Determine Why You Work Out — And Commitment Will Follow
Once you determine why you exercise, you’ll find out quickly if it is going to be a fad or a consistent routine.
This question is for anyone that does fitness-related activities, such as lifting weights, running, calisthenics, yoga, cycling, bicycling, or other fitness-related activities: Why do you work out?
Before COVID-19 prompted social-distancing and staying at home, I asked about 20 people at my gym in between doing sets. Weight loss, health management, self-improvement, character building, behavior modification, and socializing with like-minded people were the most popular responses.
Some of the outlier responses, such as in search of romance, getting even with an ex, seeking a new career, or needing to pass an exam for a job, were good too, even if a long-term commitment for such reasoning is questionable. Motivational factors are self-generated and come in a lot of forms. Meeting someone at a gym probably would help those folks to keep working out, at least until the next breakup. Making an ex-boy or girlfriend droll regretfully could be the stimulus needed to stay focused, but again, anger fades and it might not last. A fitness requirement could be mandatory and make exercising vital to keeping a job or managing a career. However, if maintaining a certain level of physical conditioning is not required, that may not be incentive enough to stick with it. There are a lot of overweight members of police and fire departments that were in good shape earlier in their careers.
Find the why
Once the reason why exercising is important is known, it will be easier to determine whether working out is going to be a fad or a consistent routine. If statistics on people’s ability to keep new year’s resolutions are true, the reasoning for exercising should have a solid foundation because the likelihood of maintaining a resolution, even over a 12-month period, is about 3%. So, that why needs to be important to make working out sustainable, long-term behavior.
My reasons for working out are simple. I make every effort I can to stay healthy and to age without ending up overweight and sedentary. My birth father is old and rickety. He used to exercise, but he quit in his mid-forties, and while he remains active, somewhat, he would be a lot healthier if he had kept at it. So, if living old is in my genes, I do not want to be in the physical condition my father is at that age.
I walk my dog, Molly, for her sake and mine. Molly and I go out in the mornings and either run or walk 2.10 miles (Thank you, GPS!). It is a light aerobic activity that guarantees that if I do nothing else that day, I get a short workout in every morning. It also starts my day off in a good direction, and then I segue into other physical activities. I also have a wife who is 14 years younger than me who works out a lot. Since I am the one responsible for getting her into the fitness lifestyle, quitting would be a bad optic, and it would not set well with her either. Those are my reasons for working out five to six days weekly.
An incentive
Every time I have stopped exercising, even for a brief bout, I gain a couple of pounds, and then must work harder to get back in shape. So, I do my best to stick with it or, at least, not stray too far from it. My workouts take about 90 minutes of my day. I do it six days per week, but that includes walking my dog, which is something I would do any way.
For a couple of years, I waffled on my commitment to fitness and blew up to more than 60 pounds overweight. It was the most embarrassing time of my life. However, one of my most satisfying accomplishments was losing that 60-plus pounds in six months. I got mad for letting it happen, and that anger incentivized me. That was about 10 years ago, and I have been okay since then.
I lift weights, do yoga and calisthenics, and run both short and long distances. Mixing things up keeps it interesting. I also use programs designed by fitness professionals for everything I do, and my workouts take between 60 and 70 minutes. Using a checklist instead of a “now what should I do?” approach makes it feel as if time passes by quicker.
Maybe I am lucky; I have a why +
Fitness is my favorite hobby. It is a pastime I relish; it is my religion; it is where I go to fix me and then return to my daily grind. I have been this way since childhood. I also have been criticized for making exercising a priority, especially from family members and professional colleagues who labeled me an underachiever for doing what I wanted instead of following their suggestions, which felt more like orders. Many of them also have had hip-, shoulder-, and knee-replacement procedures. It is good that they were able to afford those expensive surgeries. Maybe that is why they prefaced working all the time.
Find your why, and if it is strong enough, the commitment will follow.
