Do you love exercising? Me, neither. Well, I love the way it makes me feel. I love that my body looks better, it speeds up my metabolism and I live for the endorphin rush.
I’m a junkie on exercise in that way and the fact that it strengthens my core and helps my wonky back stay in and not out, is a bonus that I think makes crunches on the Bosu ball worth every single second of pain I endure.
But ladies, now there are more reasons to exercise, some you may not have ever thought of before. There are definitely a couple that I would have never even dreamed of as being reasons to workout.
- Exercising just 45 minutes a day lowers your progesterone level, effectively lowering your risk for breast cancer by 24%. Hello! That alone is reason enough to do those jumping jacks. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Seriously, this should be standard issued information given to all girls the moment that they go through puberty. There should be an insert included in with the box of giant maxi pads that we hand out to out tweens, so they know how truly great exercise is for women.
- Working out, in any capacity and doing any exercise, helps to alleviate back problems. Anyone who has ever suffered from back issues like bulging or slipped discs, raises hand, knows that once your back goes out it will go out again. It’s very painful and you are virtually incapacitated, like that one time it rained coco pebbles in my kitchen and all I could do was watch in petrified horror. Your doctor will give you a list of specific exercises to stretch your back and try to avoid your back going on vacation again. You WILL forget to do them. Turns out that 6 weeks of any general exercise will have the same effect. Just by moving your spine, you loosen your muscles and help speed up the recovery process.
- If you workout, others think you rock! A 2012 study revealed that if people think you exercise, you are viewed as athletic, energetic, confident, responsible and popular. People also believe people who exercise to be happier, more mature, less lazy, stronger and overall more interesting.
I never thought about how whether or not I exercised shaped the way others thought about me. I knew that people would obviously find someone more attractive if they worked out, simply because their bodies would be in better shape.
But who knew that just the mere fact that people believed you to exercise, would make them think of you in a more positive light, sort of like how wealthier men are always more attractive. Turns out it’s more than just the fact that they can afford the expensive clothes and plastic surgery, it’s the fact that others see them more positively simply because they associate wealth with attractiveness.
Do you workout regularly? Are these reasons any that you were already aware? Are there any other hidden reasons that women should workout, aside from the obvious looking better and feeling better, that you know of?
Photo Source: Adria Richards
