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When most people talk about Fitness, what comes to mind is burning off excessive fat from the body.
Fitness involves more than improving your health, burning excessive calories through exercises and aiding muscle flexibility.
Fitness is a combination of all the activities involved in getting your body soul and mind in the right shape.
Physical fitness
Physical fitness is a state of complete efficiency of the entire body system. It is the ability of all parts of the body to carry out daily physical activities without stress or breakdown.
Physical fitness can be achieved by a combination of healthy nutrition, adequate rest and regular exercise.
- Healthy nutrition
It is important to ensure that the body gets the nutrients it needs at every given time. Too much or too little of a particular nutrient may affect physical fitness. Also, the importance of drinking water cannot be overemphasized.
- Adequate rest/ sleep
The average adult needs about 7-8 hours of sleep daily as this helps to improve human efficiency.
- Regular exercise
Exercising regularly has countless benefits but most importantly, it keeps us fit.
Benefits of Physical Fitness
- Weight Management- This is the most common reason why people engage in physical activities. Physical activities helps to burn calories, thus it helps in weight loss. Obesity is a major cause of health challenges like diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular problems. Regular physical activities help to manage weight.
- Increase in Life Span- A physically fit person is most likely to live longer than one who is not. This is because physical activities help to prevent certain diseases that might be a threat to life.
- It Improves Sleep- You sleep better when you are physically fit as physical activities helps to improve sleeping pattern which in turn aids general wellness.
- Protect against Diseases- Physical fitness helps to protect against some diseases like cancer, blood pressure and diabetes. This is because, the right nutrients in the right proportion coupled with regular exercises helps fight against these diseases.
- Enhances brain functions- Physical fitness helps to improve the functionality and efficiency of the brain.
- Slows down the aging process- Physical fitness helps you look younger as it improves your skin outlook and also your body posture and balance.
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Mental fitness
This involves keeping your brain, mind and emotions in the right condition. Your mental state is as important as your physical state because a healthy body begins with a healthy mind.
There is a deep connection between your body and your mind. Some exercises that are carried out are targeted at increasing your endorphins.
Your endorphins are what are referred to as your ‘feel good’ chemicals and they help to reduce pain and boost pleasure.
Unlike physical exercises, the mental exercise takes a slightly different direction. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that some physical exercises improve your mental state.
Examples of mental fitness exercises include;
- Dancing
- Puzzles
- Cycling
- Meditation (Yoga, Tai chi)
- Swimming
- Spa treatment
Benefits of Mental Fitness
- It improves mindful living- Being mindful means being more aware or conscious of your environment. This is one major benefit of mental fitness. You mind starts to open to become more focused and void of unnecessary distractions.
- It drowns depression- Depression is caused by loss of interest in daily life activities. Mental fitness helps to open up your mind and gives you a more energetic and motivate feeling.
- It helps you manage stress
- Reduce migraines
- It boosts your self-esteem and confidence.
It is important to understand that mental fitness is birthed by physical fitness. When you properly carry out good physical fitness practice, the resultant effect reflects in your mental health.
Finally, fitness begins with cleansing your soul, healing your mind and finishes up with beautifying your physical outlook.
