The importance of a regular fitness routine in our lives can be crucial towards our health, happiness and success. Regular exercise is important for everyone no matter your age, young or old. Science has already proven that exercise can prevent deadly diseases as well as keeping us fit and healthy. And there are also many other benefits to exercising regularly too! Such as weight control/ loss, boosted moods, relieving stress, gaining confidence, disease prevention and many more. Let’s take a look at some of these benefits in more detail…

Improved mental health

Everyone knows that excerising helps you physically but not so many people are aware of the incredible mental benefits it has too. You might be wondering, how? well, exercising releases endorphins which send pleasure to our brains as well as reducing stress and anxieties. It will boost your phsyical and mental energy so you have a clear and stronger mind to take on tasks. Without exercise it’s common to feel mentally drained and it’s not uncommon to hear of peoples mental health signficantly improving after starting to exercise more. So get moving and feeling good!

Maintained body weight

It’s no secret that exercising is the key to weight loss. However, you must exercise regularly to maintain this weight loss over time. Hitting the gym once or twice a month won’t keep maintained body weight. Also, exercise will increase your metabolism greatly, so yes that’s even more calories burnt woohoo! If your goal is to lose weight then you must ensure that you’re not eating more calories to compensate for those burnt in the gym though. Getting a personal trainer and dietitian/ nutritionists can be extremely helpful if you’re starting out your fitness journey. They will help you plan your fitness routines/ goals and meal plans so you can reach your full potential. And feel confident with your progress!

Increases your life expectancy

Regular exercise has been proven to increase someone’s life expectancy for up to seven years! This is because of the many health benefits that come with regular exercise. Such as mood-boosting, strengthening bones and prevention from life-threatening diseases. Research has shown that people exercising for 70+ minutes a week will live an average of 1.8 years longer than someone who does none. That’s only 10 minutes a day! If this fact isn’t enough reason to exercise regularly, then what will be?

Reduces your risk of injury

Exercises will reduce your risk of injury significantly by strengthening and increasing the range of movement in your muscles. For example, if you opt for strength training in the gym (with exercises such as lifting weights, circuit training, push-ups, pull-ups etc) then you will become much stronger over time. This will help you perform significantly better in all different types of sports and strenuous activities. However, whilst strength training helps reduce the risk of injury it’s also important to focus on flexibility and we’d highly recommend yoga or pilates classes! It will improve your flexibility so you increase your range of movement in joints and also improve posture.

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Having a routine can be the key to your happiness and success as an individual. There are so many benefits to sticking to a good routine, such as improved stress levels, mental health (less anxiety) and more time to relax. A great idea when you’re planning a routine is to replace your bad habits with good habits. Maybe you binge-watch your favourite Netflix show whilst eating breakfast in the mornings? but instead, you replace this by going for a walk or run to set yourself up for the day. Or maybe you get up too late and don’t have time to exercise or eat breakfast and want to start getting out of bed earlier? Whatever your goal is, it’s important to plan and install it into your routine plan.

So, that being said, here are some helpful tips to get into a good routine…

1. Decide what needs to be in your routine

Ok, first things first, you need to decide what should be included in your routine. Write down the most important things first – exercise, meals, morning/nightime skin routine? Then think about things that you want to do more of but tell yourself that you ‘don’t have enough time’. Maybe it’s learning a new language or reading more? once you’ve written everything down that you want to include in your routine, it’s time to plan.

2. Layout a plan

Once you’ve decided what to include in your plan, you need to decide how long to plan for. One week? two weeks? a few months? If it’s your first routine plan, we suggest planning for one week to see how it goes. Then you can see what did and didn’t work and use this knowledge with your next plan. Remember to be realistic with your routine so you don’t feel disappointed with yourself if you don’t stick to everything.

3. Set small goals to start off with

It’s important that you set yourself small goals that are achievable, especially with your first routine plan. You can work your way up to the larger goals! Progress should be the most important thing for you. For example, if you’re goal is to complete a 5k run, start off doing a short run and increasing your time each run. You’ll get there eventually!

4. Be consistent with time

Time management and consistency is key to a good routine. Getting into a good routine means planning to do things at the same time each day. For example, eating breakfast, skincare routine, work out etc. If you do these all in the morning before you start the day it will be hugely beneficial to you. Also, once you get used to it in your routine it will feel like second nature.

5. Track your progress

Tracking your progress is essential. You need to see how much you’re progressing and what you can do to improve. Referring to your progress helps you see how far you’ve come which is great for motivation and a confidence boost! You’ll get to see how your focus and hard work has paid off and will find yourself looking forward to the next challenge.

6. Reward yourself

And finally, reward yourself for sticking to your routine, you’ve done great! If you’re doing well at sticking to your routine, make sure you find time to fit some rewards in, treat yourself or do something fun (you deserve it). It can’t always be all hard work and no play. Also, when you treat yourself, your brain releases a chemical called dopamine, which makes you feel good and happy! It’s important to stay happy so you’re motivated to continue your success from your routine. And isn’t happiness the overall goal anyway?

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Financial freedom will allow you to live a life free of financial stresses. We’ve all probably been in a scenario where we don’t have the money to do something that we want to do. With financial freedom, you can make life decisions without being overly stressed about the financial impact. Of course, achieving financial freedom isn’t always an easy road. It can involve serious planning, sacrifice and time. But once you’re there, it’s so worth it. Let’s look at some steps to help you…

1. Set life goals

Financial freedom is different for everyone, ask yourself – what does financial freedom mean to you? enough money to buy whatever you want without looking at the price tag? to go on holiday twice a year? you need to be specific when setting your life goals so you know exactly how much you need to be able to achieve them. Write down a figure that you want in your bank account and how you’ll achieve this. Then start to manifest these goals by taking steps towards them every day.

2. Budget

Budgeting means deciding how much money you will spend on things and sticking to a spending plan. It’s a great way to ensure that you’re adding money to your savings each month as well as affording essential things, such as food and bills. Having more control over your money will keep you on track with your financial goals. It involves being organised and avoiding temptations to splurge on unnecessary things.

3. Save

Save save save. A great tip for saving is that as soon as you get paid, take a certain amount out and put it straight into your savings. This means the money already gone and you won’t be tempted to spend it, you’ll have to work with what’s left in your bank account. Saving will help you reach the financial goals that you’re aiming for, cover unexpected costs and pay for expensive purchases.

4. Start investing now

Any successful and financially free individual will tell you that it’s important to have different sources of income. And investing is a great way to achieve this! It allows you to grow your wealth by generating a different source of income. Why not invest a small number of your wages each month as soon as your paid? this means you can start to build up your investments and hopefully see some financial gains. It’s important to learn how to do so first so you’re more confident when doing so.

5. Pay credit card off in full

Credit cards can be extremely dangerous territory for someone who isn’t fully in control over their finances and prone to splurging on unnecessary things. If you’re still this type of person, stay away from credit cards until you have better money management. However, credit cards are great for building a good credit score which will make it easier to qualify for loans. But it’s absolutely vital that you make your payments on time. So that you don’t get charged ridiculous interest each month.

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