Exercise isn’t just about weight loss, muscle gain, or getting healthy. Although these are essential benefits of exercise, confidence, and love of self are important. In addition, motivation based on results takes time.
It’s crucial to build your confidence as you go to keep yourself motivated. Read on for eight ways you can boost your confidence just by exercising.
Sense of Control
One of the best ways to boost confidence is by building a sense of control. Weight gain occurs for several reasons, especially when we lose control of parts of life. For example, life changes like new jobs, big moves, or tragedies are just a few examples of things that might test our sense of control.
Working out gives you direct control over your body. Regardless of ability, you can control how you move. Once you know you can move, you’ll notice a renewed sense of control over your body, whatever your physical goals.
Mood Improvement
With a renewed sense of control, you’ll notice your mood improves. No matter how you feel about your body, any movement is good for it. Whether it’s low impact or strenuous activity, exercise improves mood. And the better you feel, the easier it is to love yourself–wherever you may be in your fitness journey. But, of course, part of that improved mood comes from the feel-good hormones your body releases when you get moving too.
Stress and Anxiety Reduction
Improved mood and better control help you master other things too. For example, it’s easier to mitigate stress and anxiety with increased serotonin and dopamine. Some of the biggest causes of stress and anxiety are poor mood, low motivation, and feelings of helplessness.
Plus, exercise is a great way to cope even if stressed. Exercising helps avoid things like burnout. Reducing anxiety makes it easier to love yourself too.
Energy Boost
It would be best if you likely had an energy boost when you feel tired, overworked, or burned out. Plus, it’s harder to see yourself and appreciate all your hard work with the low confidence that comes with low energy. Fortunately, exercise can help you get there.
The more you move, the quicker your resting metabolic rate. That means your body processes food better, potentially leading to weight loss (on a healthy diet). So even if you don’t lose weight, more energy gives you the chance to achieve more goals, leaving you feeling better about yourself than ever.
Better Body Image
A big demoralizer and demotivator for anyone is poor body image. Even if you’re not overweight, maybe you focus too much on results and numbers on a scale. These things can take the wind out of your sails, making it harder to exercise.
When you get moving, you can appreciate all your body can do. Set goals for yourself to see how far you can go. When you meet or even exceed these goals, your confidence will soar.
More Productivity
If you always feel like you’re running low on energy, your productivity likely suffers. Conversely, if you don’t feel like you’re accomplishing much, you may need more confidence in work or personal life. It’s also harder to love yourself when you lack confidence in your ability and capacity.
Exercising boosts your productivity indirectly by increasing your energy. Even if you’re only produced in small ways, the more empowered you are, the more motivated and effective you can be.
Deeper Sleep
Most people don’t get enough sleep. And when you miss out on sleep, your body and mood suffer. So your metabolism slows down on less sleep, and you wear out faster. In addition, self-image is often less forgiving and more critical (e.g., dark circles). Usually, motivation and productivity suffer too.
Less sleep makes it hard to take care of yourself, love yourself, or maintain self-confidence. Exercise wears the body out, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. It also helps keep your metabolism and energy levels stable, making it easier to get moving too.
Great Motivation
Once you’ve built up the habit of working out, even when life throws something unpredictable at you, exercise helps keep you motivated. A regular exercise routine keeps you accountable while allowing you to track your progress and hard work.
When you can measure your progress, you create an opportunity to celebrate yourself. Recognizing your accomplishments is vital to building self-love and self-confidence.
Reclaim Your Confidence and Love of Self
If you’re ready to start taking care of yourself, you’re prepared to move. Fit Body Boot Camp offers fitness opportunities for any athlete. Whether you had never worked out before or stopped working out a while ago, it’s never too late to believe in yourself again. Learn more about us and what we can offer you to help you feel more confident.
