Getting to the gym is a hard thing to do. We are faced with a myriad of the other options that expend less energy, do not require us to get up, and do not require us to pay attention or think. Such options include watching TV, going to your local McDonalds (driving there, of course), sleeping, or just sitting down and playing a video game. If you’re a young individual, you have even less reason to head to the gym. Being young automatically means you are healthy, right?
What’s more, once you do make a decision to go exercise, you’re faced with the added problem of deciding when you’ll go there again. Being consistent with your workout routine is hard to start doing.
With these factors holding you back, you have to ask yourself, what reason do I have to go to the gym? Getting healthier is one obvious reason. But, is that a strong enough reason to keep us returning to the gym. It could be.
But, what if we started to look at exercise as something that we not only do to just get healthy, but something we do to feel better. A good work out can benefit you in many ways, other than just making you healthier.
For example, one thing exercise can also do for you is it helps to battle some of the stress that you feel. Life is stressful, there is no doubt about that, and exercise can be a great way to combat its effects on you.
Glancing through my first year psychology book, I found a point that helps to express some of the benefits of exercise. Authors Doug McCann and Wayne Weiten comment, “Exercise can serve as a buffer that reduces the potentially damaging physical effects of stress. This buffering effect may occur because people high in fitness show less physiological reactivity to stress than those who are less fit.”
Working out can be fun. As we work out, it helps to combat some of the physical impact stress has on our body. The more you work out, you may start feeling better. In the long run, you can even start to feel more energetic, and may even have more energy to battle your daily stress.
Keeping this in mind, what can one do to ensure one is working out, and also having fun. To begin with, exercise doesn’t necessarily entail that you head to your local gym, and pick up weights, or even run on the treadmill. Exercise means doing something that you like. You could just go for a walk, a run outdoors, biking or even dancing.
Whatever you choose, one has to realize that when you decide to exercise, do something that does not feel forced. After all, how will you feel less stressed, when you are doing something that you do not want to do. That would sound a lot like work, wouldn’t it?
