What are the benefits of exercise?

Diet contributes to 85% of your progress with weight loss, and exercise contributes only 15%. But then, there are various benefits of exercise for your weight goal.

The first thing you should know is that all of the benefits of exercise are in recovery after the exercise. The problem is, many people don’t give their bodies enough time to recover. Then, they feel tired and fatigued, and don’t lose weight or gain any strength or stamina.

You must have good sleep and enough recovery time for your body to fully repair. Otherwise, you won’t lose weight and you won’t have any other benefits.

If you don’t feel good after a workout, you’re overtraining. This is not good for the heart. For hard-core workouts, you want to only do them every third day rather than every day. Between these workouts, you can do light exercises like long-distance walks and yoga.

The best formula for exercise is 1 minute of exercise and 5 minutes of rest. Repeat three times to get started, and then increase the number of repetitions. You always want short intervals of intense exercise and a long period of rest.

Benefits

• Increases oxygen

• Gives you energy

• Lowers stress

• Increases fitness

• Improves muscle tone

• Good for atrophy

• Increases muscle mass

• Improves blood sugars

• Enhances sleep

• Helps with joint stiffness

• Improves blood flow

• Increases flexibility

• Strengthens the heart

• Enhances cognitive function and mood

• Builds antioxidant reserves

Exercise time

The best time to work out is in the evening. When you work out in the evening, you recover much more quickly than if you work out in the morning. You also burn more fat.

Keep in mind that exercising in the evening will spike your cortisol a little bit, but it normalizes much faster. If you are an adrenal body type, you may benefit from walking in the morning. However, for those who are not, high-intensity interval training is ideal in the evening. If you work out twice a day, try doing your light workout in the morning and more intense exercises in the evening. You should see a big difference in your results and recovery when you work out in the evening.

High intensity interval training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training is intermittent exercise. This can help stimulate growth hormone. Doing this high-intensity exercise intermittently is important because it won’t stimulate the opposing hormone: cortisol. It keeps the stress down while still stimulating growth hormone. The growth hormone is stimulated by the high intensity. Cortisol is stimulated by duration, which you’re keeping short.

Long-distance walking

Walking is a low-stress, higher-oxygen type of exercise (aerobic), and better for stress. If you have a history of being an athlete or doing a sport that involved lots of cardio, then your cells have developed a larger capacity to use energy and you will need to do regular exercise to release that energy.

Tips for getting the most out of your workout

• Get good sleep

• Don’t eat anything before, during or after your workout

• Avoid insulin-spiking foods