If you’ve read my twitter feed, you’ll know that me and my buddy Matt Abad typically do 60 minutes of exercise a day.
But, what are the benefits of 60 minutes of exercise a day?
Well, there are incredible cardiovascular benefits, mental toughness, increased muscle growth, reduced chance of heart disease and diabetes, builds bones, reduces anxiety, and the best benefit of all: you get to eat way more food from the massive calorie expenditure.
But, let’s cover this in-depth.
Incredible Cardiovascular Benefits
I think the most important benefit of 60 minutes of exercise a day is the incredible cardiovascular benefits.
Truth be told, in the current age of America, things aren’t looking good for our heart health. Over 50% of America is obese, and the leading cause of death is heart disease.
This is a critical time where many people should be doing 60 minutes of exercise a day because of how awesome it is for your body’s health.
Your Heart Will Be INCREDIBLY Strong
In my experience through my lifting and exercise career, 60 minutes has been almost the golden market for heart health.
Why?
60 minutes is not too long, and it’s not too short- it’s actually about perfect to build your heart health.
I never had stronger cardiovascular endurance in my life rather than when I was doing 60 minutes of cardio a day. I didn’t do one minute more, but I felt like I was a king whenever I had to do other exercise.
For instance, if I had to do a quick jog up a hill, or move fast on a hike- I was never sweating or even exerting real force to do it. My heart was strong enough to power through it with no problems.
When I did other things like obstacle courses or sprints for fun, it almost felt easy. I was way ahead of all my peers due to my incredible heart strength.
The same thing can be for you, 60 minutes is hard work, but it pays off massively for the rest of your life.
I wrote about this process super in-depth in my Cardio While Bulking article if you’re interested in some of the science behind this all.
Mental Toughness
Let’s just say, it takes a lot to run 60 minutes a day. Benefits from working out don’t only have to be physical!
While doing that 60 minutes of exercise a day can really clear your mind, a huge thing I see from it is the mental toughness and discipline you get.
If you’re able to do that every day consistently, you’ll grow yourself. And when it comes to things like doing 45 minutes of homework, it’s nothing compared to the exercise you force yourself to do every day.
Furthermore, if you’re in any sports or anything it will help you keep pushing through as you’ll know you can get through it no matter how tough it gets.
It’s probably one of the best benefits of doing 60 minutes of exercise a day. It transfers to college, work, and literally everything. That mental toughness will get you far.
Increased Muscle Growth
It’s always been up in the air if doing cardio increases your muscle growth. People say ‘no’, but the truth is- it does, but not in the way you think it does.
When you build your heart, you’re able to work out harder and better, taxing your muscles more. This does increase muscle growth.
Your heart being able to pump blood more efficiently even under effects of dehydration or stress does increase muscle growth.
And as recent as 2014, many studies have come forward revealing that cardio actually does help you grow muscle. So, the truth is, you’re supercharging your gains this way.
Plus, Rich Piana (one of the biggest bodybuilders to ever exist) advocated hard for doing an hour of cardio every single day.
Builds Bones
We’ve all had shin splints, and they suck. That pain whenever you step, it feels like there is a million needles slicing you apart!
There is a good way to get rid of shin splints though, just by dieting with enough calcium and building your bones.
And bones are critical when it comes to weight lifting. Without strong bones, you just won’t even be able to pick up any weights period- your arms will snap right in half!
Plus, if you’ve ever had a broken arm or anything, you’ll know that you’ll do anything to avoid breaking it again.
You Can Eat WAY More
Probably one of the best benefits of 60 minutes of exercise a day is that you can eat way more without gaining weight.
I mean, if you do 20 minutes of cardio- sure, you can eat a little more. But 60 minutes is where things really start to matter. I mean, on average you can burn 400-500 calories on a 60-minute run, and that’s a TON of food if you really think about it.
I used to wake up and do a 60-minute run every morning, and then for the rest of the day I have 3,200 calories to eat and I won’t even gain weight.
It’s actually really good if you’re trying to lose weight because you can do to a restaurant or something and not feel restricted on what you have to eat.
Conclusion of The Benefits of 60 Minutes of Exercise a Day
At the end of the day, the benefits of 60 minutes of exercise a day are incredible.
From the increased muscle growth, bone growth, mental toughness, to even just being able to eat more, it’s all good stuff. So get out there, get your favorite music playlist on your AirPods, and start running!
