Why do you excercise, really?

thesupremeforce

My ankle and leg hurt like Hell when I go a few days without exercise. It's excellent incentive.

b218w

Equal parts vanity & sanity.

My thoughts exactly

mazmataz

Oh if I could have the perfect body without sweating my *kitten* off running 3 miles every day, believe me I would take it!! 'Fun' excercise however like snowboarding, cycling, horse riding, wakeboarding, climbing....I would do all day with my already perfect body

LorinaLynn

I exercise for my future health as well as my current one. I'm going to get old. I don't have to be old and frail.

Most of my exercise is enjoyable to some degree. I get more enjoyment out of running when I treat it like I'm playing rather than training. I'm not going to be a serious contender when it comes to races, so why put the extra pressure on myself? Instead of training for speed, I run when I feel like running, stop and walk if I need to, stop and take pictures if there's something pretty or interesting. Or I run from pretend zombies in Zombies, Run. If I don't feel like running, I hike instead.

I don't particularly enjoy lifting weights, but I like what it accomplishes. I like being stronger. I like being less injury prone. And I like what it's done to my body shape. I like knowing I'm not going to bump my hip on my nightstand and shatter it when I'm older. (Well, I may shatter the nightstand, but not my hip! :laugh: )

Currently, I'm recovering from an injury and can't exercise like I want to, and I do feel a bit stir crazy. But I'm pouring myself into painting instead, and it's made me realize that I might have been putting too high of a priority on exercise. I have to remember to have balance.

ninerbuff

Because I enjoy it. I like the feeling, I like that I can still be physically active enough to play sports and compete and it makes everyday life much more enjoyable instead of the "same old grind" with work and chores.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Otterluv

I'm in it for the adventure, and to see what my body is capable of. I trail run because I love it, and because it helps me be able to backpack at elevation. I weight lift because it's good for me, it's fun, and because it makes the activities I enjoy doing possible. I have a Warrior Dash on Saturday and am planning on a Tough Mudder next June. Both sound like fun.

For the past 17 years my weight, sedentary lifestyle, and the contributing medical condition have kept me back. I'm over it, and making up for lost time.

aarar

I love the high when I'm done; it lasts all day and I'm so much happier than when I don't work out. I also love eating back each and every calorie I burn because, well, I just love food.

spectralmoon

If all the joy is gone from it, then maybe keep that as part of your "fun routine" and add something else to be the "builder" for strength/endurance/etc. Exercise shouldn't be a grueling experience, especially if it's going to make you resent every waking moment dreading that the workout hour is coming. While it may help you get to your goal faster, there's more risk of you just quitting and settling for something less involved, and less productive as far as health.

I personally work out because I have a physical model of a goal. There is a model whom has the body that I want, and I am determined to get on par with her. She posts pictures every once in a while of herself running on the beach or hiking, and just cruising around the city, and it brings reality to the chance that I could be like that, too. Every time that I'm bored in a workout, I have to think her name, and it gives me a few more squats or lunges before I have to stop. Every step forward gets me closer, and every pause is time wasted from getting to that level. I've come pretty far and I'm way closer to being there than I was-- that's what keeps me exercising.

stanthemovieman

I'm a Type-2 diabetic and I don't want to lose toes or blood flow to other regions or die before I want to.

mlb929

Because I can.
Because my dad has had 3 heart attacks.
Because my mom has diabetes.
Because I'm the trophy wife.
Because I want my kids to not be embarrassed by me and to lead by example.
Because I like competing with myself.
Because it's my only thing I do for me.
Because etc etc.


IMO, it sounds like you are not exercising per say, you are spending time socializing with a friend, yes, it's in an activity, beats sitting at a donut shop, but your benefits you originally gained from beginning a workout are not at their maximum and unless you pushed yourself, you really don't know what you are capable of. Not sure what other exercise you are doing but try something different once a week and push yourself, you'll probably realize how much fun biking can be with a little challenge to it now and then.

Siege_Tank

I do it becuase my dog needs LOOONG walks everyday
and I want to look hot for my hot boyfriend!

And I'm sure he appreciates all your hard work and dedication, the effort that it takes to look good. :drinker:

action_figure

I've been bicyling for years. I used to ride with cycling clubs but got frustrated with the whole group dynamic. (There's so much rant material there that I could write a novel.) More recently I have found another female of about my speed to ride with and we have very pleasant although not especially vigorous rides. We ride in a rural area west of Orlando on a shady, postcard beautiful recreation trail. We might see gopher tortoises, snakes, alligators, bald eagles, sand hill cranes, herons, ospreys. There's even a small ranch that has a herd of watusi cattle. You have to google them, they're amazing.

A few years ago, my cycling partner and I decided to enter a local MS ride that was to be a two day event totalling about 150 miles. It meant we had start ramping up our distance and endurance (as well and speed if we didn't want to miss the time cut off.) Instead of just dawdling along with chit chat, we started to ride with intent. We added miles each time out and made sure our speed didn't drop off. We also found that the fun was over after about 50 miles. It was't that we were exhausted, but that we were just over it after three or four hours. We persevered and eventually completed the MS ride with no difficulty and it was a memorable experience, but for a couple of weeks after that we didn't even want to look at our bicyles.

We have now made peace with the bikes once again and are back to our leisurely ways and cycling has become fun again. Lately we have come under some benign criticism (call it chiding) about our lack of focus and purpose when we ride. We both need and want to loose weight and get more fit but maybe we are wasting our excercise time by not buckling down to burn as many calories as we can and to get better, faster, stonger. To those who are making this argument to us, it's as if cycling is a metaphor for life, and not striving to achieve and improve is some sort of character flaw.

Based on how I felt after that big training effort before the MS ride, I fear that all that so called purpose will kill all the joy of riding. I know I'm pretty lazy. I suspect that my concern about spoiling the fun of cycling is just a cover for not wanting to work hard at anything. But this is pretty much the only excercise I get consistently.

Do I need to start cracking the whip on myself?

Do you want to become a competitive cyclist, or do you want to live an active lifestyle? I don't think you have to pick a sport and then be the best at it. I don't think you have to become "an athlete". I go biking three mornings a week. I go hiking / trail running three evenings a week. I go kayaking three evenings a week. I burn some calories each time, and I break a sweat, and I do my best. But am I fast enough to qualify for anything? Ever? Nope. Three mornings a week I do my kettlebell routine with some body weight fitness. That's my most challenging exercise and it is helping me build muscle. Still, I'm not competitive level. Does this mean I'm a total failure? Nope. I look at last year when my total exercise was. . . um, NONE. At all. I burn about 4,000 calories a week, and I put some miles away under my own power. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's *my* time away from the kids to destress. Maybe when I'm at goal I'll "train for" something. I don't know. But I know that I simply CANNOT do exercise just because it's good for me. I would chew my arm off to get away from the gym if the only way I could get healthy was to use an elliptical. For those who can force themselves to do it, more power to ya. I have to use my willpower to keep from eating all the things. Ain't got none left over to do exercise I hate. So, make it fun and rewarding in and of itself.