Physical fitness is a necessity for most people’s everyday life, no matter what sex or race. The recommended average in which an adult should undertake daily physical fitness is 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, and at least strength training twice a week. In order to achieve a healthy lifestyle you must be able to perform daily workouts and eat a well a balanced diet. Physical fitness affects a person not only physically but also mentally. In this essay a number of things will be discussed, ranging from the way exercising and not exercising affects the body. Along with why people train and is training just physical.
When you exercise, it positively affects your body in many ways. One of the key benefits of exercise is that it improves your insulin/leptin receptor sensitivity which is seen as the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease. Exercise also encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by causing your nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage. Unexpected side effects of exercise include improved mood, improved sleep and clearer skin (Mercola, 2013)
When you don’t exercise it’s very dangerous for your body mentally and physically. Without being physically active, chances of chronic illnesses and diseases skyrocket, like heart disease, high blood pressure, increased risk of certain cancers, anxiety and depression. (Kennedy, 2015). Bone issues such as osteoporosis occur when you don’t exercise due to loss of bone density and mass. Loss of bone density makes our bones brittle and more susceptible to fractures as we age. (Parab,2010).
Exercise isn’t just physical, mental exercise matters just as much as physical training and exercise does. Having strong mental health can largely be the reason you succeed instead of being physically strong and fit. Mental skills are a key factor in achieving success in a high performance sport. Athletes committed to achieving their goals seek to understand themselves and utilise mental skills to enhance their sporting performance. Mental skills at training can improve the effectiveness of training and allow the athlete the chance to develop the skill before transferring that skill to competition (ACS, 2016). Athletes and non-athletes need strong mental skills and a positive mind set to push themselves in training and exercise to succeed.