Mostly I exercise so I can make faces like this. Gets me my own treadmill any time of day.Librarians love me. Having cultivated a lifelong belief that everyone knows how to run my life better than I do, one of my favorite activities is begging people more knowledgeable than I am to tell me what to do. Which is how the venerable MizFit found herself on the receiving end of an emotional e-mail asking her why it is so hard for me to take a rest from exercise. She, not wanting another life to run in addition to her own, returned my question with a question asking me “First, why do you exercise?”
It hadn’t even occurred to me to consider that I’d be doing it for any other reason than the obvious: to get healthy. Or that people might exercise for reasons different than mine. So then, list lover that I am, I set out to enumerate my reasons for exercising. I surprised myself. (Not unlike that time I drank a full bottle of water and then realized I was wearing tights, a leotard, bike shorts, a skirt AND suspenders. And my competition was in 5 minutes. If you’re really nice to me, one day I will post the pic.)
Why I Exercise
The short, brutally honest answer: Working out is the only time I truly feel good about myself.
Low self-esteem duly noted and need for continuing therapy acknowledged, I’m moving on to the more nuanced answer.
1. It makes me feel safer. After being sexually assaulted and the ensuing court case, I went on a mission to get stronger, tougher and look as least victim-like as is possible for a girl of my proportions. I think it works. After beefing up my bi’s with pull-ups and taking up kick boxing, instead of repeat nightmares of the assault now I have repeat fantasies of head strikes and throat crushing. And in a parking lot the other night, when a man jumped in the passenger side of my door my first instinct was to scream an obscenity and throw my book at him. (Note to all of my now-panicked family and friends: it was a total accident. There were two dark colored Honda Accords parked side by side and it was quite dark. I scared the little green apples out of him. And his wife – sitting in the almost identical car next to me – was laughing so hard she almost fell out of her car. There was much apologizing and no harm done on either side.)
2. It makes me feel saner. I am a girl of very intense emotions. (*gasp* No!) I have a lot of both anxiety and exuberance and I use my workouts as a way to temper them. Cheaper than therapy!
3. It makes me feel like a better mom. Mothering does not come naturally to me. I don’t know why. Many things in life that I wish I were really good at (hip hop dancing, rock climbing, bread baking, toe painting) do not come naturally to me. But one thing I can do is set a healthy example for my kids and show them how make eating right and exercising a priority. Hopefully I won’t go too far the other way and teach them how to be compulsive but that’s another worry for another day.
4. It makes me happy. I get a huge kick out of my experiments. I love to get really sweaty. I love the camaraderie of doing something really difficult with a bunch of other people and everyone coming out stronger for it. Plus, in the winter, I swear I get SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and exercise ameliorates mild depression.
5. My gym has free child care. If that isn’t reason enough to work out, I don’t know what is!
And of course mixed in to all that is a smidgen of post-anorexia “must work out to have permission to eat” nonsense. But thankfully those voices are getting quieter these days.
The Surprise Ending
I didn’t even notice, until MizFit pointed it out to me (not only is she a darned good personal trainer but she’s a stellar therapist as well), that everything on my list has to do with mental reasons. Not one item in my top five has to do with looking smokin’ in a bikini or even anything particularly physical (not that I would mind being a hot mama!). All of which might explain my proclivities for over exercising. After a certain point, if you are working out to look good you reach a point of diminishing returns. A less-is-more approach makes sense. You want to do the least amount of work to get the result you desire. But when you depend on exercise for psychological reasons then less-is-more only feels like crazy. The trick for me is to find other outlets that meet those needs that don’t wear my body down so much.
I’m thinking synchronized treadmill dancing. You think the gym buddies would be up for it?
You? So tell me, why do you work out? Do you work out mainly for physical reasons or for emotional/mental ones? Anyone else convinced that everyone else knows them better than they know themselves?
I hope that you are very proud of yourself for your reaction with the car incident. I am glad though that it turned out to be nothing.
Me, I exercise for the health reasons of course, but also because as a non-athletic person, I feel accomplished when I complete another mile or use a heavier dumbbell. I wish I had those same feelings in elementary school when I felt so inferior to the naturally athletic kids.
Also, I take a martial art that is just downright FUN, and besides, it's another social outlet for me. I consider my classmates to be my friends.
I'm so with you on 2 and 3 (especially 2) but I admit vanity is on there for sure. Yeah, I'm shallow but at least my workouts are short. 😉
xoxo
it makes me feel (1) capable (2) safer (3) like i belong (4) it provides my head with much needed space and alone time away from work and other nonsense (5) it helps me control my life. by life I mean eating. By eating I mean weight. (6) i feel bloody brilliant and on top of the world like i can do ANYTHING…..
soemimes i think i actually AM bonkers…….
I exercise to exorcise my stress and frustrations, to beat the depression that threatens to pull me down and to feel stronger and healthier. I've had a year of no winter and now that winter is here in the Southern Hemisphere, I'm being hit with a bit of SAD too.
There is definitely some vanity there too – I like fitting into the clothes I have and feeling good about it. Shallow perhaps, but true.
I adore how you are so willing to bare yourself here.
I do concede VANITY was the trigger (20s, needed to fit back in my clothes, sure, but I also wanted badassarms like Linda Hamilton) but now it is all about the energy and the living longer and the FEAR of looking my oldermomage when the child graduates (yes. from all. from kindergarten to college)
thanks for the linklove.
I exercise to rehabilitate my knee injuries. I wish I exercised before, so maybe I could have avoided injury in the first place. Every time I got to the gym, I'm thinking of only one thing: Please get fixed, please get fixed.
If I ever get past these injuries, I'll exercise to prevent future injuries. It's my obsession now for good reason.
Nice timing…my husband and I were just talking about this! I was doing really well cutting my exercise down to 3 days a week (and think I might have looked better!) until the last 2 months. I exercise because I have free time. I hate sitting inside when i could be "doing" something. After the little raspberry pops out, my goal is 3 days a week and NOT 6. That is going to be hard for me…but I think maybe healthier for me (mentally that is!). I have to remind myself there is more to life than exercise. And there is more to "me" than exercise. I am determined to find her!
\”it helps me control my life. by life I mean eating. By eating I mean weight. \” I love your honesty!! And hey, if you're bonkers, we can be bonkers together:)
\”And there is more to \”me\” than exercise. I am determined to find her! \” Ohmygoodness can I adopt this as my mantra too?? I so need this advice. ALthough it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one who's struggle lies in staying out of the gym rather than getting into it!
Oh vanity definitely cracks my top ten list! There is def. an element of vanity involved in my madness:)
\”I exercise to exorcise\” – If I ever get a tattoo, this will be it! (But in Chinese characters or runes or barbed wire 'cause I got stay trendy right?) I love that. Oh and I have some vanity too – it's def. in teh top ten!
i definitely exercise for the mental boost. although i would argue that there is the law of diminishing returns for the mental stuff too (it's kind of vague if you think this too). i need to workout / run longer to get the same "high"
I workout because it makes me feel great. i am more confident, because it makes me look better and gives me more energy. My stress melts away. And I love feeling my muscles the next day after a workout…knowing I used them. It's still a new thing for me.
It's such a cool feeling 🙂
Right now it's a matter of making a little time for myself in the mornings…the workout time is my time. Knee willing, I hope to do it at least 4 times a week…I'm loving it 🙂
I workout for the endorphins, to stay fit, and I never know what may happen while I'm exercising. Yesterday, I found the back to my earring while doing push ups, and once I saw a golden retriever in the gym which turned out to be a girl.
I work out to prepare for the upcoming zombie apocalypse. Well, not really, but I like to know that I might stand a chance of hacking it if the world descended into chaos.
Also, I started scrapbooking (I know…I know….) all my race bibs from tris, runs, and bike tours, and I feel a compulsion to continue collecting them
I exercise because of the reasons you listed in one, two and four.
I'm very kinesthetic so I dig the physical part but I also get very high and happy off of exercise.
I like linteater's reason! I want to be able to outrun/outfight the zombies while carrying my kids on my back. (I guess the great debate is; do zombies move slowly, like in the George Romero movies, or fast, like in the remake? If they chase us into the mall, can we distract them with shiny things? Or at least an Orange Julius and a Mrs. Fields cookie?)
I work out for the following reasons:
– it makes me feel good! It's satisfying.
– my body just feels yucky if I don't work out regularly. Like when I don't eat enough vegetables or something. I also love the ebb and flow of being active and then resting.
– It helps me to sleep better.
– I can listen to books on CD from the library while I'm running. I just import them to my ipod. (Exercise and "reading"! Together!)
– I like the way my skin looks after a workout
– It's an excuse to be by myself for a bit
– It increases my interest in s-e-x
– I like my size and exercise helps me maintain my weight without much difficulty. But! Sometimes I exercise out of guilt for things I've eaten.
– I feel like active people are considered in a better light by others. I like being the kind of person who "goes for a run" or "does weights". *Note* this is a reason pretty far down on my list, but thought I'd stick it in anyway.
Mostly mental reasons for me too. In fact, I had a really hard time starting exercising regularly until I realized there were other reasons to do it than "to lose weight" or "tone up", neither of which I wanted to do.
Once I realized the profound effect exercise had on my mental well-being, I was hooked. I also exercise to challenge myself, as my job is currently very unchallenging. For me, it's about balance. Balance out the sedentary. Balance out the crazy. Balance out the weakness.
I workout for some of the same reasons as you do:
1) It makes me feel safer
2) It makes me happier in general
3) It helps keep my emotions level and keeps things in perspective
Other items:
4) It gives me a balance to the "candy I want" and the "exercise I'll do to earn the sugary sweetness"
5) I want to be stronger, faster, better than I was in the past because I don't want to be scared and vulnerable and co-Dependant ever again
6) I'd LOVE to have hot abs, even if just for one summer
Charlotte, we are alike in many ways. If somebody asks me that question, I have lots of reasons BUT the one thing I do know is that it is the one thing I feel I am good at… in the gym, I feel like I can do something good.. intellectually, I am very average, so the weights & all make me feel like I can succeed at something. BUT, I do like the being fit, being healthy part too!
Very interesting post!
Wow, that's a question for a Friday…
Three years ago: because I don't want to be fat anymore
Two years ago: still because I don't want to be fat anymore, but also a smidge of becoming harder, better, faster, stronger (upping weights, running faster, etc)
One year ago: because I'm going to finish this )%(#$& half marathon in the heat next month if it kills me. And I'm going to finally finish losing the )#$(%& weight.
Today:
-To feed the competitiveness ingrained in me.
-To accomplish more, do more, be more.
-To earn the food I wish to eat above my calorie allotment
-To lose the need to use my car for short trips
-To enjoy the outdoors.
-To do all the things I though about in the last 10 years but didn't do because I was double the size I should have been.
-To get the high of a personal best.
-To get the high of a fantastic run.
-To be able to look like a badass in front of my friends and coworkers.
-To be able to go to company fun day in my bathing suit and not feel self conscious.
-To be the one that opens the pickle jar in my household.
-To have my best racing days ahead of me. Ultramarathons and ironmans would be so much easier to train for once I retire.
…and so much more. It is a compulsion sometimes, but I think I am still a reasonable human being. My loved ones might disagree. But that's just how I get over things…I don't have a like. I have LOVE and meh. That's it!
I exercise because it is one of the few places I can easily get to without the kids. Unless my husband is away or I have a long drive to a meeting for work its the only me time I get.
Maybe if they're brain-shaped. 😉
I think I would have started exercising a LONG time ago if I had lived in a town that had a reasonably-priced local gym with free childcare, Charlotte! 🙂
I started exercising consistently because I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and possibly borderline osteoporosis. Over time, I found that it helped me manage the mental stresses as well as my blood glucose levels. I came to really enjoy the feeling of having had a good workout, or completing a triathlon, or even simply going for a nice, long walk or bike ride. While it's still for the health, that's not the only reason anymore. (Besides, you never know about those zombies…even brain-shaped Mrs. Fields cookies might not do the trick.)
OMG, I laughed so hard about the car incident – mostly about the wife's reaction. I can picture it all in my head so easily. 😀
I would say that I started exercising because I wanted to improve my chances at losing weight. And while I loved the feeling at the end of the exercise, I really didn't enjoy the exercise itself after awhile.
I started out swimming, which I loved as a child and really missed as an adult. And I enjoyed it, but it's a huge pain – the suit, the changing in the locker room, drying off, trying to get your bra back on when you're still damp….
And then I moved on to walking because I knew weight-bearing exercise was really good for you. But I really didn't love the way I felt afterward – extremely tired and beat down.
Then I found Yoga. I was instantly hooked. Now I love going to my classes 5 days per week. I don't feel as exhausted. And I don't feel beat down – I feel calm and rejuvenated.
Hey, interesting article. If you're looking for intense workouts that will give you a high level of general fitness, be sure to check out my YouTube channel. Here's a link to one of my favorite workouts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDdyA1LqhnE
There's a board on the wall outside the locker rooms at my gym that says "Endorphins help you feel better, make better decisions, and be more at peace with yourself in everything you do." As soon as I saw that, I had my AHA! moment.
I would love to look hot in my bikini this year but the main reason I workout is because it helps me be at peace with myself. It helps me be at peace with what I eat, what I do during the day, and how I (sometimes irrationally) act. Coupled with that, is the fact that my mental instability depends on it. If I take more than 1 consecutive day off, I am one cranky girl… what can I say, I'm a work in progress :O)
Here's a pathetic reason that will highlight my control of grammar: Because I can't not.
I exercise for the same reason I floss…I will eventually regret it if I don't.
The treadmill video reminds me of a USA National Dance Association Championship in the late 80's when the girls from American Fork High School, (American Fork, UT) won the Novely Prop category with (wait for it) TOILET SEATS! They each had their own that they danced with and it was spectacularly creative despite how it sounds. Maybe a high school dance team will show up with treadmills someday.
oh i sooooooooooooooooo wanted arms like Linda HamiltoN!!! i hear THAT!