Fitness First has conducted an Australian-first, three month social experiment to understand “How Fit Feels,” where three fitness fanatics were challenged to cut all exercise from their lives, and three inactive people added regular exercise to theirs.
You can watch the complete experiment, including personal video diaries of the entire journey here at www.howfitfeels.fitnessfirst.com.au
What happened?
For both groups, the emotional and physical changes they underwent were life changing, unveiling the true impact that fitness has in ones’ life.
Those who removed fitness
For those who gave up fitness, all three experienced significant mood swings, lethargy and poor sleep quality, and even found they felt the pressure on their relationships with partners and friends. Through a lack of movement, they also experienced a decrease in muscle mass and physical pain such as back pain and body stiffness.
Those who added fitness
While all participants hit motivation blocks for not seeing immediate physical results, through perseverance training in groups with a structured program, the non-physical benefits they experienced really spurred them on to see out the three months.
With regular exercise, all improved their sleeping patterns, increased motivation and energy, and improved mood. In addition to the emotional benefits of exercise, they all lost weight, gained muscle mass and physical fitness, and all decreased their physical ‘BioScores’ by at least seven years.
What now?
The emotional and physical impact that exercise has on our lives has been revealed via the experiment, and has uncovered that fitness is much more than skin deep.
In light of these findings, Fitness First is creating Teach Coaching, a specific group coaching program aiming to help people improve their fitness and motivation to help them go further on their fitness journey.