What’s Your Second Why?—Talk About The True Motivation For Choosing To Exercise

Consistency has been a theme lately, and as it is important, the follow-through that it demands can be difficult. So many people come and go from the gym, and they all have different reasons for which they show up each day. Most revolve around losing weight, gaining lean mass and training for a specific athletic endeavor. But why? Why do you want to lose weight? Why are you training for that goal? If you dig deeper and connect with it, it’s easier to drag yourself to your workout on the days that you really just don’t want to do it. Also, in asking others their whys, inspiration can come from hearing their struggles and being vulnerable enough to be honest about it. We all need a perspective adjustment to our lenses on the daily.

Not surprisingly, a lot of the whys we shared this morning came from a mental space, and not a physical one. Daily anxiety can be debilitating and was a resounding reason our friends find themselves at Saturday workout each week. Mental clarity and stability as well. Others come because, with age, aches and pains seem to worsen and being strong as the years pass is a very effective way to combat that battlefield. An interesting observation from a nurse was that she notices, of the people that pass through her care, the ones that make fitness a priority in their lives seem to be more successful in general. 

I agree and love all those reasons, and I love everyone more for sharing a piece of themselves. My own reasons were similar and threefold. 1.) My workouts are my medication for a conundrum of anxieties that I would otherwise probably be taking pills for. I like the side affects of fitness so much more than those of meds. 2.) My boys are solid, and I need to be able to take them. I also want to always be able to hold them. 3.) It’s a holy act, to care for the vessel that mobilizes me to be able to care for others and seek out a state of awe from adventures.