Every time you make a choice to improve your health, increase your strength or focus your mind, you empower yourself. You are building a stronger body and mind! And when you feel those changes and see your ability improving, it can encourage you to keep pushing.  Exercise isn’t just for your physical body, fitness can transform you, mentally and emotionally, so let’s explore the 7 ways fitness will grow your empowerment inside or outside of the gym. 

1. Fitness improves your mood

When you exercise, your mind responds by releasing chemicals called "endorphins". These chemicals literally lift your mood and give you a sense of well-being.

2. Your workout is a time that’s just for you

So many women find themselves constantly giving to others and it can be easy to forget to allow any time to focus on themselves. Doing a workout can give you the time and space you need to tap into your inner strength. In fact, exercise can help to reduce the symptoms of stress, giving you more energy and a calmer outlook for your daily activities. 

3. Training can increase self-confidence

As you begin to treat your body with care, you can learn to love your body more, and you’ll feel better mentally and physically. As you get stronger, you can gain confidence in what your body can do. This feeling of accomplishment will carry into everything you do throughout your day!

4. Working out can improve sleep

Exercise can help you to sleep better. Have you ever noticed that when you haven’t slept well, you feel more emotional or anxious? I certainly have and that’s why it’s important to find time for exercise even on stressful or busy days. The type of exercise you choose isn’t as important as just being consistent.

5. Exercise promotes clarity of thought

Exercise stimulates the brain and helps to improve its function. It can also help to reduce anxiety, which is one thing that can get in the way of your ability to think clearly! 

One of the biggest changes I noticed when I first began to exercise was that on the days when I did a workout, I felt calmer. At the time, I was struggling with postnatal anxiety. I noticed that exercise was helping me mentally long before I saw any changes in the mirror, and this helped motivate me to stick with it!

6. Exercise helps to build mental resilience 

Exercise can help you to build mental resilience. When you learn to push your body through a workout, this teaches your body, and your mind, to recover and adapt to stress in your daily life. 

Next time you face a challenge in your life, remember how you overcame the challenges in your fitness journey. Whether it was increasing your weights or doing more reps in a circuit, it reminds you of how strong you are.

7. Fitness magnifies gratitude

Most of all, fitness can be a daily gratitude practice. As you commit each day to make small changes to living a healthier life, you will start to notice how much you already have. 

Practicing gratitude for your body, through movement, can help you to allow space for all of your emotions, rather than becoming overwhelmed by negativity.

In closing, The more you practice gratitude you will begin to notice a shift in your internal dialogue. This doesn’t mean you will always be happy or that you won’t face difficulties, but it does mean that no matter what is going on in your life, you will learn to treat yourself with kindness and grace.