The Stigma

Who said that exercise has to be work? By nature there is exertion put forth, and it is commonly referred to as "working out", but does that make it work? Why can't exercise be looked at as fun? To answer the last question, it can and for that matter should be. If your idea of exercise is spending hours on end running on a hamster wheel in a gym that smells like sweat and cleaning products, then I get why this seems like work. It doesn't have to be that way though. For myself, my gym workouts rarely last more than twenty minutes these days. Sure there were years that I was there for two hours but that type of commitment is unnecessary for just staying healthy and looking great. The key to it all, especially cardio, is just to move. Studies have shown that you burn more calories cleaning a middle class home than you do jogging for an hour. The point is that as long as you are moving, your body will burn calories at an elevated rate, making it easier to build and maintain a body you desire. In actuality, most forms of cardio that don't involve a machine are far more beneficial for you. A few examples of this are anything that involves throwing, kicking, climbing, twisting, rowing, or jumping. Most activities involving the aforementioned activities resemble play rather than work. Try re-framing how you think about exercise and I will guess that it gets easier to want to do it. Just a few scattered thoughts...

J