Why Do You Exercise?

Why do you exercise?  Why do you go to the gym?  Why do you get up early in the morning to go for that run?  Is it because of that piece of cake you ate last night?  Or is it because you just love the feeling of your body moving?

This question was posted on our Facebook page last night and the answers that we were getting were awesome.  Some examples we got were:

• To see how far I can push myself
• Stress Relief
• To be healthy
• It's what I do for "me"

Those are reasons to exercise.  However it would seem based on what I've experienced in the past is that we've gotten a little confused as to why we actually exercise, or why we should exercise.  Just take a peek into most gyms and you’ll see people punishing their bodies because they hate how they look or hate how they feel, or they feel they need to make up for their diet the previous day. 

Here is what the current mindset is:  Exercise = Punishment

No one starts a healthier lifestyle or an exercise program because they love movement or they love exercise.  They start because exercise has become a necessary “evil” in the battle of the bulge, in this constant fight against the scale. 

This cycle of self-punishment has to stop.  Exercise has to stop being associated with negativity, because the more you look at it like punishment, the more you put a negative connotation on it, the more and more you are going to hate exercise.  When you hate something, you’re not going to do it, you’re not going to see the benefits from it, and in the end, you might as well not do it. 

Here’s the solution: Change the mindset.  Exercise = Movement

Switch from “I HAVE to work out,” to “I GET to work out or “I WANT to work out.”  “Have” implies that you have zero choice in the matter, that it’s forced upon you.  “Get” or “want” is associated with choice.

See that positive spin right there! 

Don’t take for granted that you have the ability to move, as some people would kill to be able to move.  Avoid looking at exercise as a means to burn calories, or lose weight.  That is completely secondary to the real reason we exercise.  Exercise because you love moving, because you love the feeling of being able to move your body through space, because you love that feeling of lifting something off the ground with no effort, because you love the feeling of being strong.

I want to leave this with a quote:

“Most people are focused on the result, I look at the results as a bonus.  Sure I have specific goals that I'm working towards but I think the process of getting there is much more important than the end result.  It's the work that transcends, the work builds character and sharpens you.  The work teaches you humility & aggression.  The work strengthens you physically and mentally.  The process is really what it is all about.  The results...they will take care of themselves.” 
-Adam DiBella