When I first got back into exercising it was mainly for burning some calories. As I continued I noticed my bingo wings were firming a little and my love handles were getting smaller so that gave me more motivation to continue.
Then I noticed I could walk faster and longer without getting tired and as my stamina grew I started to love the endorphins I would get. Before I knew it I started to enjoy and look forward to my workouts.
Now it's tough for me to go one day without doing something active whether it's sports, lifting or just walking around the neighborhood casually.
The physical changes are of course great, but I know I've made major changes by staying active such as lowering my blood pressure, building a stronger heart and getting rid of hard visceral fat which is very important to me.
Well firstly I'll achieve my goal weight much faster by losing weight, but I want to continue doing it the rest of my life. I want to live to see 100 years.. And I have a goal to complete a marathon within a year, because I know it will keep me motivated and make me stronger.
I don't love running while I'm at it, but I feel awesome the rest of they day (hence I run in the morning), so the benefits outweigh the hard work. Swimming I enjoy while I'm at it so I do that many times a week
I have a love / hate relationship with exercise. I am doing it mainly to change my body, but at the same time I enjoy it (for the most part).
Some weight lifting machines are like long lost lovers, I have to use them! Others make me want to cry and throw in the towel, but I keep pushing.
I actually just started lifting again, and oh my gosh! My arms were ready to detach from my body, but I had to finish my second rep, I just cannot allow myself to half ar$e my workouts. Injuries are a different story though.
Edit - Cardio ... my weakness. I am right now using just the stationary bike due to a knee injury, and the way I must be using the elliptical has caused intense pressure. So yeah, I have no love for cardio at the moment. But again, it is mostly to change my body.
Last edited by ShyHeather; 08-08-2013 at 07:46 PM.
It only takes three days without a workout and it all creeps back in.... so I have to keep on top of that.
I do exercise for vanity for sure... but I also love the high I get from an intense cardio workout... and the 'jelly legs/arms' (muscle failure) I get after a good strength training workout.
The more I do, the harder I can push, the harder I push the better the results... the easier it gets and so on... (of course within a sensible range).
I exercise because it makes me feel good. It makes me feel strong. It also makes me feel like I'm in the land of the living, I like the connection I feel to other people who are exercising in the park, like we're in a special club or something. I enjoy that social aspect of it. With a toddler at home it's also the only time I get to myself in the day. I also suffer from anxiety and stress and exercise is the only thing that helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iixi
I HATE cardio oh my god. So I don't do it. Though I'm going to add a 30 minute session on days I take a break from lifting to help me lose a bit of extra gloop. That or yoga which I thought I liked until I did it today and found out that my hinges are so rusty I can barely stretch!
When I hear the word "cardio" I immediately think of treadmills, eliptical machines, and other torture devices that are super boring to work out on. In fact I hate using the word cardio altogether. Instead I try to focus on activities I love to do like walking, running, tennis, volleyball, hiking, playing hide and seek with my son, dancing, etc. These are all activities that incorporate your cardiovascular system and increase oxygen circulation. It's not productive to say "I hate cardio" because that means you hate all movement. If you walk to your car in the morning, you're engaging in cardio. If you walk a little further than that then you're exercising.
Why not carry a pedometer and see if you can get up to 10,000 steps per day? Half of that can be actual exercise but the rest of it is just daily living.
Last edited by Palestrina; 08-09-2013 at 09:16 AM.
I'm with the people who use their workout times as "me" time. When I have something on my mind, I'll hop on the bike or treadmill so that I don't have to worry about bumping into other people out on the tracks and trails while I mull things over, but when I'm outside, I'm more interested in what's going on around me. I work in a window-minimal office, so any time I can spend out in the sun with a nice breeze is great!
I started lifting weights just to add muscle to help burn fat, but now I'm keeping up with lifting because I love the fact that I'm adding more weight onto the bar as the weeks progress and the fact that I'm beginning to see the start of muscle definition. I'm like this lump of clay that's slowly yet surely getting sculpted into a stronger version of me, one rep at a time. Feeling like Wonder Woman at the end of a lifting day is the best feeling ever.
When I began exercising, it was almost all about speeding up my weight loss. However, after a couple weeks my boyfriend pointed out that I was much happier and positive when I stuck to a workout schedule. I also liked how my body felt stronger--like when I would find my backpack was getting easier to carry, etc. So positive life/body outlook is my new reason for going all out
I do it both because I enjoy it and I hope it gives me a better body.
It's also nice to do something that feels like an accomplishment. Even when I eat really healthy and within my calorie limits all day, I still think of my diet in terms of what I'm not doing; I didn't have soda, I didn't skip oatmeal for a bagel, I didn't stop at the drive-thru on my way home from work, etc. Exercise, on the other hand, feels like a more concrete thing I can point to and say, "I did something good for myself today."
I started because I had to, and I hated it. But now, like another poster said, if I quit (and I just came off a month of not working out) - the depression and exhaustion come back. Yesterday was my first swim in a month, I usually do it daily, and I felt infinitely better mentally and physically pretty much the moment I got my heart rate up. I've missed yoga for three weeks too and I cannot wait until Thursday.
I didn't move much my whole life, and I really do wonder if that was a huge part of my issues with depression.
I started because I had to, and I hated it. But now, like another poster said, if I quit (and I just came off a month of not working out) - the depression and exhaustion come back. Yesterday was my first swim in a month, I usually do it daily, and I felt infinitely better mentally and physically pretty much the moment I got my heart rate up. I've missed yoga for three weeks too and I cannot wait until Thursday.
I didn't move much my whole life, and I really do wonder if that was a huge part of my issues with depression.
Agreed--and there is scientific evidence to back up what we regular exercisers are saying. Those endorphins that we send to our brain during a good work-out actually does eliminate depression in many individuals. It makes me feel great.
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We know that exercise has positive effects on the brain. Researchers at Duke University demonstrated several years ago that exercise has antidepressant properties. Other research has shown that exercise can improve the brain functioning of the elderly and may even protect against dementia. How does exercise improve mental health?
One theory for some of the benefits of exercise include the fact that exercise triggers the production of endorphins. These natural opiates are chemically similar to morphine. They may be produced as natural pain relievers in response to the shock that the body receives during exercise. However, researchers are beginning to question whether endorphins improve mood. Studies are showing that the body's metabolism of endorphins is complex, and there are likely additional mechanisms involved in the mental health effects of exercise.
Some studies have found that exercise boosts activity in the brain's frontal lobes and the hippocampus. We don't really know how or why this occurs. Animal studies have found that exercise increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters have been associated with elevated mood, and it is thought that antidepressant medications also work by boosting these chemicals.
Exercise has also been found to increase levels of "brain-derived neurotrophic factor" (BDNF). This substance is thought to improve mood, and it may play a role in the beneficial effects of exercise. BDNF's primary role seems to be to help brain cells survive longer, so this may also explain some of the beneficial effects of exercise on dementia.
The bottom line is that most of us feel good after exercise. Physical exercise is good for our mental health and for our brains. Someday we will understand it all better.
Hello world!
I work out because ... i want to change myself. I hate the old me. i want change. I work out to swim away all the anger, the self resentment, the fat ( imagine fat dissolving as i swim away in the pool )
Hello world!
I work out because ... i want to change myself. I hate the old me. i want change. I work out to swim away all the anger, the self resentment, the fat ( imagine fat dissolving as i swim away in the pool )
I want to be a healthier me!
I hope that as you learn to live yourself that you will also learn to be more compassionate to your "old self."
I absolutely LOVEfeeling sore the day after but the second day following an intense work out can be a bit of a b**ch! But I do still love it. Knowing that muscles are rebuilding getting bigger reshaping me.
Walking down an incline after leg day daaang lol or the first time my legs gave out walking down some steps and I caught myself and without realizing it at the time held up all my weigh on my arms alone. Springing up three flights of stairs while talk on the phone and not losing my breath. Walking around in a four inch boot without issue because my legs are so much stronger and little things like stairs and heels are not a big issue anymore. But most of all there shaping of my body is what I do it for.
I started to change my body. But now I'm enjoying the heck out of it!!!
I like cardio. It makes me feel better after I do it and I huff and puff during, but that high afterwards is awesome. I've always enjoyed weights and am happy I joined a gym so I can start doing those more often. The soreness is just part of the process and well, I kinda like it too. Makes me feel like everything I did was successful.
I workout because
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