THE ARTICLE
We all have goals in one way or another. Often our personal goals include our health and physical appearance. Having a health and fitness goal is excellent - but one must then be proactive in setting out and achieving that goal. That often means the dreaded E word...EXERCISE.
Whether your goal is to build muscle, lose fat, tone up, improve your wellbeing or just lead a healthier lifestyle, exercise is a major contributor in getting from A to B. When many of us think about exercise, we think effort, hard work, smell, sweat, tiredness...and the list goes on. Wouldn't it just be easier to sit down on the couch and watch telly? Sure it would...but you're not going to get very far on the lounge watching Aerobics OZ Style.
So why does exercise have such a negative connotation associated with it? Maybe it's because of the Nazi gym teacher in high school that made you run 1.6km right after eating a fat and greasy hamburger. Maybe it's because everyone else in the gym doesn't seem to have an ounce of fat on them. Maybe it's simply because you're lazy. Whatever the reason, exercise doesn't get a good wrap for the majority of the population.
With exercise being shunned upon, this has made way for a vast array of novelty products to be introduced into the market as a substitute for exercise. Toning products, abdominal machines, electric muscle stimulators, creams, gels, drinks, magnets and garments have all been sold promising to transform your body within weeks with minimal effort. I would estimate that 99.99% of the time, these products do absolutely nothing, that is, apart from making the company rich and ripping the consumer off.
It's common sense that the right exercise will produce results...big results. Yet it seems that the majority of us would rather spend a lifetime trying to find alternative methods, rather than spending a little time each week improving themselves. Just imagine if the time invested into searching for alternatives had been spent exercising.
This leads me to the point of this article - why does exercise have to be such a chore for so many people?
Let me begin with my take on exercise. When I get up of a morning, I jump out of bed and cannot wait to get into the gym. I'm up there at 6am, right on opening. As soon as I pick up that first dumbbell, I am excited. I look forward to setting new personal bests, achieving new goals, testing my physical and mental limits, and receiving that great "high" that comes from exercise. However, this has not always been the case. I too also used to hate many forms of exercise. Sure I wanted to be in great shape...but I just didn't enjoy doing the exercise - it used to be a chore.
I'm here to tell you right now, exercise does not need to be a chore. It doesn't need to be associated with pain, heartache, effort and boredom. The only way you are going to find exercise exciting is to make it enjoyable. For example, if you hate the treadmill - give a cycle class a go! If you don't like the leg press machine, try squats. If you dislike the gym...cancel your membership and try some outdoor exercise! If you can't stand tennis...how about soccer? Ask yourself - what form of physical activity do you most enjoy? Is it team based, competitive, fun, leisurely, challenging, indoor, outdoor or intense? Then ask yourself, is this form of exercise going to help you achieve your goals? When you can answer these questions, you can then go about planning an exercise routine that you can look forward to on a regular basis. If you can actually get excited about exercise, you will most likely stick to it long term and reap the benefits for years to come.
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