Hitting the gym can be part of a healthy lifestyle. However, gyms tend to be portrayed as a weight-loss strategy. More and more individuals start a gym membership to lose weight. Unfortunately, the attitude can be harmful and counterproductive.
Indeed, regular physical activities are crucial to your health, as being active can boost your mental health and support essential body functions. Yet, if you only focus on the gym as a punishment tool for the body, it can be demotivating. While it’s not to say that gyms can’t play a role in your self-improvement journey, you need to appreciate that there’s more to the gym than reaching your dream body weight.
Create new habits for yourself
The gym can be crucial in building a healthy lifestyle, as it can help you introduce new habits. Instead of focusing on long-term weight loss achievements, you can use the gym as an achievement in itself. Getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day can boost your immune system, metabolism, and overall health. Scheduling times during the week to go to the gym makes it easier to be active and to maintain your new habits in the long term. For new gym-goers, it can be a huge mental challenge to transform the routine. Ultimately, you need to change your habits to build a healthy and happy lifestyle. Why not let the gym be the change you need?
Goals should be all-encompassing
Weight loss is a popular goal. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel your best. Subcutaneous fat is more than an aesthetic problem. It puts your health at risk. So, if weight loss is one of your goals for hitting the gym,you should make sure to approach the new routine with a desire to manage your health. Some gyms, such as Fitness 19, also provide personal coaching services to help you achieve your health goals. Some ideas for all-encompassing gym goals that can make a big difference are:
- Improving your strength and flexibility
- Reducing risks of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
- Not being out-of-breath all the time
- Etc
The truth about muscle gain
Strength training is one of the most important elements of your fitness routine. Gyms are ideal for muscle building as they have a vast choice of specialized equipment. Strength training preserves your connective tissues, your bone density, and your muscles. Research also shows that muscle-building activities are crucial to improve sleep quality, mental health, and blood-sugar control. Working out with dumbbells and other weights can dramatically reduce the risk of injuries, fractures, and mental confusion in later years.
Understandably, individuals who are interested in weight loss as a priority can fear muscle gain. However, it’s important to divide your time at the gym between strength training and cardio activities, as both benefit the body in different ways. Muscle tissue is denser than fat, which means that a pound of muscle is much smaller than a pound of fat. If you are worried about your appearance, muscle building is a good thing. Additionally, muscles also burn considerably more calories than fat, increasing the metabolism and weight loss potential. While the digits on the scale may not change, the body composition can vary significantly, increasing muscle and bone mass.
In short, gyms can be part of a healthy lifestyle, encouraging positive habit changes, overall goals, and significant health improvements. Thinking of the gym as a weight loss solution is incorrect and keeps significant advantages at bay.
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