With so many reasons to improve your fitness in the right way, I’ve chosen my top 5 reasons to exercise. If some of them seem a little scary I apologise. I simply feel passionate about the many reasons to improve our fitness, exercise, and improve both the quality and length of our lives. We only have one body and mind. I want as many people as possible to make the most of both.

1. The cost of being sedentary:- “being unfit should be considered as strong a risk factor as hypertension, diabetes and smoking — if not stronger than all of them.” Dr Wael Jaber, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, US, following an extensive study of over 122000 people from 1991 to 2014. There’s a simple prescription – exercise.
2. Stop ageing:- With no intervention, we lose around half a lb of muscle and 2% of our bone density per year from the age of 40. At 50, that accelerates to around 4% of bone density in women and 1lb of muscle per year. The correct weight-bearing regular exercise stops and even reverses that loss almost completely and at any age. It’s never too late.
3. Mental health:- There are 1000’s of studies that demonstrate how exercise promotes positive mental health – feeling good about ourselves, boosting our mood, and improving alertness. It has an even more significant effect when we feel anxious, stressed or depressed.
4. Sleep better:- Exercise and physical activity improve both our quantity and quality of sleep. Getting 8 good hours of sleep a day also has a huge impact on our well being both physically and mentally. Matthew Walkers ‘Why We Sleep’ book, even demonstrates the link between lack of sleep and the development of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
5. Healthy BMI:- By far the greatest cause of weight gain is calorie intake. However, muscle is much hungrier than fat and having more muscle burns more calories. An exercise routine will provide a positive anchor for good lifestyles and nutrition. Quality sleep suppresses appetite hormones and promotes appetite control. A positive sense of self helps stop the need to comfort eat. Exercise provides the best virtuous circle