Why is maintaining strength, endurance, balance and flexibility so important for physical health?

 Why is maintaining strength important for physical health?

Maintaining a strong and healthy mindset is essential to give focus and direction to our lives and it helps us to understand ourselves better so we are then able to communicate our needs to others in addition to helping us to understand ourselves better,but just as important as mental strength is Physical strength so why is this?

If our bodies are physically strong, it not only helps us to lose and maintain a healthy weight but also increases the metabolism, allowing us to burn more calories. Maintaining a strong core is not only important for our self esteem but for our overall health particularly as we get older .

Keeping our joints and bones strong protects us from injury, reducing the risk of falls or losing balance, hence improving our sense of independence and as a result improving the overall quality of life. Posture, balance and movement all combine to play an important part in maintaining strength within the body. If your body is strong it gives you more confidence to achieve your goals, hence improving your mental wellbeing in addition to achieving your goals. When we are happier we naturally achieve more, making us more productive in every aspect of our lives.

This in turn enables us to adapt to differing situations better and have more perseverance for adapting to inevitable life changes that will come our way. Increasing our core strength reduces the risk of injury and therefore protects us from pain, it helps to reduce fatigue and improves our sense of endurance.

Signs of a weak core are excessive weight around the middle area, pain or a lack of flexibility,stability or power to do or maintain exercise particularly those that are based around the core. It takes 8 to 12 weeks combining the correct diet daily with exercise to see a difference. Exercises to try include weights, pilates, yoga and planks all of which will help to strengthen the body and therefore improve health and wellbeing .

Why is improving our flexibility so important for our physical health?

Aging sadly is an inevitable part of life and with this the body naturally starts to steadily decline and this includes our ability to move the way we were previously able too . Other issues can also cause a lack of flexibility including injury, inactivity or a lack of stretching which is so important particularly as we get older or we are under a lot of stress or have physically or mentally demanding jobs .

So why is flexibility so important for physical health?

If our joints are more flexible it helps to decrease our risk of injury and also enables us to have a fuller and more varied rate of movement, therefore improving our quality of life. Through keeping active the blood flow is increased which helps to keep the fluid circulating through our joints reducing stiffness and increasing elasticity in the tissues and tendons which also helps to reduce our pain sensitivity.

Dancing, Pilates, Yoga and stretching are all highly effective ways to help to increase our flexibilty,therefore improving mobility and movement whilst slowing down the aging process. It is suggested that stretching positions are held for at least 20 seconds to 60 for maximum benefits and repeated 2-4 times daily.

Why is endurance so important for physical health?

The benefits to improving your endurance levels are vast and include improving confidence levels, cognitive abilities, increasing energy levels and improving mood and concentration but what about the benefits to your physical health?

Numerous exercises also known as aerobics including running, playing football, jogging, tennis, badminton, skipping,swimming and biking if done on a regular basis for at least 50 minutes , 2-3 times weekly can have a beneficial effect on health and wellbeing .

When you exercise the circulatory system is increased,which includes lung capacity and the health of the heart. This in turn increases energy which improves your ability to not only do numerous tasks but continue to do so on a long term basis.

The function of skeletal tissue is changed, therefore improving metabolic activity. With an improved metabolism comes a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases occuring, meaning an overall improvement in health and wellbeing.

Why is balance so important for our physical strength?

Have you ever watched a gymnast performing on the beam and been completely in awe and captivated as to how they manage to put on such a flawless performance with grace and remain composed and not lose their balance and fall? I know I have.

Balance is an incredibly important part of physical strength because it keeps our bodies upright and prevents us falling and injuring ourselves which sadly becomes much more likely as we enter our senior years.

If our bodies are strong and healthy it helps us to maintain health, making daily tasks more manageable and enables us to stay more independent so we can lead more fulfilling lives. Having balance within the body helps to coordinate the tissues, muscles, bones and tendons in addition to our various senses . It improves muscle and bone strength and helps to distribute body mass, which is especially important if we are carrying a little extra weight so we remain steady on our feet.

Having the ability to practice and maintain good posture helps with body alignment in addition to increasing coordination and flexibility .

To increase your balance try strengthening exercises such as the plank , gymnastics, yoga or pilates.

As an alternative you can try simple exercises to do at home such as sitting in a chair then standing without using your arms , balancing with your weight on one leg to see where the dominant energy in your body lies(I do this regularly in my Tantric sessions) or imagine you are walking a tightrope with one foot in front of the other in a straight line to improve confidence, strength, coordination and balance.

Elizabeth Lock      Holistic Therapist 
www.yourcuddletherapy.co.uk   heal@yourcuddletherapy.co.ukwww.yourinnerglow.co.uk         heal@yourinnerglow.co.ukwww.yourtantrictouch.co.uk      heal@yourtantrictouch.co.uk