Hi Wellness Warriors! I’ve got a hot take for you today. You know that I don’t like to label exercises (or food or bodies) but as I was researching scrolling Insta, I kept seeing other influencers and content creators banging on about which exercises should be done. Which got me to thinking (always dangerous) about exercise that can be beneficial to anyone.
I want to be crystal clear here. These are exercises that I believe add value. Meaning there are Physical benefits, of course. As long as you are moving your body there always are. But that these exercises also offer Mental Health benefits and may, in fact, positively affect other Dimensions of Wellness for you.
These are also types of exercise. Which is much more broad than, say, bench press. Not that there is anything wrong with a good bench press, but it is a very specific exercise which targets something specific and depending upon your individual needs (i.e. shoulder injury) may not be appropriate for everyone. The types of exercise I am going to mention can be appropriate for everyone.
The two types of exercise that I feel everyone can benefit from regardless of ability level, goals, age, gender or just about any other qualifier you can come up with are… drumroll please… walking and resistance training. Let me break down why.
If you have skimmed even an iota of content here on MMW, you’ll know my love for walking. Inside, outside, on a track, trail, or sidewalk, the Physical Health benefits are bomb. Increased cardiovascular endurance capacity, increased lung capacity, weight control/loss, positive control of blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and an increase in balance and stability.
Not to mention the Mental Health benefits walking provides. It’s relaxing, you can listen to music or podcasts or books, and it’s a low stress activity. There is no need to hype yourself up, yet you can go at a challenging pace if you want. And all you need are a pair of decent sneakers.
Additionally, most of my exercise based content here is strength training related. And I try to take specific goals out of the equation and focus more on the whats and hows. Strength training basically attenuates just about every age-related decline you could possibly think of. So even if your current goal is to get shredded or add an inch to your biceps, you are doing something amazing for your long term Physical Health.
Resistance training has Mental Health benefits, too. Specifically in terms of problem solving (have you seen how many different programs are out there?!?!) and confidence. Let’s call a spade a spade here. You feel pretty bad@$$ when you find a program that gives you results and your body can lift heavy things. And much like walking, you don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment. Resistance bands can get the job done.
In a nutshell, these are two types of exercise that bring some benefit, whether Physical or Mental (or something else) to anyone who engages. They can easily fit into any type of training program or be adapted for any goal. They are easy to modify for ability or need and are habits that can easily last a lifetime.
I will always argue that the value of any exercise is more than just the short term Physical benefits; it lies with the longer term, harder to define benefits of Mental Health and the ability to create a habit. Walking and resistance training are types of exercises that check all the boxes.
Until next time, be well friends!
