How has exercise improved your life?

Weight training : You can't fail to find rewards...you get stronger, everyone will see strength gains and it is soooo rewarding and motivating to feel yourself getting stronger.
Cardio - ditto, for those who never do it, it isn't uncommon to find it difficult to walk to being able to run 5 km in a few short months.
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It's a major stress reliever for me. I have a horrible commute to and from work. On a 'good' day, it's an hour there,and an hour home. On a 'bad' day, you can double that....sometimes triple that. The first thing I do when I get home is change, and workout. Really helps relieve the stress - AND - I'm in better shape now at 53 years old than I was when I was 20 something LOL! Actually, I've always worked out - but the past decade or so I've focused on weights - and it's pretty cool to have muscles, I gotta say!

I never thought about this until losing it after giving up and gaining 70 lbs. Looking back and thinking about everything that exercise has granted me.

It enabled me to explore and live in the wilderness for weeks. It enabled me to climb mountains, explore the depths of the the oceans, explore caves, dive under the Antarctic shelf. It enabled me to complete the most challenging evolutions offered by the US military. It enabled me to survive a career ending injury.

What I underestimated is the impact this had on other aspects of my life - mentally and spiritually - until losing it. Once engaging in deliberate exercise again this woke up other aspects of my life - hitting those smaller goals enabling motivation and confidence to look to higher goals.

I draw massive inspiration from reading the victories and accomplishments of others. Reading threads like these make me question all my previous knowns and limitations and push against these.

Awesome thread!

Physically, exercise (particularly strength training) has allowed me to achieve an appearance and physical capabilities I did not thing possible 5+ years ago. When I took the leap and bought my beginner barbell + weight plates in 2016 I recall telling me wife, after loading it all in our SUV, that I couldn't imagine ever needing more weight than the 300 lbs I'd just bought... my profile picture shows a 385 lb deadlift. Being strong is so fun, liberating, and helpful. It's not as taxing to do household tasks, help friends move, etc. At roughly the same total weight I've added ~15 lbs or more of muscle and look and feel more like I've always wanted.

Mentally, exercise has been like a cheat code. Practicing self-discipline, mental toughness, and spending time on my version of self-care has been a boon to my mental health. My overall daily routine is better when I exercise; I get to bed on time so I can easily get up early to lift before work, having time to myself before I get to work and having been up for a few extra hours when I get to the office lets me hit the ground running as soon as I get to my desk.

Well, for more of my life than not I was generally fairly fit - just an active person who had physical jobs and active hobbies.

Then, I got the dreaded professional desk job. My days were long, stress was high(er), and my activity was minimal.

I was getting into the motorcycle racing thing though, and I got to a point where my fitness (or better, lack thereof) was holding me back - I was too weak, and got tired too easily, to go any faster. I decided to make fitness a priority.

I won't lie - it pretty much sucked. I was so out of shape I couldn't jog for so much as 5 minutes. But, I decided to "embrace the suck" and push through anyways. Eventually made some great progress and even started to somewhat enjoy the workouts.

Few bumps along the way (mostly my badly broken leg that set me back the better part of 2 years with life-long limitations), but I'm about back to where I was when that happened, and my racing is getting back on track as well.

Exercise is also key for helping me lose weight - it's slow (since to me my fitness is more important), but I've had a general, overall, slow loss, and exercise let's me eat enough where I at least feel like my meals are "meals." As an otherwise inactive 40+ female, eating to lose weight without exercise means little to no food LOL - and darn it, I like to eat!

Like someone else, I honestly can't say that I "love" working out or getting up for the gym every day. I do it because of what it allows me to do - and is a very important key to the next steps.

I am going through a stressful time this past month.

I walked into my yoga studio Friday and unconsciously heaved a big noisy sigh. Everyone looked up. All I could think to say was “It’s my safe space sigh.”

That pretty much sums it up for me. Excercise represents freedom from worry, sunshine, fresh air, bird and cricket song, focus, smelly mats, sweat, satisfaction at job accomplished, and - most of all - the opportunity to just simply be me, and not what people who do not respect me project onto me.

I am more confident and happier. I take risks and push myself. It has led to world travel and making friends in every corner of the planet.

I joined a global group called "My Peak Challenge (MPC)" a few years ago. It started me on a journey to better overall health, mentally and physically. I met local Peakers who challenged me to do things I had never done before...like running a half marathon, hiking the Scottish Highlands, and participating in Highland Games. I have made friends from all over including Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Columbia, Australia, Japan, and England.

It has also changed my self title from "overweight" to "athlete". After an accident led to dozens of surgeries and weight gain, I was immobile and constantly in pain. I joined MPC and made small changes until finally one day, I didn't hurt. Then, I started making big changes. As noted before, I was challenged by one of my Peaker friends to participate in a Highland Games competition (there may have been whisky involved). I had never thrown in my life...not high school track, nothing. My son had been a high school thrower and had some contacts. I got in touch with his old throw coach to get some pointers. He had never participated in or watched a Highland Games so we kind of learned the sport together. I had to practice with high school and college kids because that was the only time he had available. Here I am 51 practicing stone throwing and hammer throws with teenagers. Turns out, I didn't suck. I did pretty well in my first competition. I thought it was going to be a one and done challenge but I really like it! I keep practicing and keep showing up at competitions. The kids still like trying out my weird implements and continue to cheer me on. One day, one of them gave me a compliment about my progress. I joked it off and made a comment about how I'd be happier if I could improve how I look in a kilt. One of the boys (who is also a friend of my sons) said something that changed my mindset. He said, "Stop doing that to yourself! You see a person in the mirror that doesn't look the way you want. I see a thrower. I see an athlete." Imagine that! A teenager saw me as an athlete. ME!!! I didn't expect wisdom from a 19 year old but thank you to Matt Brady, UConn thrower for teaching me a life lesson. I am an athlete.