To make sure you’re as healthy as possible
Exercising is more than just about looks and vanity, however – it’s also about health. And making sure your musculature and overall fitness are as strong as possible is the best way to be as healthy as possible. Anything from your spine, knees, and neck to your cardiovascular and immune systems can work much better once you start getting the best out of your fitness.
To increase your IQ
Physical fitness and intelligence are rarely thought of in tandem, however, they are closely related. Sure, hitting the gym 5 days a week won’t make you a math wiz in and of itself – there are other things you’ll need to do as well. But the link between physical fitness and IQ has been well-established (3).
In essence, if your body is a computer, then learning is equivalent to “updating your software” and exercising is the same as “updating your hardware” – you need both for the best possible results.
IQ is one thing but what about your mental and emotional limits? Can pushing your physical limits help them too?
To train your discipline
One of the most common excuses for people not exercising or not exercising hard enough is “I just don’t have the discipline.” However, anyone who exercises regularly sees the irony here – pushing yourself to exercise as hard as possible is one of the best ways to train your discipline.
This can feel like a “Catch 22” (4) but it really isn’t. All you need to do is give yourself one push and you’ll be underway. And the “I have nothing to lose but something to gain” attitude is usually all you need to kickstart that process.
