Why is it that we workout?  To maintain a healthy body weight, promote a well-rounded wellness lifestyle, and of course, to sweat.  It’s too often that we come across people who want to sweat less.  Sweat is a beautiful thing.  And, want to know a fun fact?  The most fit people actually sweat more.

People who exercise regularly tend to start sweating sooner into a work out, and sweat more during.  Why?  Because their bodies are better acclimated to the process of cooling themselves down by sweating.  So, they sweat sooner, and sometimes more, to maintain their bodies’ core temperatures. 

Sweating doesn’t just work as an awesome form of A/C for our bodies either.  Here’s just a few of the many benefits your reaping when you sweat it out during your workout. 

Clears Skin

Sometimes, we get confused and blame a sweaty workout for skin imperfections.  While it’s super important to rinse your face and not let sweat sit on your skin after a workout, the act of sweating itself actually helps you zap zits.  This is because it’s ridding your body of toxins, some of which are acne causing.  So, when we sweat them out and wash them off, we can say goodbye to breakouts.

And, not to mention, getting your blood flowing during a workout improves your skin’s natural glow.

Boosts Endorphins

Prolonged periods of sweating in the gym produces an increase in your endorphins.  Otherwise known as, the “Feel Good” hormone.  Endorphins relieve pain and boost our mood.  So, while you may be feeling a little sore after an intense workout, you’ll notice that some regular aches and pains subside. 

And, endorphins increase our feeling of general well-being, hence boosting our mood.  Endorphins are one of our hormones that help make us happy, so what we’re getting at here, is that sweat and happiness just go hand in hand.

Prevents Colds

Exercising and sweating regularly decreases your chance of catching that nasty cold that seems to get around every September.  That’s because sweat contains antimicrobial peptides effective in fighting off different viruses.  So, by sweating it out, your keeping that cold away.  Not to mention, regular exercise helps support a strong immune system.

So, next time you hit the gym, hopefully all the benefits of sweating during a workout will drive you to have your sweatiest session yet.

When reaching for a health goal, we often ask ourselves, “how much time exactly am I supposed to spend exercising?”  Well, the answer to this is relatively simple.  When it comes down to it, you should be moving your body every day.  However, there is a such thing as too much exercise, too.  If you aren’t giving your muscles the time they need to rest and recuperate, you could actually be doing more harm than good.

So, we wanted to clear the air.  And not only help clarify how much you need to be exercising in order to reach your health and wellness goals, but also, just how much you need to be moving your body in general.

Our bodies are our greatest tool.  They are capable of so much, and we need to show our appreciation by keeping them healthy and happy.  We’re all guilty of getting caught up in our busy schedules, and maybe not giving our body’s the little bit of TLC they deserve.

But, how do we change this?

Think about it this way.  You should be moving your body every day.  This doesn’t mean hitting the gym every day.  But it does mean stretching your limbs and getting your blood flowing.  Go for a short walk when you get home from work, or spend five minutes every morning stretching each muscle.  Our bodies crave movement in order to fight off stiffness and fatigue, especially when we’re most likely spending the majority of our day working. 

When you are trying to reach a specific fitness goal, you’re range of movement obviously has to be a little more intensive than a walk around the block.  But how often you’re pushing your body is still important.  While moving your body every day is necessary, so is a day of rest from any workout.  Your muscles need time to recover from all that hard work you’re putting in.  So, pick a day to skip the gym and stroll around your block instead. 

And, to see the best results when reaching for your health and wellness goals, remember to switch it up.  Challenge your muscles in different ways.  Alternate between running, yoga classes, and riding your bike on different days of the week.  Throw some circuit training and strength building exercises in there, and you’ll be feeling stronger faster than you can even say, “fitness.”

The goal to understanding whether or not you’re moving your body enough is really just to be in touch with yourself.  Remember it’s important to treat our bodies right by taking them out for a spin each and every day.  But also remember, that our muscles do need rest in order to keep working hard and keep us going.

2017 is really underway and you’re working to hold true to your New Year’s Resolution of getting in your best shape ever.  Maybe you hit the gym hard after the holidays, but now its February and that “New Year, New Me” drive is starting to fizzle out.  Or, maybe January was a little too soon to fully commit to the extreme workout regimen you had intended, so instead you just didn’t really start at all.  Don’t worry, it’s never too late to get into a new fitness routine.  Here’s a couple pointers on how to start one that you can stick with for the long run, and help you make your health kick into an overall healthy lifestyle. 

Start Small

If you’re just getting back into the gym, you probably won’t be at the same place strength and endurance wise as you imagine having left off.  This is important to remember.  It is good to challenge yourself, however, setting unreasonable challenges and goals your first month back may only discourage you further.  Try to start small.  Pick an activity you like, and a reasonable time to do it for.  For example, maybe you’re going to jog for fifteen minutes, three days a week.  By doing this, you will get in the habit of setting aside time to get in shape, but not overcommitting to so much time that you feel overwhelmed with other things you may have to accomplish during the week.    

By starting small, you also allow room to give yourself weekly goals in order to build up your strength.  If you start with fifteen minutes of jogging, then the next week you could decide to jog for eighteen minutes, or you could set yourself a long-term goal of being able to run a certain distance within the next three months.  Doing this can allow you to measure your progress, which makes exercising a little more fun.  This also motivates you to keep the health kick going because you’re always working towards a little something new.  And then, out of nowhere, you’ll be like, “wow, look how strong I’ve gotten.”  Crazy.

Choose an Activity You Enjoy

This may seem a little tricky.  We know sometimes it seems like there are just those people who absolutely love working out and then people who just, well, don’t.  This isn’t true, though.  First of all, no one loves working out all the time, and you probably aren’t going to either.  Like everything in life, sometimes you’re going to really enjoy it and sometimes it is going to feel a little bit like a chore, but that’s why the key here is finding something you at least have an interest in. 

There are so many different fitness classes and activities these days that there honestly is something for everyone.  Maybe you want to try cycling, or you like to do yoga at the end of the day to relax, or you decide to join a hiking group on weekends to socialize and get outside.  All of these activities are different, and all of them are exercise.  And, the beauty in having so many choices, is if you don’t like one thing, just try another.  Just because you start a class or think you’ll enjoy a certain type of exercise, doesn’t mean you’re forever indebted to it if you hate it.  You can keep trying different types of activities, exercises, and classes until you find one that you’re at least a little fond of.  Then, once you find your niche, you’ll be more excited to go.  

Another thing to remember is that anything that gets you moving technically counts as fitness, so start dancing while you’re making dinner or take a turn jumping on the trampoline with your kids after work.  Everyone starts somewhere, and once you find that thing that works for you, you won’t want to stop.

Every Fitness Regime Falters

Even if you’re loving your new workout plan, and loving the results, you’re going to have those days that you just really do not have the motivation to get to the gym, and that’s fine.  Everyone has lounge days, even lounge weeks, and everyone has cheat days.  One of the biggest factors to being successful long term is not depriving yourself of these days and not beating yourself up over them.  By allowing yourself rest and recuperation time, you won’t get as burnt out on your fitness regimen.  No one is perfect…we all eat carbs and lounge around the house sometimes, so don’t get down on yourself, just get back into it fitness routine next week.   

Taking breaks helps it feel less like a job, and more like a choice, which again, makes it easier to stick with long term.  And, no matter how long of a break you take, you know what they say, “muscle has great memory,” so it really is never too late to start again.