The Benefits of Staying Fit

Here is the article you’ve been waiting for. It contains the miracle answer to staying fit and living a long life!

The solution will halve your risk of developing a major illness like Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Best of all, it’s free. You don’t have to pay a penny for this solution. It works instantly, too. You don’t even need to see a doctor to get your hands on it and yet it’s totally legal.

What is this miracle life-extending solution? Exercise.

We’ve always been able to exercise in some way. So why do we neglect it? Or not do enough? It has such a damaging effect on our health if we don’t.

There is no magic cure. Regardless of your age, there is a wealth of scientific fact supporting the notion that staying active leads to a happier, healthier life.

Those who regularly exercise reduce their risk of suffering from chronic illness like those we’ve mentioned.

More research indicates that mental wellness improves with regular activity, too. Mood, sleep quality, self-esteem and more serious conditions like depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s and dementia can be better managed.

What are the benefits of staying fit?

The evidence is overwhelming. It’s painfully obvious that we should exercise regularly. Therefore, it’s simple; if you want a life of happiness and health, get exercising and stick with it even into your wrinkly years.

Medical data backs up the fact that those who are regularly active experience:

> 50% less risk of Type II Diabetes and colon cancer
> 35% less risk of heart disease and stroke
> 20% less risk of breast cancer
Up to a whopping 85% less risk of osteoarthritis
> 68% less risk of a fractured hip
A third less chance of having a severe fall
> 30% less risk of depression and dementia
> 30% less risk of early death

How to stay fit

To get fit and stay there, you should be active every single day. Aim to complete 150 minutes of exercise in the period of one week. This can be done in immeasurable ways.

Most people enjoy a brisk walk. Maybe you have a bike? If you live within 5 miles of where you work, ditch the car and get your feet moving. If you’re keen on monitoring your activity and making sure you get the time and distance in, we recommend looking at our article on the Nike+ sportwatch which will be the perfect companion for you, with activity monitoring and a handy GPS feature.

The rule of thumb is that for any activity you do, you should be doing it fast enough that it raises your heart rate and you need to breathe a little harder. This is called moderate intensity. If you’re at this level, you can still comfortably talk, but you wouldn’t be able to sing.

You can step it up to the next level, which is known as vigorous intensity. There is overwhelming evidence pointing to vigorous intensity benefiting your body significantly more than moderate intensity. Your breathing should become harder and faster. Your heart rate should go up more. To test it, you shouldn’t be able to say a full sentence aloud without struggling.

If you need some help to know if you’re at the right level, a Garmin fitness watch is your best friend. Check out our comparison of Garmin to Fitbit here to learn about the ability to monitor your heart rate zones.

Physical activity is redundant

Getting in enough exercise is a modern-day problem. Technology is largely to blame because it makes our lives so convenient. We drive our cars to work where we sit in front of screens for most of the day, we go home and machines wash our clothes and then we sit in front of another screen to be entertained.

Tech is taking out the physical labour of everyday tasks. We don’t even need to leave the house to fetch our food, which means we don’t have to walk, pack and put it away. Life is physically less demanding than it was for our elders.

This means we’re using less energy. The average adult spends 7 hours a day sat on their bottom. Those in the 65+ bracket spend around 10 hours of every day lying down.

The good news is, not all tech is bad for us. In fact, plenty of devices are created to combat this sedentary lifestyle we’re accustomed to. Your watch can be your personal trainer who lives on your wrist.

A lot of fitness trackers and smartwatches come with built-in fitness coach apps that motivate you to reach your goals. We’ve written about some of them in our review of the best smartwatches for 2020, and you can access that here.

Sitting down works against your fitness

You should be mindful of how much time you spend sitting down throughout the day. Making a proactive effort to be more active will naturally reduce the number of hours spent in a chair.

Watching TV, being on a computer, driving or even catching up with your friends and family all mean sitting down. Here’s where those health risks start creeping in.

All ages benefit from moving often. Even limiting the total time a baby spends sat in a buggy can contribute to healthy development. We can all benefit from saying no to sedentary behaviour.

How to get active and enjoy the benefits of staying fit

The 150 minutes a week target might sound daunting, but there are a lot of ways you can incorporate exercise into your existing routine. You don’t need a gym membership, equipment, money, or even additional hours in the day.

Head to our article about how to utilise being at home where we give you some ideas you’ve probably not considered, including a workout you can do on the sofa!

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in the office and you think you couldn’t possibly fit in a workout, you’re wrong. Here we give you a number of ways you can easily get active during your day, even when you have a diary full of meetings.

We haven’t forgotten the parents. We know kids love to watch videos on your tablet or smartphone, but we’ve come up with a few novel ways to get your little ones excited about exercise, without them realising it. Read our article on fitness for kids, here.