Why Prioritizing Your Health and Fitness is Vital to Your Self-Confidence

Why Prioritizing Your Health and Fitness is Vital to Your Self-Confidence: We all have times when we feel down on ourselves and we’re flat-out lacking in self-confidence. I get it. After all, this is a perfectly normal feeling that happens to us all from time to time. However, when low self-confidence becomes a long-term issue, it can have detrimental effects on our mental health, our day-to-day, and the very course of our lives.

Negativity does not originate nor live within us. Rather, it lies on the surface like a layer of dust on a painting. It is learned via external experiences. If you clear the dust away, a pure spirit is found underneath. The beauty of life is that it’s a product of one’s consciousness. If you want to remove something from your life, all you have to do is stop thinking about it, pass over it with indifference, and it will dissolve.

Research suggests that positive self-confidence is not only viewed as a fundamental feature of mental health but also as a defensive factor that encourages better health and positive social behaviors that shield against the effects of negativity. Just like how you would rid sensitive gums at a dentist in Tamarac, we have experts here to teach you how to cope with negativity in your life and reach a level of peace. There are many ways to reach this level, but the focus will be on highlighting health and exercise as a strategy.

Self Confidence

Self-confidence is the opinion we have of ourselves. When we have strong self-confidence, we are bound to feel positive about ourselves and about life overall. It makes us cheer up in the face of life’s ups and downs.

On the other hand, when our self-confidence is low, we tend to picture ourselves and our life in a more negative and cynical light. Moreover, we also believe that we are less capable of taking on life’s challenges that are thrown at us.

Self Confidence Formula

Exercise

It can be difficult to feel good about yourself if you’re mistreating your body. Take pleasure in looking after your body and your world will take care of everything. This will be beneficial for your mind, body, and spirit which will boost your confidence.

There are many ways to begin your fitness journey and it can take place in the comfort of your own home. You can start by searching “home workout routine for beginners” on YouTube and plenty of free resources will come up. Another way is to join a local gym and sign up for one of the exercise classes or go to the gym with a buddy and encourage each other.

There are numerous methods by which exercise boosts our opinion of ourselves. First, the immediate effect is the release of serotonin and endorphins which are types of neurotransmitters that relieve pain, stress, and uplift your mood. Second, in the long term, exercise makes us feel better about our physical self and our accomplishments.

Below is a list of how exercise can improve your self-confidence:

You gain a sense of accomplishment
You feel better
You look good (Improved self-image)
Your brain function improves

Write It Down

To boost self-confidence, you need to pinpoint negative beliefs you have about yourself and confront them head-on. Start with a “why”. You may convince yourself that you are not good enough, or you are not worthy of your goals. The thing is, reality can be manifested in any form, whether positive or negative.

Note these negative thoughts in a diary or a piece of paper and question why you think these thoughts.

Next, turn these negative attitudes into positive ones. For example “I am a great runner”, or “I am beautiful”, or “I can handle life’s challenges because my world takes care of me”. This is also known as positive self-talk and it’s one of the best self confidence exercises you can do.

Purposely substitute negative emotion with positive emotion: confidence for fear, enthusiasm for pessimism, indifference for resentment, joy for irritation. Be grateful for what you have and for all the things that are helping you survive. This sense of gratitude will glean positive energy and self-confidence.

Surround Yourself With Positive People

If you find specific people tend to knock you down, try to spend less time with them because they will sway your energy. Negativity is what you should eliminate from your life and a simple way to break free is to avoid responding to these peoples’ opinions or provocation.

The people you spend the most time with will influence your thoughts and energetic vibrations. Try to develop relationships with positive people who express appreciation toward you. If your environment is genuinely awful, reduce the importance you place on toxic individuals and try to let go of them totally; shake free your dependence on them and watch as you start transmitting positive energy right away.

Strength Training Workouts at Home

It’s safe to say that sitting in front of a screen to work for most part of the day, or binge watching a TV series all night, does not bring any benefits to your physical well-being or self-esteem. A desk-bound lifestyle does little to uplift your energy, fitness level, and self-confidence.

However, if you’re looking good, feeling strong both physically and mentally—well, this will create positive self-confidence. These are all blessings of a regular exercise routine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises spending 150 minutes a week on moderate exercise activity. This can be spaced out in 30-minute daily increments, 5 times per week. It could consist of a refreshing walk around your neighbourhood, or a home workout using only bodyweight exercises.

Personally, I recommend opting for the latter. If you’re going to exercise, do it right. The good news is that you don’t need to splurge on a gym membership to get a good sweat on. Instead, I recommend doing any of these safe and beginner-friendly bodyweight exercises:

Strength Training (No Equipment)

Lunges

Lunges are great for increasing muscle mass and developing strength in your lower body, especially your quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Not only will your body become stronger, but also your posture will improve.

Begin in a split stance position where your right foot is in front of your left foot at approximately 3-4 feet apart. Your hips are squared and are facing forward. Engage your core to keep your torso upright. You can place your hands on your hips or clasp them together at the center of your chest.
Inhale as you gradually lower down by bending both knees. Lower down until your right thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your core tight to lengthen the spine and keep your torso upright.
Exhale as you push back up and return to the starting position.
Switch legs so that your left leg is forward and your right leg is behind.
Repeat this movement for 10-14 reps

For a more in-depth guide to perfecting the lunge, check out this helpful lunge tutorial.

Push Ups

Push-ups are one of the fundamental bodyweight exercises that build your upper body strength. They target the chest, triceps, front shoulders, and core. Besides building strength, push-ups burn calories, increase mental power and infuse confidence. If you cannot do full push-ups, you can regress by dropping your knees to the ground to perform knee push-ups. To perform this, you will:

Start in a high plank position where your arms are fully extended at shoulder-width apart with shoulders being stacked directly on top of your wrists. Your feet are together and legs are extended. Keep your core and glutes tight to maintain a straight line.
Inhale as lower down your body by bending the elbows, keeping them close to your torso rather than flaring them out. Keep lowering until your elbows are at a 90 degrees angle.
Exhale as you push up and return to the starting position. Lock your arms out before repeating the next rep to ensure full range of motion.
Repeat this movement for 5-12 reps. Remember, you can always regress to knee push-ups to gradually build the strength and endurance in the upper body muscles.

Mountain Climbers

This is a compound exercise that utilizes numerous muscle groups to perform the movement. They are a great way of firming your core, arms, shoulders, back, and legs. Why not shred fat whilsts developing your core muscles at the same time – Now that is a killer combo!

Begin in a plank position – your hands are shoulder-width apart, wrists directly underneath your shoulders, core engaged, and body alignment is straight from head to feet.
Draw your right knee in towards the chest as far as you can, whilst keeping your left leg straight.
Return your right knee back to the starting position and repeat this with your left leg.
Perform this alternating tempo for 15-20 seconds.

Chair Dips

Chair dips, also known as tricep dips, are an exceptional exercise that can help you build bigger chest, triceps, and shoulders. They make a good substitute for the bench press and will give your upper body muscles a big pump.

Start by sitting on a chair or any elevated surface such as a bench or a couch. Place your hands on the edge of the surface by each side, with your fingers facing forward.
Move your body slightly forward so that your butt is off the chair by extending your arms fully and straighten out your legs in front with your heels on the ground.
Inhale as you lower by bending the elbows, keep lowering down until your elbows are at a 90 degrees angle. Keep your core tight.
Exhale as you push up and return to the starting position.
Repeat this movement for 8-12 reps. You can regress by bending your knees so that your feet are on the ground.

Healthy Habits to Start

Success is the fruit of daily habits, not short-lived changes or fads. All big things come from small beginnings, and if you can make a tiny change, a marginal increase, a mere-percent betterment, they will stack on each other to create bigger wins that, with time, will far exceed the costs of the initial investment. I recommend these five healthy habits to start:

Exercise for 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week
Meditate for 10 minutes a day
Go to sleep 30 minutes earlier than you would normally
Eliminate snacks for healthier, creative substitutes

If you can follow these basic guidelines, you will be well on your way to forging a fitter, healthier body and mind. Most importantly, however, is that you’ll have a newfound sense of pride and self-confidence that will improve every aspect of your life.

Author:

Pat Chadwick is a calisthenics coach with over 4 years of experience in helping people from all over the world get fit and strong using bodyweight exercises. The longtime athlete is an instructor at Gymless Fitness. He helps people break through their fitness barriers with specialized coaching tips and techniques.