Why workout?

Life is busy, very busy. We spend hours sitting, living in a cube. So why bother working out. It is hard work and requires some of our limited and precious time. You’ve no doubt encountered a disinterest; or even strong opposition to working out while at work. I had a coworker who expressed it like this …

Whenever I get the urge to exercise, I just lay down until the urge passes.

I don’t subscribe to that line of thinking, but still we all need some motivation to exercise. So why bother?

Stress Relief

Life is full of stress. As Cube Dwellers our work is filled with stress and our bodies or normally inactive which adds the build up of tension. Working out is an incredible and effective way to reduce the impacts of stress.

Take time to workout just so you can release a bit of tension and stress from your life. That alone should be enough for any Cube Dweller to consider the value of regular exercise.

Free the Mind

As cube Dwellers we are knowledge workers, we count on our minds to be fresh and ready to innovate, to think clearly, to translate our crazy thoughts into words and visions that others might grasp. All of the requires us to be able to keep our minds fresh and ready to perform.

Exercise rejuvenates the mind. It brings surges of oxygen and some studies even suggest that exercise increases the size of the brain. Think about that … just start exercising and you’ll get a big head; no wait you’ll get a bigger brain. We need all the brain power we can; the world is not only changing, we are experiencing accelerating change. More brain power will definitely help us cope with and innovate in the midst of that change.

The brain also needs to stay healthy and more studies are revealing how regular exercise can prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Get moving and free the mind.

Improve Sleep

Regular exercise improves the quality of sleep we get. When you compare all of the other advantages of exercising this one actually gives you valuable time back. I know when I am exercising regularly I need less sleep to be fully engaged and I sleep soundly. Without exercise I tend to have trouble falling asleep and even then sleep is restless.

Join Life

This is a big one for me. I want to be able to enjoy life and all it has to offer. While this was true when I was younger having children really enforced this thought. I wanted to be able to do whatever my kids wanted as they grew up. I wanted to explore life with them; snowboarding, bike riding, snow tubing, soccer, lacrosse, water skiing, wakeboarding, wakeskating, … anything.

Working out was a means to an end; by sweating I could be involved. Being involved reminded me how important it was to workout. It has proven to be a virtuous cycle; keeping me engaged in regular fitness.

Longevity – Heart Health

Heart disease is a serious problem and is aggravated by our jobs; for those of us that work as Cube Dwellers. We sit, then we sit some more. Day after day, we sit. All of that sedentary life is isn’t good for the heart.

Personally, genetics hit me on this one as well. My parents gave me many great things, but one of the bad things is a predisposition to high cholesterol and heart disease. (See my posts on Cholesterol to follow my adventures battling that aspect of life.) Regular exercise is a key element of any program to improve heart health.

The motivation here is just a desire to be around longer; to enjoy more days, more enjoyably.

Self-Esteem

This may sound vain, but working out also improves self-esteem. There is value in self-esteem beyond vanity. When we feel good about ourselves we function better. As knowledge workers we often need to be able to express our ideas and thoughts to convince others. Anything we can do to improve our own self-esteem helps with out confidence at work.

Joy

Who knows if exercise brings joy from a chemical reaction from endorphines, epinephrine, serotonin, or dopamine. But many people agree that regular exercise brings a sense of joy or happiness. Can’t we all just use a little joy? So get going and workout.

What’s your reason?

What makes you get up, get going, and workout? I’m sure my list only scratched the surface. What’s your reason?

What’s your excuse?

What killed your fitness? is another post that describes a poll for the excuses we face that keep us from exercising.