Exercise is the only thing I know to cure pain from the past. The rest of this blog post is a summary of my latest workout. I’m sharing this to help motivate you and to understand myself.
Each workout has an intention or a purpose, and in the end, something important is learned. Very few workouts are exceptional, some are average, and most are rough, but all are transformational.
Here is the latest footstep into my fit to live journey…
Workout: What’s the Point of Exercising?
How Did I Feel Before the Workout?
Overall, I’m still feeling pretty good. After a good yoga practice yesterday, my lower back and shoulders feel much more relaxed. I can tell that recent stress was taking a toll on my body and yoga always has an effective way of releasing me from it.
What Was My Intention?
There are so many reasons why you and I have to exercise. Of course, there are the benefits of warding off disease and slowing the ageing process. There are the mental health aspects that go along with moving the body. But what is the real reason why I exercise so intently?
My intention of this workout is to explore the real reason why I exercise that is beyond the current and future health benefits. What are the fears that I’m trying to avoid? What are the motivations that push me so much? Why do I love it so much? What’s the point of exercising?
What Workout Did I Do?
- Treadmill: 10k of running at a 5:05 min/km pace with intense hills.
How Did I Feel After the Workout?
Pretty worn out! For the first time, I turned up the intensity of the hill training on the treadmill and I felt it. My legs, heart and lungs got an excellent workout with this little trot. For most of the run, I wasn’t able to concentrate much on anything else but running, and that is ideal.
What Did I Learn?
Last night I realized that I’m not saving nearly enough for retirement. And although my goal is never truly to retire -I always want to do something of value- I feel as though my exercise today, contributes to my retirement plan tomorrow. I exercise now so that my 65-year-old self doesn’t look back and say: “I wish I would have…”
So what is the point of exercising? It’s the cheapest retirement plan that I can think of. Every minute of sweat that I invest today is saving me an hour of disease-free living tomorrow.
The Story Behind This
Fitness means much more than toned muscles, physical strength and endurance. Building an intimate connection between your mind and body is the true definition of fitness. Life can be tough on you sometimes, and it is only made tougher if that connection is missing.
True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.
Wilhelm von Humboldt
I spent many years trying to recover from the the fallout of childhood sexual trauma. My mind was continually trying to disconnect from a body that didn’t feel my own. It wasn’t until I discovered exercise that I was able rebuild that connection and become someone whole and worth living for. Every workout is just another chance to get a little closer to who I really am.