When you are young, have all the energy in the world, and are able to do the things you want to do, it’s hard to believe that one day you’ll experience the same problems that your grandparents are going through right now… 

• Back pain
• Illness 
• Joint aches
• Posture issues 
• Poor mobility and flexibility 

It’s hard to relate to health issues that come with ageing because you are young, and have your whole life ahead of you. Whilst you don’t need to worry about these things for many years, it’s important to start looking after your health from a young age to prevent them from happening when you get older. 

If you take good care of your health and fitness in your teenage years, it will likely roll over into your adult years. If you do this… it will increase your life expectancy – so that you can be around for many years to come and lead a happier, healthier and much greater quality of life.

Exercise For Teenagers…

Is it really too early to start taking care of your health? Of course not, if you think about it… you’ve probably already been doing it for years, without thinking about it! For example learning to walk when you were a toddler, running around in the park, doing jump rope in the school playground, and playing active games with your friends like Twister, and hide and seek. These are all forms of exercise!

As a teenager it’s often easy to incorporate exercise into daily life because you tend to have more time, and can do sports/activities with your friends at school or at the weekends.

However for lots of teenagers it can be hard to exercise…

The trouble is that in todays day and age it’s extremely easy to spend time with technology, and lots of teenagers are attached to their smart phones: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and playing games for hours on end. It’s tempting to stay inside and use smartphones for entertainment, rather than getting out in the fresh outdoors and staying active.

Being a teenager is a really challenging time for most, you have academic pressures and social pressure form your friends – you want to fit in with your peers – and sometimes exercise and health are neglected. This can lead to weight gain and low self esteem.   

Invest Early, Reap The Rewards Later…

Like I said, it’s best to start investing in your health from a young age, make it a part of your lifestyle early on, and it will likely stay with you into your adult life. Investing in your health is similar to investing money into a savings account. The earlier you start saving, the bigger your money will be in future years to come. So, start as early as you can, and read up online to educate yourself further – read more fitness tips for men and women.

Look and Feel Your Best…

Being a teenager can be a very challenging period, for example lots of boys and girls get spots as they go through puberty. For boys their voice gets deeper, they grow taller, develop facial hair, and for girls…they go through many physical changes too – it can be an unsettling period as your hormones change and you start to grow into your adult body. 

One of the great things about exercise is that it helps to balances out hormones, which could help you have clearer and healthier skin. Exercise will also help keep your bones, and muscles strong and it will give you confidence to work through challenges. Finally, it’s also a great way to reduce stress.

Let’s look at some ways to get the benefits of exercise during your teenage years…

Play Different Kinds Of Sports… 

Playing sport can be one of the best ways to improve your health and fitness. It will also help with your coordination, and people skills (if you play a team sport) – people skills are super important throughout life.

Alongside these benefits playing sport can also be extremely rewarding because it makes you feel happy, because your body releases endorphins – a feel good hormone.

There are lots of sports that you could play, for example: tennis, football, netball, basketball, cricket, rugby, swimming, hockey, etc – choose a sport which you enjoy and aim to play it at least 2-3x per week. 

Exercise Teaches You Discipline…

If you are exercising regularly throughout your teenage years it will not only make you look and feel good, but it will also rub off into other areas of your life. It will help you in social situations, benefit your studies, and also teach you self discipline – which can be applied to all areas of your life.

Social Benefits of Exercise…

We all need friends and to be social – it’s in our genes, we are social creatures who need interaction and to bond with others. Exercise can be really social, you can do it with your family: mum, dad, brother, sister, or with your friends.

By performing regular sporting activities, you’re not only able to improve your physical health, but you’re also able to enhance your social skills and forge strong relationships with other people. Read this article for more useful tips.