Why Should I Work Out? 9 Awesome Reasons Other Than Weight Loss

By Hanna Brooks Olsen for Blisstree.com

If you were to believe the headlines on the average, body-shaming women's magazine, you might think that working out is only good for two things: weight loss and getting men to love you. But, just like you are a multi-faceted, sentient, intelligent human being, a workout is about a lot more than just looking hot and being skinny (as if those things are mutually exclusive). Regular exercise can improve your skin, your heart, your mood and even your career.

Not that you'd know it from most of the media's messages, but exercise isn't just a last resort when dieting doesn't work. In fact, picking up a kettlebell or heading to a yoga class can actually help a lot of the medical and psychological maladies that many Americans medicate for, like poor sleep, lack of concentration and even menstrual pain.

Of course, exercise isn't a cure-all for everyone, nor is it a substitute for seeing a doctor. But it's also not just a method of weight loss. Flip through this gallery to see all the benefits of a good workout -- some might even surprise you.

For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Comments

[halquestorganic]

05:58 PM on 02/14/2012

We are sounding a broken horn - exercise is clearly proven to improve mental state, whether you are normal, anxious or depressed, but how many of us (myself included) get daily exercise?

http://questorganic.com/search?q=exercise+mindfulness

[lensamy]

01:32 PM on 02/14/2012

Im going start running again, every other family member has blood pressure issues or diabetes and hopefully ill get to avoid those as long as i can!

[suzannablake]

09:16 AM on 02/14/2012

Great article, must keep moving!
http://egasus.com

[ScottishLefty]

08:33 PM on 02/13/2012

It`s great for your shagging too

[stjoshy]

04:22 AM on 02/15/2012

us bros with a dame know this

[William Anderson LMHC]

08:14 AM on 02/13/2012

Exercising to lose weight was a waste of time for me. It wasn't until realized that exercise would not solve my weight problem that I got a handle on my weight.

An hour on a treadmill will burn off 400 extra calories. So what? I could eat twice that in two minutes with a couple of donuts I was sure I deserved after the workout. To lose weight, one must get the caloric consumption under control and under the metabolic rate. Exercise is not that significant.

When I realized that I didn't need to exercise to lose weight I was so relieved, and by learning how to get my eating under control and under my metabolic rate, I started losing weight. After I lost 50 pounds, I started feeling better, and then a funny thing happened. I wanted to move around more. And I knew it would improve my weight loss. I made exercise a part of my life, eventually lost 140 pounds, and I've maintained my ideal body weight for over 25 years.

Every one of the reasons you cite to exercise is important, the real reasons to exercise, with big rewards for the exerciser. Exercise is not really a way to lose weight.

William Anderson, LMHC
Author of 'The Anderson Method - Secrets of Permanent Weight Loss'
www.TheAndersonMethod.com

[LogicalMathMan]

11:08 AM on 02/13/2012

Not sure if what you are suggesting would be the optimal way to reward yourself for the effort. Exercise does incontrovertibly make a person lose weight. Combined with dieting, which should become a way of life, it is the only surefire way to improve heart health.

[William Anderson LMHC]

12:48 PM on 02/13/2012

The only reward I'd suggest for the effort of exercise is experiencing and knowing what a great thing you have done for yourself, like the benefits of improved heart and vessel health, improved blood pressure, sleep, immune system function, diabetes control, mood.... The list is endless.

Exercise will not make a person lose weight if they eat more calories than they expend. The only way to lose weight is to develop habits where you eat fewer calories than you expend.

[samknox]

06:51 PM on 02/13/2012

The preponderance of evidence suggests that exercise has little or no benefit for fat-loss, there, mathman.

Exercise is sometimes associated with fat-loss, but it is just as often associated with no change in body fat or an increase.

For the vast majority of people who engage in regular exercise, any extra calories burned are simply replaced in the diet.

[stjoshy]

04:29 AM on 02/15/2012

exercise is not that significant? if yo are truly a psychtherapist i truly pity your patients. ...WEIGHT CONTROL EXPERT!!??? are you kidding? do you know what a metabolism is good sir? exercise boosts your metabolic rate. why would you eat donuts after a workout? there is no protein, fiber, or potassium in a donut champ. ITS A TWOFOLD attck mr. expert... healthy exercise and a healthy diet with copious amounts of water. THATS the way you lose weight. ... you btter not be a troll who has time to write 4 paragraph posts of nonsense, i set my brew down to reply to this ridiculousness. ..guys like me wont let you take money from people who dont know your full of nonsense, so find another way to advertise bro

[William Anderson LMHC]

08:12 AM on 02/15/2012

My statements are simple fact, easily verified and endorsed by medical and science experts in any institution of higher learning. Overeaters can outeat exercise any day of the week, and they often gain weight adding exercise to their habits without attention to the eating.

People with a chronic weight problem need to get their eating under control to lose weight, and whether they exercise or not is not as significant as the eating control, related to weight loss. Exercise is a separate health issue, very significant in its own right. Exercise is completely irrelevant related to weight loss if they don't get the eating under control, and may, in that case, cause weight gain, not loss.

As an aside, I have not eaten a donut in over 25 years, wouldn't touch one. I believe you misunderstood what I was saying. You are correct that I truly am a psychotherapist and an internationally recognized weight control expert and I know what metabolism is (it's not referred to as 'a' metabolism). Read my book and the reviews by medical experts (please ignore the ignoramuses who spout nonsense). Google "William Anderson, LMHC" and "The Anderson Method" for more info.

[AnaM]

02:27 AM on 02/18/2012

It's annoying when 'psychotherapists' use comment threads to advertise their wares and it's always along the line of something 'secret' or exclusive. They make out like they've discovered a secret to something, when there really is no secret other than an attitude change and realisation that for weight loss to occur, the body/metabolism needs to be re-adjusted and negotiated through a healthier diet and regular exercise.

[Bee]

10:22 PM on 02/12/2012

By doing pushups every day, my boobs got firmer. I wish I had known earlier.

[Amie Nogrady]

12:49 AM on 02/13/2012

geezalou, it's not just me then! I have been doing a hybrid of Turbo Fire and Chalene Extreme, the latter includes lots of weights and pushups... damn if my bust measurement isn't increasing by leaps and bounds!!!!!!

[Andrea W171]

09:32 PM on 02/12/2012

I wish articles with titles like this would have something new to offer instead of all this recycled info. Really? Better sleep, stronger bones, more energy....This is news worthy? I think most people know this.

[jgarma]

06:05 PM on 02/12/2012

Yep, all those are sound and compelling reasons to exercise. And I want to add another.

A longer stronger life!

The stronger part is an obvious benefit of exercise, but longer? Yes, indeed. There are two articles I'll share on the subject.

"How Exercise Slows the Aging Process" delves into a study where German scientists tested several groups of men and women with the aim of examining the life span of their cells. One remarkable conclusion: the middle-aged exercisers looked much younger than the sedentary middle-aged group. http://wp.me/pA04z-so

"New Research: Muscles = Longevity!" reviews research that shows that exercise can increase a certain protein's production which then can then halt the aging process by preserving muscle strength. http://wp.me/pA04z-ud

So, exercise is no longer a matter of vanity (looking better, running faster) but of contributing to the chance of living a long and strong life.