The Power of Physical Health: A Key to Longevity, Happiness, and Success
Today I will talk about why being physically healthy is the best thing you can do for yourself to live longer, be happier and more successful and I will give you 5 tips to help achieve this.
Longevity: The Reward Of A Healthy Body
In the past 20 years many studies have been conducted on the topic of whether physical exercise and health is directly correlated to life span. And the overall consensus of the scientific community is a profound yes.
In a 2022 study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that “people who followed the minimum guidelines for physical activity—150–300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75–150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity activity—reduced their risk of early death by as much as 21%.” All it takes is 30 minutes a day to decrease the risk of an early death by 21% but what about extending our lifespan? Can simply being fit through exercise and diet contribute to a slower deterioration of our human bodies and minds?
According to a 2012 overview of the literature on the subject the “Results of 13 studies describing eight different cohorts suggest that regular physical activity is associated with an increase of life expectancy by 0.4 to 6.9 years”. So yes, by simply working out you can not only prevent early death by over 20% but increase your life expectancy by almost seven years!
This should not only surprise you but motivate you to want to workout simply for the benefits described above. However this is not the only benefit of being physically healthy as I will show you in the next two sections.
Happiness: Understanding The Mind-Body Connection
Physical health is also considered to be one of the foundations of finding happiness. Although I do not think that happiness is a destination but instead a journey which we are constantly trekking it is important to understand the role of our physical health in this journey. It seems that everyone is looking for the “Key” to happiness and with social media glamorizing certain lifestyles people are more desperate than ever. Physical health is often understated when talked about in topics regarding happiness and success in life (which can be a plethora of things). That is why with this post I hope to be able to demonstrate to you the sheer power that a little exercise can have on your mental and physical health, which the benefits can be felt throughout your entire life.
Physical health is the culmination of several different actions like physical activity, diet and sleep and through all of these different actions we can increase our self-confidence, self-esteem and overall mood towards life. A 2021 study from Poland showed that “Active people showed higher levels of happiness and self-esteem compared to beginners and inactive people and a higher level of life satisfaction than inactive people. Furthermore, after 4 weeks of exercising, beginners revealed greater life satisfaction and happiness compared to the baseline.”.
These results clearly illustrate the need for physical activity in everyone’s life and show how we can all benefit from being more active. People all around the world could benefit from some time in the day where they are forced off of their screens and forced to do something which requires effort, real physical effort. For men this will release the hormones which make you feel more “manly” such as testosterone which boosts confidence and self-esteem which can lead to a more motivated “you”. Other hormones which are released during exercise and are vital in your functioning as a human are endorphins, these are the hormones which block the perception of pain and increase your well-being, Dopamine which is responsible for motivation in your brain and Cortisol which is known as the stress-hormone which supports energy-metabolism like fat-breakdown.
Success: The Basis Of Discipline
The last pillar of life which can be greatly improved by being physically healthy is success in business or your own career. Discipline is the basis of all great-things that can be achieved in life. To become a great musician or writer you need discipline, likewise in business and in any career path you must be disciplined to get to the top.
Being physically healthy requires a lot of discipline. To be able to wake up when you tell yourself to, to go to the gym when you don’t want to, to eat healthy when you could just get some fast food. Each of the decisions you make each day form the person you are and will become. A single decision may not be that important however over time the culmination of lazy decisions or disciplined decisions makes you great or not.
By achieving a good physical health you will have instilled great habits into your daily routine and you will know what needs to be done to get substantial results. If you already go to the gym or go running you will know that repetition and intensity is the only way to get sustained results.
With discipline you can be successful in anything that you set your mind to.
Five Tips To Get You Started
Tip 1: Establish a Balanced Exercise Routine
Having an exercise routine is the most important step when beginning your journey to being physically in top condition. Depending on what you enjoy doing you can tailor make your own routine to suit the time you have available to workout and the location you are in. If you enjoy cycling then simply doing some intense cycling sessions either outside or in the gym can be a great way to get some activity done. If you want to gain strength then going to the gym and creating a split which works for you will work great as well. No matter what you decide to do just remember to incorporate intense periods into your workout so as to make sure your heart-rate is elevated for most of the workout.
Tip 2: Prioritize Nutrition and Hydration
Having a diet is another way to improve your physical health, not only will a diet make you feel better but it will even make you look better. To find a diet that you can sustainably stick to you must experiment with some of the thousands on the internet. I try to make each meal look as colorful as possible, this way I know I am getting my meats, salads and other vegetables in everyday. One thing I would avoid as much as possible is processed foods as this can really set back your overall physical and mental health.
Tip 3: Get Sufficient Sleep and Rest
Sleep is vital to remaining healthy as it is the time that your body and mind get to recover from working so hard during the day. We sleep around one-third of our entire lives so it is important that we do it right, that means no screen time in bed. Furthermore if you find that you are struggling to sleep then make it your upmost priority to find out why and fix it. Being tired from lack of sleep will affect your decision making during the day and decrease your motivation as well.
Tip 4: Practice Stress Management Techniques
Stress Management techniques can be anything from breathing or taking a walk but if you are able to stop yourself from stressing then you could be feeling better than you ever have. Daily stress is one of the most severe symptoms of many health problems and at it’s worst can lead to an early death which is why it is important to not worry about the small things in life and learn some stress management techniques.
Tip 5: Regular Health Screenings and Check-ups
Although this is not necessary when starting out it can be useful to see where you are so that you can create some goals about where you want to go. A normal screening can be done at most gym's and can tell you enough preliminary information to give you enough idea of what you should work on.
Thank you for reading,
Max