WHY DO YOU EXERCISE?

You have a pair of jeans that you bought probably a month or two, which you haven’t really use, and you finally decided to wear them today… It would fit. And lately people are beginning to ask, "Did you gain weight or something?" This is when you feel alarmed or even frustrated.

Exercise is vital. Most people who exercise would say it is for their health, but more often than not the main reason is their appearance. Not all would admit it, though. It is very common in women to start exercise when they feel that they are “getting bigger”. When you encounter first timer in the gym and ask their reason for going there, there are different answers, but the top of the list is, “I’m getting bigger and I want to lose weight".

There is nothing wrong with such motivation, if you think that will keep you going and stick with you exercise regimen in a regular basis, then go for it. But studies have shown that motives in exercise affect how people maintain or keep up with the habit.

People who tend to look at exercise as part of being in a healthy lifestyle maintains the habit with better results, than those with reasons regarding their appearance alone.

Exercise could be tough, it could give you pain, it should squeeze in you hectic schedule, it should be regular, and it could be boring and tiring at the same time. Just thinking about the demands of it looks like it’s a burden and too difficult to do. Do you think so? Yes it is? If you think of it that way, then you might not stand your first day of exercise.

Exercise should be fun and enjoyable, that every time you do your exercise it shouldn’t feel like a punishment for eating a bar of chocolate. You should feel the need of it, because you like to do it, not because your partner, your friend, or someone else obliged you to do it. It is for your own body, that you know will benefit yourself, physically, emotionally, and your general health and well-being.

So, when you are starting to feel that you need to exercise ask yourself, why are you doing this? Is this just social norm that you see in media and advertisements of women who are skinny tend to be healthy? And men with all buff muscles are real healthy?

At the end of the day, it is you who feels the benefits of exercise and it is your body working towards the good of it. It is not for anybody else, but for YOU!