Hey gang, I'm Paul Marlow (Aka Tall Paul), and I'm here to share the value of regular workouts for your body and brain.
From 2003 to 2020, I was drafted in the MLB Draft to the Toronto Blue Jays, the first two-sport athletes at LSUS in Shreveport, Louisiana and a personal trainer for 15 years in my hometown of Vancouver, Canada.
2017 to 2022, my whole life changed due to PTSD, depression and anxiety from a hard breakup and my fathers' death. From this, I have come out stronger and founded one of the leading mental health help brands, Never Alone.
Because of these life experiences, I have put countless hours into connecting my physical health and mental health to see how regular workouts improve your shape and self-confidence.
Now I will share them with you, and together we can both grow mentally and physically one day at a time.
How often should you go to the gym?
Before we get to the positive benefits of fitness and exercising, you must first find your comfort level for regularly working out.
I want you to understand with consistency that we are all different in parts of our lives and all have different backgrounds.
Working out regularly for me will probably be different than working out for you. And that's ok!
Let me break down a basic blueprint on how often you should go to the gym.
For beginners
If you are starting in the gym and are not very active in your job or week, working out 3x a week is a good start. By throwing around a kettlebell Monday - Wednesday - Friday, you will have four days to rest your body and brain.
If you go 1-2x a week
There is room to step up your consistency and not overwork your body for those who already hit the gym or local fitness class 1-2 times a week. A healthy regular routine will be to bump it up to four workouts a week with three rest days.
Those that are active daily
If you are already active daily, then going to workout Monday through Friday is not a stretch. Make a plan to get in your gym workouts before or after work, and make sure you eat healthy food and get lots of sleep.
Workout in your sleep
Keep it up if you are reading this and grinding six days a week, getting your body in the best shape possible! Keep reading to see how you can get more out of these workouts for your mental health and confidence.
How to gain confidence in yourself
Gaining self-confidence takes time and patience, like seeing a physical change in your body when workout out.
Coincidence? I think not.
Any growth takes time, and there is no unique workout or single trick to do at home to get where you want to be in 24hrs magically. Confidence in yourself, your daily actions, and how you interact with others will come in time as you work with purpose on bettering your body and mind.
How regular workout improves your shape and self-confidence: 7 Ways
Now you have your number of workouts to hit in a week. I will share the value of being consistent with your workouts can better impact your mental and physical health.
Anxiety
Having anxiety can make going into your gym harder than you want. But working out will not make your anxiety worse, I promise you. Moving and sweating throughout your workout will help ease the encroaching feeling of anxious thoughts. Working out regularly can be a valuable tool in relieving your anxiety.
Depression
Being depressed feels different for everyone. One thing we can all connect on when in the depression blues is the lack of motivation to do anything from work to dating to spending time with friends or going out on the weekends.
Using the regular focus of a workout routine will be challenging, but it can help you find that one direction daily to work towards completing. When depressed, it is helpful to have a leading light (or, if you prefer, 'anchor') to focus on. An anchor works best when you have one area to focus on at a time, so you don't get overwhelmed and give up on them all.
Allow your addition of regular working out to be your anchor, and it will help many areas of your life at once.
Mental Health
Along with combating your anxiety and depression, working out consistently will help your overall mental health. Becoming more physically fit aids your body in fighting ailments like the common cold plus helps you get more deep sleep. Adding these things together will help boost your mental health and happiness because mental health growth isn't one thing. It is a factor in many working harmonies.
Reduces stress
Have you ever heard the term "grip it and rip it"?
When going to the gym, you can often get comfortable in your workout routine, find movements you enjoy, weights you are pleased with, etc. Because of this consistency, you can create milestones to achieve, something like having a 25KG Kettlebell snatch.
Creating this goal will have you pushing the limits on what you previously thought your mind and body could do by "gripping it and ripping it," as the saying goes. These milestones will reduce stress by gaining confidence in yourself, but the power exerted in each workout will also wear you down and leave you in a deeper state of calm the following days.
Weight loss
When adding more workouts to your regular workout routine, and if you have somewhat of a plan to eat healthy for what your body and brain need, you will lose weight as the weeks pass by.
By adding more workouts, you are creating a higher deficit of calories. A calorie deficit will happen by burning more calories per week and not taking in extra calories through food and diet.
Daily wins
Things get a bit easier as you start working out, week by week. Perhaps you can squat 15lbs more or last 3 minutes longer on the rowing machine. These wins are huge confidence boosts, and as they add up more regularly, you will see them spilling out into your everyday life, making things easier and giving you the confidence to aim for such goals outside the gym.
Going to the gym on a more regular schedule will make these daily wins quicker and multiply much faster than if you went one or two times a week.
Mood boosted
Getting active regularly is a great way to jumpstart a positive mindset and find a daily mood boost in your life. Sweating, endorphins, good tunes, getting fit, and great nights of sleep all equate to positively changing mood.
You can see how a regular workout improves your shape and self-confidence from all the information above. Working on your physical health WILL benefit your mental health in so many positive ways.
Start your journey today.
Paul Marlow
Founder of Never Alone
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