Physical Fitness Facts

Most of us have a general idea that exercise is good for us, but how about some solid physical fitness facts to back it up? Here are four fundamental physical fitness facts that will help you stay motivated.

1. Using your body makes it better in pretty much every way. A used muscle gets stronger, especially when subjected to gradually heavier loads such as when you do a weight training routine. Joints and ligaments get stronger, decreasing the risk of injuries in your day-to-day life (assuming you're not overdoing it -- see the next section). But the Big Kahuna is of course your cardiovascular system. Your heart is a muscle, which responds to exercise by getting stronger and more efficient at its job. This in turn decreases your resting heart rate and blood pressure, which keeps the arteries from stiffening and thus decreasing the risk of getting clogged up later in life. Your lungs also get better at oxygen absorption, decreasing the embarrassing wheezing display after having to walk the stairs when the elevator is out of order.

2. No pain no gain isn't always true. Gung-ho spirit goes a long way, but there are cases where that toughness can create and aggravate problems. For example, shooting pain deep in the shoulder or near where a muscle ties into the bone should be a red flag. Listen to your body and let that muscle group rest for a week. You can always do a little extra cardio so it's not time wasted. However, if you persist and continue to hammer that budding injury week after week, you're bound to get into bigger problems before long. Then we might be talking months rather than weeks on the sidelines.

Likewise, if a muscle is still sore from the previous workout, you might as well give it another day or two to recover. Remember, exercise is actually a destructive thing in the short term, with the benefits coming after the workout as the body recovers and overcompensates. Think of it as one step back, two steps forward -- but where do you end up if you always jump the gun and skip that second step forward?

3. Exercise affects your metabolism long after the workout is over. Plodding away at the treadmill usually gives you nice, exact readout of the number of calories burned. Lifting weights or jogging outdoors doesn't have the same precision, but check with any of the free calorie calculators online to get a good estimate for your age, gender, weight and exercise level.

Now that's all nice and well, but you actually get an "afterglow" calorie burn effect to boot that can last up to 24 hours. This elevated metabolism is especially noticeable after weight training, which also has the benefit of boosting natural muscle building/fat burning hormones the following night. In other words, even those just looking to lose weight are wise to include some weight training each week.

4. Working out makes you happier, confident and more well-balanced. It is a well-known fact that a hard workout can work wonders in getting frustration, anger and other negative feelings out of your system. It should also be mentioned that it's a great anti-depressant too, since exercise stimulates the release of endorphins. The harder you work out, the more of the body's own "happy drugs" are released into your bloodstream.

• Pictures of People Exercising
• Women Fitness Models
• Male Fitness Model

• Breast Lifting Exercise
• Contour Abs
• Naked Exercise
• Naked Pilates
• Hula Hoop Exercises

• Warm Up Exercises
• Category:About Physical Fitness
• Sexercise