Embrace Your Power: How You Can Boost Physical & Mental Confidence Through Exercise
As women, we possess incredible strength and resilience, especially as we navigate the journey of life beyond 35. However, it’s not uncommon to experience a dip in confidence during this phase. The good news is that one of the most effective ways to reignite our confidence is right at our fingertips – exercise. In this blog post, I’ll delve into the transformative power of moving your body, both physically and mentally and explore how incorporating exercise into your routine can elevate your confidence to new heights.
Rediscover Your Physical Strength
Physical exercise offers a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond a toned physique and 6 pack. Here are 3 ways moving your body can boost your physical confidence:
a) Learn to Trust Your Body: Engaging in regular exercise, such as strength training or cardio workouts help you build physical strength and endurance. As you challenge your body, you’ll start to not only see, but feel the progress you are making and as you start to feel stronger, you’ll feel empowered by what you can do now, that you couldn’t do before. You’ll start to trust your body will move in the way you want it to in day to day life leading to less risk of injury and slips, trips and falls.
b) Improved Body Image: Embracing regular movement enables you to develop a more positive body image as you start to appreciate what you are capable of. Start to shift your focus from arbitrary beauty standards and focus more on the incredible things your body can do. Celebrate the joy of pain free movement and appreciate the unique strength and beauty you possess.
c) Enhancing Vitality: Exercise promotes better sleep, increased energy levels, and overall well-being. By incorporating physical activity into your routine, you’ll experience a renewed sense of inner confidence that comes from a clearer mind and a rested body. You may also notice slight changes in day to day activities such as walking up the stairs, bending down and lifting or carrying things around the house. This is where you really start to see the difference adding structured exercise into your routine makes to your life.
Mental Resilience: Strengthening Your Mind
Exercise not only benefits your body but also enhances your mental well-being. I’m a big believer in movement for mental wellbeing. Here are just some ways moving your body can boost your mental confidence:
a) Stress & Anxiety Relief: Physical activity releases endorphins, these wonderful “feel-good” chemicals combat stress and improve your mood. Regular exercise can provide an outlet for everyday stresses and give time for you to process situations that are weighing on your mind allowing you to approach life’s challenges with a clearer, more confident mindset.
b) Increased Self-Efficacy: As you work through your fitness journey, you’ll start to find some movement easier than you used to, be able to lift a little heavier and improve your range of movement. You’re able to attempt exercises that used to look impossible, with a variation at first but then adding the more advanced elements in. This isn’t a quick process but it is a reenforcement of how far you’ve come and how much you can achieve. This ability in yourself to be able to do succeed is referred to as your self efficacy, and as this grows so does your confidence.
c) Emotional Resilience: We don’t often like to put ourselves in situations that challenge or expose us emotionally, but this can happen multiple times in one tough workout. If you can stay focused and work through the mental gremlins it helps to improve your mental and emotional resilience, providing you with a factual evidence of your success. Exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, providing a natural and empowering approach to maintaining emotional well-being. A strong mind is the foundation of confidence, and exercise can help you cultivate your emotional resilience.
Your Perfect Fit: How to Find YOUR Confidence
We are all different & while that means there is no ‘one side fits all’ approach to how you can use exercise to improve your confidence there are loads of ways you can start to incorporate movement into your routine:
a) Strength Training: Engaging in strength training exercises, such as weightlifting or bodyweight exercises, helps build lean muscle, boosts metabolism, and enhances overall physical confidence. Strength training is especially important for women as we age, if you want to read more about this check out my blog post here (less than a 5 minute read)
b) Cardiovascular Exercise: Activities like running, cycling, swimming, or dancing increase cardiovascular endurance, improve stamina, and elevate your mood through the release of endorphins. These big whole body movements are great for heart and lung health, disease prevention and overall endurance.
c) Mind-Body Practices: Activities like yoga, pilates, or tai chi provide a holistic approach to exercise, combining physical movement with mindfulness, promoting flexibility, balance, and inner peace. Take time away from the fast pace of daily life to engage in introspection, allowing yourself the opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings on a deeper level, help you develop self-awareness and make more informed decisions about your life.
d) Group Training: Group training classes, like my Weekly Live Workout are fantastic for accountability, exercising with like minded people and celebrating the small milestones as well as the big wins. Being part of a socially supportive group can help you to realise your goals and grow your confidence by not only celebrating yourself but also by seeing the progress that others have made.
