There is a benefit to fitness that is so incredibly valuable and yet you’ll never hear about it. Why is the greatest benefit of fitness not one of its major selling points?

Because it isn’t sexy.

This benefit won’t show up in an ad with glistening muscular bodies. It’s not about making your high school friends jealous at your 10 year reunion. And it won’t manifest instantaneously like the deceptive ads for “fit teas” or “30 days to beach body” programs falsely advertise. It can’t be accomplished by a six week challenge.

No. The greatest gem of fitness requires some self-awareness and using our imagination. So let’s try together because with this understanding of the true value of fitness, you can drastically improve your life. Your whole life.

Let’s imagine the two paths your life can take as you get older: staying active and in healthy physical shape compared to not doing any physical activity at all. This doesn’t mean being a fitness model, this means having a regular routine of physical exercise that you enjoy. Sport. Individual. Gym. Outdoor. Doesn’t matter. Now, imagine the trajectory of experiences with health that are or are not likely to arise because each of these choices. And then imagine what you will be able to or limited from enjoying, doing, trying, and engaging in during your whole life because of that choice.

So here is the secret fitness value your will never hear about:

Being consistently physically active helps you to get older better.

• Staying fit is one of the only (if not the only) way to maintain your cognitive function as you age (hello memory!). Not brain games on a screen. Not TV crime shows. Physical activity.
• It decreases your risk of disease (like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer)
• It decreases your risk of injury and improves joint and bone durability 
• It improves emotional and mental well-being (including reducing the big three: stress, anxiety, and depression)
• It improves your overall immune system
• It decreases the limitations in your life
• Connects you with health-minded people and communities

All these benefits and more can be yours but see? It’s not very sexy. Although, for us lucky ones, living a long life is a reality we will have to deal with. We can make this reality more or less enjoyable for ourselves. Fitness is like an investment into a positive life experience and if you make a consistent investment, the benefits continue to grow over time.

Investing in your fitness today is like putting money in your health bank. Are you ready to invest in yourself today?