I was listening into a conversation going on around me yesterday about whether it is worth it to work out. I am sure that my workplace is no different then any other where we talk ourselves into and out of things through conversation with others.
Martin and Christina where talking about whether to work out or not. Christina has not used her treadmill since she got it and Martin said that it is tough and boring to use equipment and that there is so much more to do in life then to walk or run on a treadmill.
Neither Christina nor Martin need to lose weight, I have no idea about their fitness level but if you feel OK when you look in the mirror it is hard to workout or rather easy to make an excuse not to workout.
So here goes the rant.
I know that working out is tough, I know that working out takes time and I know that it can be boring or inconvenient so why not hit all of these factors head-on.
Working out is tough - Well yes working out is tough. That is the reason that there are so many out of shape people and unused fitness equipment and magic pills promising to lose you weight. The upside of tough workouts is that besides the obvious health benefits it is also a way to challenge yourself. No matter how hard it is doing your workout, at the end you have a great sense of accomplishment.
Working out is a waste of time - Sure there are other things that you can be doing instead of working out. I personally look at my days as operating on about 50% efficiency at best but when I am working out doing weights I feel like I am at around 100% efficiency, I am doing important work and the payback is really high. If I am doing cardio I always try to multi task a little. Either watching TV when I am indoors or listening to music or other MP3s when outside (I ride on sidewalks so I do not get hit) and the time again is very important time to me.
Working out is inconvenient - This is one that I could have dealt with in the waste of time section. If working out is inconvenient then you will never do it. Make your exercise convenient. Martin at work plays soccer for exercise, other people here in the great white north play hockey for exercise, I ride to work for my commute for exercise. Really the convenience of exercise is the time that you are putting in to save time in commuting somewhere or the interaction with people by playing sports or even visiting at the gym while working out.
I know that I used to hang out with friends by going to the gym everyday so I would have social time as well as exercise and this gave me consistency as well as giving me the exercise that I needed and the muscles for my ego at the time.
If you ever feel that exercise is a waste of time then figure out why your head is saying this. Are you too budy with work? Are you trying to multi task too much, are your priorities changing on you? Or is it simply that you are tired and not taking as good a care of yourself as you should be? Working out and exercise are actions that are for you and only you so make sure that you are taking this time for yourself and making yourself stronger and better.
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