disrupting your goals of losing weight.

Anthony Robbins, An author and professional speaker has outlined the specific three beliefs that you must have in order to conquer your fear:

  • You need to BELIEVE that something MUST change! You can’t be week about it. It’s not something to take into consideration. You can’t even be “pretty sure”. It has to be 100% certified that you WILL!
  • Believing that YOU are what needs to be changed. You are responsible for your own weight loss, and need to take action upon that. In the end it is you who is going to make it happen. Make it your personal mission.

3: Excuses

Excuses are really getting old, especially when it comes to losing weight. If you take action now and not make excuses, you will have the advantage in the long run. Excuses can ruin your life… don’t let it!

  • Do not let go of your responsibilities with excuses, always expect more from your self.
  • Always keep your mind set on the big picture of why you want to achieve your goal and focus on it. Make a list of all the advantages losing weight has to come with it, and read it to yourself every morning, this will help motivate you.
  • Always remember that there are only two things you can have: results or excuses. Which do you want?

4: Commitment

For some reason people have a fear of commitment, that’s why you keep abandoning your goals. If you honestly want to lose weight then you must stick to it till the end.

  • There is a bridge between failure and success, and that bridge is called commitment. Don’t give up until you have passed the bridge of success and achieve your goals.
  • Find your times, make your schedule, mark it on your calendar and stick to it like it is as important as your business meetings, you will never skip another appointment.
  • You can’t fail if you don’t give up.

5: You’re Diet

To be as straight forward as possible, stop eating junk food!  Why don’t you replace this junk with foods that are healthier for you and help you to achieve weight loss? Such as whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

  • Processed are unfortunately accepted by our society, even though they contain empty calories and heaps of chemicals that make you fat and sick. Do not eat them!
  • The caloric density of fat is twice as much as proteins and carbohydrates, so eat less of it, and more of them.
  • Fiber and antioxidants are great for losing weights, snack on fruits and nuts.

24 Fitness and Fat Loss Tips

These 24 fitness and fat loss tips will get you on the right track:

  1.  Visualise yourself accomplishing your goals every day. Experience the taste of success.
  2. Increase the intensity of your workouts.
  3. Build accountability, so you resist the temptations to miss workouts. The best way to do this is by working with a personal trainer in either a one to one situation or in a group.
  4. Confidence within ones self is key. Knowing that you can and will accomplish your goals is major stepping stone to your success.
  5. Stay hydrated throughout the day. Try carrying a refillable bottle of water with you wherever you go, this is a cheaper way to stay hydrated and also keeps the calorie filled beverages at bay.
  6. Maintain a healthy metabolism by eating healthy unprocessed food every 3 hours.
  7. Ask for help from professionals such as Personal Trainers. Don’t be shy.
  8. HIIT is the best way to train. Doing high intensity interval workouts has more benefits to fat loss than working out at a single steady pace.
  9. You have to want it in order to get it. Don’t just rely on will power.
  10. Stay away from processed food. They contain chemicals which can be harmful to your body.
  11. Less Talking. More Doing. Don’t just talk the talk, Walk the walk.
  12. Fat contains double the calorific density of carbs and proteins. Therefore meaning you should limit the amount of fat you consume. However do not totally cut it out because fats are still essential to a healthy diet.
  13. Always read the nutritional information on the products you purchase.
  14. Workout with somebody who is in better physical condition than you, or better yet work with a personal trainer to guarantee results.
  15. Avoid food items that are very high in fat and carbs. These are usually the pre-packaged ready meals that you find in major superstores.
  16. Think positively and through all that negative talk out the window.
  17. Try to avoid these high calorie “post-workout” beverages. Eat proper food that you know is healthy instead.
  18. Keep a regular routine with your workouts and keep them frequent. Consistency is the key to success.
  19. Always expect more from yourself. Do one extra push up or sprint an extra metre. Push yourself past the norm.
  20. Have variety in your workouts. Keep the body guessing. Break through the plateaus.
  21. Whole foods are very important to fat loss and a healthy body. So fill your diet with Vegetables, fruits and whole grains because these foods are high in fibre and anti-oxidants.
  22. Incorporate  some form of cardiovascular exercise into your workout. By doing this after your resistance training will have a beneficial effect. Your stored sugars will be utilised during the resistance training, which leaves fat as source of fuel for the body during the cardio section. Meaning more fat burn.
  23. Make sure your goals are specific and measurable. This makes it easy to track to progress.
  24. Make sure you fuel your body right. So having a healthy breakfast is very important for getting metabolism in check. This meal should consist of a balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fat.

 

USE THESE TIPS AND I GUARANTEE THE FAT WILL MELT AWAY AND YOU WILL HAVE THE BODY THAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DESIRED.


What you don’t know could hurt you

Do you really know what you eat?

Getting into great shape is not just down to exercise. Did you know 80% of your fitness results are attributed to your diet.

Our everyday living is so fast paced compared to 30 years ago, thus making our decisions on what to eat extremely bad. Due to our fast-paced society we tend to look for the more convenient option when it comes to food. We often eat food without giving it too much thought as to what we are actually ingesting. This excess body fat is a direct outcome of our hurried and very poor nutrition.

Knowing what and what not to eat is very confusing and the media doesn’t make it any easier to understand.

The giant food manufacturing companies add to this confusion by printing bogus and misleading nutrition labels.

Your physique is mainly down to one key element and that is what you eat. If you put rubbish into your body then your body isn’t going to look in top condition. The saying “you are what you eat” is very true in this sense.

Here are 5 ingredients that should raise a red flag when you look at the nutrition labels on food packages.

  1. High Fructose Corn Syrup- This is a man made sugar. It is derived from genetically modified corn. This sweet cocktail has been shown to increase binge eating and cause hysterical hunger. Not to mention this ingredient will send  major problems to your blood sugar levels. Resulting in fat storage.

This product has direct correlation with the increase in type 2 diabetes (47% increase) and is also related to a massive 80% increase in obesity. Majority of food manufacturers use HFCS in a large amount of their products, including:

  • Sauces
  • Yogurt
  • Processed backed goods
  • Ice cream
  • Packaged snack foods.
  1. Hydrogenated fat/ Partially Hydrogenated fat (Trans Fat)- this ingredient has gone under so much modification that human body doesn’t even recognise anymore. The human body sees this as foreign ingredient which is destructive to the physiology of humans.
  1. Aspartame- this product is probably the worst of all the ingredients. It was actually denied by the FDA 8 times to be classed as an artificial sweetener. It was finally approved in 1973. Many scientists and researchers have objected to the approval of this ingredient, simply down to the fact that it hasn’t been proven safe for us in food as an additive.
  1. White Sugar- this basically the juice of a sugar cane plant that has gone through an intense refining process. During this process all of the good enzymes, fiber, vitamins and minerals are completely wiped out. Thus making this ingredient nutritionally void. To add on top of this, white sugar is extremely high in calories and we all know now that the body loves to store this excess amount of calories in fat cells.

Along side the common side effects of white sugar intake, this ingredient also has many other side effects if taken in large quantities. Refined sugar has been linked with weakened immune system, mental and emotional disorders, enlargement of the liver and kidneys and an imbalance of the neurotransmitters in the brain.

  1. White Flour- this ingredient derives from natural whole wheat but it has been stripped of all its nutrients, vitamins and minerals. SO you are left with a product that has no nutritional goodness and a product that is loaded with high calories that are released into your system, creating a massive increase in your blood sugar level.

Now by simply cutting these 5 ingredients out of your diets, you will be pleased to see the results you will achieve. You will definitely see change in weight, more energy and you will feel so much better overall.

Stick to real food that has not been created in somebody’s chemistry lab. Include lean meats, vegetables, whole grains and fruits in your diet.

Remember, while nutrition is vitally important for weight loss, true results are achieved through a combination of both nutrition and challenging, progressive exercise.


Your Fast-Track to a Flat Tummy and Tight Abs

Getting a flat stomach is really down to two very important concepts: 1) getting rid of the layer of fat that lies on top of the ab. 2) Tightening and toning the abdominal muscles.

The following 7 tight abs tips are your golden ticket to getting those abs.

Tight Abs Tip #1: Perform strength training exercise on the abdominal muscles. These muscles are like any other muscle in your body and in order to increase tone and strength they need to be worked consistently. Treat your abs like you treat your biceps. Training them at least 3 times a week will have beneficial effect upon them.

Tight Abs Tip #2: Cut out the crap. Literally cut out the crappy food that you love to eat. Processed foods and refined sugars have no place in your diet and this is essential if you want those dynamite abs. By simply reducing the intake of these products, you will allow your body to maintain a stable blood sugar level, alleviating your body’s need to store excess sugar away in fat cells.

Excess sugar intake creates fat stores and this generally stored around the waist area and covers the abdominal muscles. Replace these junk foods with real whole foods such as lean meats, vegetables and fruits.

Tight Abs Tip #3: Stop with the long, slow and boring cardio workouts. Use HIIT instead. This is basically high intensity interval training. This training method uses intense bursts of cardio throughout your workout. This method will most definitely increase your body’s metabolism and burn those unwanted fat stores.

Tight Abs Tip #4: incorporate resistance into your abs exercises. Crunches are an effective exercise but the body becomes quickly accustomed to the simple motion, therefore reducing the benefits. To counter act this, simply add resistance to the exercise. E.g. hold a med ball or a dumbbell at your chest and perform the exercise. This added resistance will cause the abs to work harder and thus meaning better results will be achieved.

Tight Abs Tip #5: don’t fall victim to the quick fix, lose weight fast products. It’s all great marketing but no actual truth behind it.

So never waste your money or time on these so called products, especially if they are processed in a package and contain heap of chemical addictives. Also the magic pill that so many people claim to have created is a waste of time as well. It does not exist.

Tight Abs Tip #6: Work the lower abs. So often this part is neglected. Incorporate V-Up into your exercise routine:

Starting Position- Sit on the edge of the exercise bench; lean back 45 degrees; extend your legs out until they are parallel with the floor.

Movement- Exhale and bring your knees and upper body close together, whilst contracting your abdominal muscles. Inhale as you slowly release your legs, returning them to the starting position.

Tight Abs Tips #7: Challenge your core. Don’t just leave the workouts to when you’re only in the gym. Incorporate core strengthening exercise during every day life. Having a strong core is the foundation to having a flat and tight stomach.

Remember to switch up your exercise, every so often. This will reduce the risk of a plateau effect. Your abs needs progressive challenges in order to transform.


Marylebone Fitness – Reasons to Exercise

Reason 1- To melt the Fat Away:

The most important side effect of exercise is pretty obvious, FAT BURN. By challenging your body with a variety of exercise routines and having a balanced meal plan, the unwanted body fat will soon cease to exist. Who doesn’t want the feeling of clothes fitting perfectly or improved energy levels. This can all be achieved through burning that unwanted fat.

Reason 2- To Alleviate Pain

Having a regular exercise routine has many benefits and one of the most beneficial effects is that it can alleviate chronic muscle and joint pain. On going back pain can be reduced by simply strengthening up the core. You will be amazed to see how regular exercise can help to fade away chronic pain.

Reason 3- Increase Lean Tissue

Having more muscle is great for many reasons. Number one reason is that it makes you look great, but it’s also good internally, as muscle requires more calories each day than fatty tissue. One pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories each day at rest, whereas fat only burns 9 calories per pound of fat.

Reason 4: Too Stay Young

Tim D. Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London, led a study on the effects of exercise on aging. The results were astounding. They found that exercise appears to slow the shrivelling of the protective tips on bundles of genes inside cells (called telomeres), which means a slowing of the aging process.

“These data suggest that the act of exercising may actually protect the body against the aging process,” said Spector.

Here’s the study in a nutshell:

  • Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes and every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter.
  • Once a telomere gets too short, that cell can no longer divide.
  • Aging occurs as more and more cells reach the end of their telomeres and die. This results in weakened muscles, skin wrinkles, loss of eyesight and hearing, organ failure and slowed metal functioning.
  • The study analyzed the telomeres from the white bloods cells of twins over a 10-year period. Telomere length was used as a marker for the rate of biological aging.
  • It was found that the length of telomeres was directly related to that twin’s activity level. “There was a gradient,” Spector said. “As the amount of exercise increased, the telomere length increased.”
  • People who did 100 minutes of weekly exercise had telomeres that looked like those from someone about 5-6 years younger than those who did 16 minutes of exercise each week.
  • People who did 3 hours of vigorous exercise each week had telomeres that looked like those from someone about 9 years younger.

Reason 5: Prevent and Control Type II Diabetes.

Performing regular exercise helps to keep blood sugar levels stable.

Exercise will help to improve the way the body utilises insulin and the related weight loss improves insulin sensitivity.

Reason 6: To Lower Blood Pressure And Cholesterol Levels.

Exercise has shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels for these two reasons:

  1. A weak heart muscle will pump little blood with lots of effort. But when you exercise you strengthen the muscles of the heart and therefore it will train it to pump more blood with less effort. The stronger your heart is the less pressure will be exerted on your arteries.
  2. Exercise increase HDL levels in some people. This means a decrease in your risk of heart disease. Other heart disease factors such as weight, diabetes and high blood pressure all show improvements with a regular training regime.

Reason 7: To Feel Great

Exercise boosts your energy levels and makes you feel amazing. After training your body releases endorphins into the body which makes you feel great.