Exercise is for more than getting buff!
By Tariq Ghanzi, Contributor
To paraphrase the great Cam’ron, a little bit of sweat can get those computers ‘puting.
Not everyone managed to stay healthy during the pandemic. For a lot of students, online classes meant that you went from one chair to couch to bed for like 10 months straight. Now that restrictions have been lessened, it may be time for some to hit the gym! But after such a long delay, motivation could be in short supply. Well, if that’s the case, read on and get a little kick in the pants!
One piece of motivation that we should all happily embrace is that exercise is good for your mind. Working up a sweat will certainly help those cognitive juices to start flowing and can even help you focus better and over longer periods. To paraphrase the great Cam’ron, a little bit of sweat can get those computers ‘puting.
Next up are mobility and flexibility. You see, if you spend too much time seated and largely immobile, your muscles begin to atrophy. Essentially that’s a fancy way of saying they die. Also, if your body is not forced to move and flex in certain ways, you can become stiff and inflexible. Though being inflexible is a good thing when you are fighting for a raise, it is not a good thing for your long-term health or the various surprises in life. With that in mind, yoga classes are a great way to combine clearing your mind with much-needed exercise!
But if the benefits themselves aren’t motivation enough, it might be time for us to look at ourselves in the mirror. Some studies have shown that giving yourself a pep talk in the mirror can boost your self-esteem and motivate you onwards towards your goals. If you are feeling a little too lethargic about going to the gym, a couple of minutes in front of your mirror telling yourself how good you are and how useful the exercise will be can help.
Also, setting goals that you know you can achieve and that lead you towards a larger ultimate goal can vastly improve your motivation. Start small with the goal of signing up for your first class. After that, set a goal to go to three classes in a row. Keep building slowly but surely to an ultimate goal that seems a bit daunting now. As you knock down the other, smaller goals along the way, that larger goal will become much more attainable.
Unfortunately, motivation doesn’t grow on trees. If it did, then all of our lives would be so much easier and a million things would already have been done. But, good ideas are plentiful and we can make sure to share them with others and heighten our total chances for success!
