ENCOURAGING GREAT HEALTH FOR TEENS
- January 22, 2016
- Posted by: Sam Adettiwar
- Category: Great Health
Pursuing great health is the cornerstone of any fulfilling, remarkable life. We talk a lot about achieving greatness, and regular exercise allows you to perform at the peak of your potential, both physically and mentally. Whether it’s for school, sports, or with common tasks, cultivating a strong body and mind is the foundation for succeeding in your daily lives.
How are teens involved with exercise?
For teenagers, there is a wide spectrum regarding how active they are. For some students, working out is their passion and these kids may be involved with every sport at their school or on campus. For other teens, exercising is rarely a priority in their lives. For these, a walk up the stairs may leave them out of breath. Now regardless of which side of the spectrum you lie on, there is always room for growth and improvement. Striving for excellence in the realms of great health such as regular exercise, proper nourishment, and physical and mental stability is imperative for your formative years.
The problem is that teenagers love to procrastinate so many times, exercise never becomes a daily habit. Especially with the “I’ll go to the gym tomorrow mentality”, exercise becomes a one-time deal rather than a daily occurrence. But you can never wait around to exercise, you have to start today, start NOW. This is imperative because especially as young adults, we have such sedentary lifestyles. We sit in chairs all day during school, we sit at our desks to do homework, then sit some more on the couch to watch tv, and then finally lie down on our beds to sleep. Especially since the Department of Health and Human Services reports that teens should get at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous activities to be healthy, we have to actively strive to make workouts part of our daily routine.
Why should teens work out?
Now since Gen Z tend to be logical realists, we always need a reason why to do something. So, to REALLY convince that working out is crucial, here are 5 prominent reasons why you should exercise regularly.
Fitness can make you smarter:
Fitness can make you smarter. That’s right, exercise is linked with many benefits to your brain, including improved cognition, memory recall, and intelligence. In fact, a Harvard article reports that regular aerobic exercise boosts the size of the hippocampus in your brain, the area involved with verbal memory and learning. Even though it sounds too good to be true, exercising can bring your better grades.
Working out improves your health and wellness:
Working out drastically improves your health and wellness. Lacking fitness can result in obesity, higher chances of cardiovascular complications, metabolic diseases, and less healthy bones. Moreover, many of your bodily processes such as respiration and digestion are maximized when you work out. Moreover, studies have even indicated that working out can lengthen your lifespan. This ensures your path to greatness is supported by a strong body and mind. Many bodily processes are enhanced through regular exercise.
Correlation between exercise and better sleep quality
If there is one thing that all teenagers love, it’s sleeping. And fitness can allow you to have better sleep. A John Hopkins research study found that there is a correlation between exercise and better sleep quality. With more valuable sleep patterns, you can reduce your tiredness and grogginess and maximize your daily energy.
Improving your mental state:
Working out can serve as a mood booster. Exercising releases endorphins from the brain, which are characterized as “feel good hormone”. Moreover, fitness can increase your energy levels, allowing you to be more productive. This can improve your mental state, allowing you to be more positive and optimistic. So, even though exercising may seem boring and draining, it actually energizes and motivates your actions.
Through exercise, you can obtain your dream body:
Through exercise, you can obtain your dream body, which can serve as a form of empowerment. Now, we aren’t advocating that one body type is better than another, but exercising regularly can help build your muscles and tone your body. This sense of achievement can boost your self-confidence and inner strength.
Due to its myriads of benefits, you understand why great health is truly the foundation for our Mahatman philosophy and the launchpad to help us achieve greatness.
What are some types of exercise that work for me?
For some teenagers, their excuse for not exercising is that they don’t enjoy working out. However, due to the multitudes of exercises, there is something for everyone! If you like intensity and progress in your workouts, you can do boxing, CrossFit, and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). If you are a social butterfly, you can sign up for group workout sessions or enroll in a sport to find your community. If you enjoy more cardio, you can take up jogging, indoor cycling, and aerobics. If you love creative expression, you can try dancing or yoga. And even if you are broke, you can partake in outdoor activities such as hiking and biking, which are completely free. Even if you can’t make it to the gym everyday, aim to workout at your house using training videos that are on your smartphone.
How do I stick to a workout routine?
For many teens, their promise to exercise is much like a New Year’s resolution. It works for the first few days or weeks, but is never a long-term commitment. To avoid these empty fitness promises, use the following techniques to ensure that you stick to your routine over weeks, months, or even years.
Create a workout journal
Have clear goals and intentions for your workouts, and list down the reasons why you are working out and what you hope to accomplish. The physical act of writing it down makes your thoughts a reality, and ensures that you will stick to your workouts. Also, track your progress and record your achievements, whether it’s improvements in your physique or stamina.
Splurge on what motivates you
Whether it’s investing in workout gear or buying some dope fitness clothes, find something that excites you to work out. By correlating positive feelings with exercising, this increases the chance that you will work out. However, don’t make the mistake of buying these items and then never exercising. Promise yourself 10 times that “I will work out”, and then buy workout gear.
Why am I working out?
- Makes me feel empowered and confident in my body
- Boosts my health and wellness
- Improves my physique
- Allows me to have more energy through the day
- Improves my mood
Vision & Goal
- Short-term goal: Run 5 miles in a week
- Long-term goal: Run a marathon by the end of the year
- Workout vision: To advance my stamina, endurance, and boost my mood levels.
Integrate it into your schedule
Dedicate a certain chunk of time every day for you to exercise, and don’t schedule any other commitments during this time. Prioritize your workout session as you would for an appointment or a meeting.
Progress
- 2/7/19: I am able to run a mile under 7 minutes.
- 2/10/19: I have worked out 10 consecutive days in a row
Sign up for something
Whether it is joining a sports team, committing to yoga sessions, or signing up for a community race, sign up for something. This way, you are creating an obligation to work out, not just creating a promise in your head.
Find a workout buddy
Collaborating with a friend and encouraging each other to exercise can be one of the best motivating techniques. Since you are holding each other accountable and boosting companion morale, this can ensure that working out becomes productive and enjoyable.
So after reading this, you should have no excuse not to work out. Once you build fitness to be a habit, it becomes easier and seamlessly fits into your daily routine. Great health is arguably the most important aspect of a teenager’s life, and that’s why the Mahatman team advocates it so heavily. Truly, great health is the foundation for a great life.