How Your Body Changes Once You Start Exercising [An Interesting Timeline]

Whether you’re a complete beginner or a “re-starter”, you must be wondering how physical activity will impact you and your health. Well, I have some good news for you. Exercising will not only change your lifestyle but will also have some interesting health benefits that you’ll see and feel on your body from head to toe.

The next question is usually ‘how long does it take to see changes in body from working out?’. You might get surprised, but the benefits of exercising will actually knock on the door from day one. But don’t be disappointed if not all of them come at once. There are definitely some changes that will only arrive after a while.

Let’s look at the timeline of your body will change once you start exercising!

Exercising Benefits On Your Body

One Day Of Working Out Results On Your Body

Exercising makes the body pump more blood to the muscles. This will increases the blood flow, which is beneficial for your brain.

The minute you start exercising, your brain cells will function at a higher level. The increased blood flow to your brain will make you more alert and awake during exercising and more focused after.

As we all know exercising often comes with pain. As a response to this pain, your brain will start releasing certain types of chemicals including endorphins. Endorphins are often known as the source of euphoria and will not just kill your pain, but also boost your dedication so you’ll push harder.

Read About Exercising And Endorphins Here

Once you’re done with exercising your brain will release more endorphins, which will elevate your mood for the day.

When you start moving, your body’s energy expenditure increases. The energy it burns comes primarily from glucose, which is stored in the body as glycogen [1]. Glycogen is generated by your liver when it processes carbs. With decreased glycogen levels your body will then start turning fat and protein into glucose to help meet your increasing energy demands.

Therefore, your fat storage will be better mobilized once you start exercising and you’ll start losing body fat. But remember that if you want to maintain that body fat loss, you’ll have to keep your calories in below your calories out. So let’s make sure that no one expects to lose fat after 3 In-N-Out burgers just because they hit the gym for half an hour before.

A good way to hold yourself accountable and make sure you’re in a caloric deficit is by tracking your nutrition. Find out how by visiting The Ultimate Tracking Guide.

One Week Of Working Out Results On Your Body

It only takes a few cardio sessions to become fitter and improve your energy. After a couple of workouts, mitochondria in your cells will increase rapidly. Mitochondria are said to be the “power generators” of your cells. They turn oxygen and nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is what powers the metabolic activities of your cells [2].

As your cells have more mitochondria, your energy production will become more efficient. And hence, physical activity will become easier from this point onwards.

But mitochondria are not only good for pumping you up with energy. They also protect your cells and make them stronger, which will lead to improving your general health & wellbeing.

One Month Of Working Out Results On Your Body

After training for a month, changes in your muscle mass will finally become visible. Both slow and fast twitch muscle fibers in your muscle cells will start to grow and your muscles will get stronger.

As a result of growing muscles and becoming fitter, your metabolic rate will also start to increase. Faster metabolism means burning more calorie at resting state as well. This means that you’ll be able to say goodbye to more calories even when you’re not sweating in the gym while holding a plank.

Learn About How To Boost Your Metabolism With Exercising

Your metabolism will work harder 24/7 from this point onwards and you’ll drop those pounds easier.

One month of training in, you’ll already become fitter. So say hello to higher intensity, higher reps, heavier weights and longer cardio sessions. As your workout level shifts, your brain will release more endorphins. So ultimately, it won’t only affect your physique, but your mind as well.

As you become fitter, your daily life will also become easier. Let’s just think about a few basic examples. You’ll be able to climb stairs easier without gasping after floor 2. You’ll easily walk to the store that’s 10 minutes from home. You won’t miss the bus if you have to run to catch it. And you’ll not need your hubby to carry your bags after grocery shopping.

Life will simply become easier, happier.

Six Months Of Working Out Results On Your Body

If you’re in the weight lifting department, get ready for some heavy compliments from friends and family after 6 months. Your muscle growth will be clearly visible with bare eyes at this point. But what’s even better is that you will also feel more powerful.

You’ll have a greater endurance and won’t be afraid to challenge yourself. Lifting heavier weights and increasing the difficulty of your training will be easy peasy lemon squeezy.

However, to enjoy these benefits, you’ll also need to pay attention to the nutrition side. Here’s a great guide to calculate the your ideal macro ratio!

When you exercise, you need more oxygen. Therefore, your heart rate increases to pump more blood and increase oxygen circulation. After 6 months or so, your heart will grow in size from the more intense blood pumping. As a result of this process, it will also get stronger and become more efficient.

Additionally, your resting heart rate and your blood pressure will decrease, which lowers the risk of heart attack.
It is also worth noting, that if your blood pressure is too low it can lead to problems such as blurred vision and dizziness.
So in that case, try these home remedies to treat low blood pressure.

One Year Of Working Out Results On Your Body

Exercising and having a healthy weight can have a significant positive influence on your bone health. Weight-bearing exercises, in particular, are the best for your bones. These include running, jumping rope, stair climbing and skiing. Additionally, according to the Medicine and science in sports and exercise’s study, resistance training can also improve bone density.

Changes in your skeleton will become measurable after about half a year. And after 12 months of exercising, your bone density will start increasing too. The higher your bone density, the lower the chances of fracture.

We usually don’t think about this, but exercising doesn’t only have physical, but also mental benefits. First of all, working out is an amazing way of stress relief. After a year of “gym-therapy”, your body will learn how to deal with mental stress in a more effective way. And as we all know, less stress means better mental health.

Secondly, exercising can also reduce anxiety. According to the Society for Adolescent Medicine’s publication, physical activity boosts self-esteem. Which is quite a no-brainer, since after a year of regularly hitting the gym, you’ll definitely feel better in your skin and become more confident.

Lastly, more of a surprising perk is that you’ll also experience better brain function and sharpen memory.

Leaving the most important one to the end, working out will not feel like an obligation anymore. After one year, you’ll finally start enjoying your workouts and maybe even become a little bit addicted. After seeing and feeling all the benefits, you’ll feel like wanting to go to the gym. But don’t worry, as long as it’s a healthy addiction, it’ll be for your own good!

Check-out The Best Fitness Apps of 2017 to Get Moving

So now that you know how your body changes from exercising, don’t wait anymore! Get up, go to the gym and start enjoying all these health benefits after day one!