Endurance Sports Benefits
Participating in endurance sports like running, swimming and cycling doesn't mean you have to run marathons, swim across the English Channel or ride a few hundred miles a week to enjoy the benefits of those activities. Just a few combined hours of an activity each week can yield massive benefits.
THE PHYSICAL:
- Burn calories, all day - endurance exercise can result in lower appetite perceptions in the hours after exercise, resulting in a greater 24 hour energy deficit
- Burn fat - Peak fat oxidation during exercise increases with high-dose endurance training by specifically increasing transporters that shuttle fatty acid directly into your muscle
- Fight aging - endurance exercise has been shown to aid the protective ends of your DNA as you age. This may also fend off cancer and other age-related disorders
THE MENTAL:
- Stress less - Exercise helps dealing with stress by truly connecting all the body’s systems in the most productive and beneficial ways. This can help reduce anxiety by hardwiring internal coping strategies
- Brain octane - Endurance exercise training improves memory by targeting chemicals in your brain and, over time, will reduce the progression of age-related cognitive decline
- Get tough - Resilience is the ability to withstand, recover, and grow in the face of the demands of our lives. Physical training, particularly long duration aerobic exercise can drastically increase mental toughness and hardiness
- Tribal - You don't have to go it alone. There are plenty of training groups, teams and group oriented events in endurance sports to provide you with a community of like-minded people in search of the above benefits.
- Motivation - Choosing and trying to complete exciting and challenging endurance events can provide a new level of goal setting, travel and a prize at the end of your journey in preparing to complete the event
Pat's Note - Everyone has their own motivating factors and goals around deciding to increase exercise or engage in a new activity or discipline of a sport. Managing family, work and play can be challenging. I love keeping the above principles present because it's a reminder that I shouldn't bump my workout to the bottom of the priority list.
