Weight loss should not be the primary reason you decide to exercise. Wait, what? That’s right, the holiday and New Year’s resolution of working out has 3 better benefits in store for you. Let’s be clear that it does support weight loss when it’s alongside a good diet. Exercise is a fantastic sidekick, but not an adequate hero in your weight loss story.

So What Else Does It Do?

This article is rooted in the reality that our bodies were not designed to run, jump, lift, push, pull, and endure for the sole purpose of shrinking back down to fit into our old clothes. Our bodies are engineered to perform complex functional movements and adapt to the conditions around us. Here are three key benefits your body can receive when it’s put through physical activities beyond day-to-day movements.

The first major benefit of exercise, especially resistance and higher intensity training, is improved insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance is the metabolic indicator of prediabetes and, over time, full-blown type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance can happen independently of being overweight or obese. Diet plays a significant role, but exercise-stimulated glucose uptake by skeletal muscle is important. In order to deplete the store of glycogen in your muscles, which is stored glucose or energy, you have to use it. That makes room for more to come in, which means less is going to your fat cells, liver, and circulating in your blood.

A single bout of exercise can increase insulin sensitivity for at least 16 hours after exercise in those with or without type 2 diabetes. The higher the intensity (but safe) the workout is, the better. Add in challenging components to your routine that cause you to push, pull, or work on an incline.

A lesser-known benefit is that exercise helps your bone health. Bones are living tissues that change over time in response to the forces you place upon them. When you exercise regularly, your bones adapt by building more bone and becoming denser. Activities such as jumping, some weight training, plyometrics, stairs, and high-impact aerobics are good ways to get the benefit of bone density increase, improved balance, and coordination.

Another reason to exercise that often gets overlooked is mood, sleep, and stress relief. Physical activity and exercise stimulate the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These are chemicals in the brain that play an important part in regulating your mood. Raising your levels of serotonin boosts your mood and overall sense of well-being. It can also help improve your appetite and sleep cycles, which helps to combat depression as well. Regular exercise also helps balance your body’s level of stress hormones, such as adrenaline.

As a bonus, when you look at exercise for these additional benefits, and not just weight loss, you avoid the frustration of stepping on the scale after each workout and allowing the scale to mislead you into thinking that your hard work is not paying off.