People who keep to a regular exercise routine: what are your motives?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Last week I chanced to see a friend of my baby sister’s whom I haven’t seen in years. Her name is Ayo or Eiya or something unconsonanted like that; I don’t know exactly because I wasn’t paying attention when we were introduced fifteen years ago and it’s too late to ask now. What’s-her-name was visibly surprised when she saw me. I’ve lost a lot of weight in the past few years; I weighed 270 lbs at my heaviest, and now I’m down to 170 . Sh asked how I’d done it, and I said that it was partly by diet but mostly by exercise. Laughing, She-Who-Has-No-Plosives asked if I was satisfied with my current weight, or was I going to shoot for supermodel status.

The answer to that question is nay, by the by. That’s partly because my ugly mug does not benefit from the attention of cameras (I’d post a picture to prove that but I don’t want any of y’all gouging out your eyes), but mostly because I don’t give a rip. I exercise as much as I do because diabetes has nearly killed me twice and I’m not giving it a third try. I keep myself on the treadmill and bicycle (and occasionally in the boxing ring) by muttering the complications that most frighten me in descending order (blindness … amputated limbs … stroke … death) over and over. But I’m never going to do the eleventy jillion situps required for six-pack abs, for instance, because hey, I wear suits everyday anyway, so who cares? For that matter, I wasn’t deliberately looking to lose weight when I decided to stick to an exercise routine; it was all about controlling blood sugar. Weight loss was just a fortunate side effect.

But I digress. Ms I-Will-Have-No-Consonants gave me the idea for a thread. Those of you who exercise regularly: what are you motives for doing so?

Poll in a moment, but don’t let that slow you down.

2

I’m trying 1) to lose weight, and 2) to get more healthy generally. My routine is the elliptical machine (easy on my bad knees) I’ve been doing 50 minutes per day, approx 6 days a week for a couple of months now. At my age and station in life, I’m not trying to get good looking. But I was about 40 pounds too heavy and getting sick of it. Probably not good for cholesterol either. I’m halfway there.

3

I go to the gym 4x - 6x per week just in order to maintain a reasonably attractive weight (which is not to say I am at my ideal weight… I am still considered overweight, but balanced with a reasonable amount of muscle mass makes me look pretty average overall…)

4

I walk nearly every day (I’m about to go for a walk in a blizzard, to give you an idea about how regular I am on that :slight_smile: ), and my motives are fairly simple. I consider exercise like flossing your teeth - I don’t particularly like it, I just have to do it.

5

There’s no poll coming. This is all a lie.

6

I have a job, you know. Plus I had to choose a recipe. Anyway the poll’s up now, with no fewer than 3 pumpkin bread recipes. I have instructed the girl at the desk not to give you any hot cocoa till you apologize for your lack of faith, though.

7

The eighth choice should have been: People occasionally chase down me to beat me up and I need to be prepared.

8

I try to walk a mile a day to help balance my hypertension, and make it most days. I hear pumpkin bread is very good for hypertension control, too.

9

Does “maintaining good cardiovascular health” fit under “I’m trying to control diabetes/high blood pressure/some other such condition”?

10

Fool of a Took! That is what handguns are for.

That should go under “you left out mine,” I think, unless there’s some specific ailment you’re fighting against.

11

Then there’s no reason for anyone to need to chase down people to beat them up because sniper rifle.

Hence no need to be fit. :smiley:

12

I work out 4x a week for about 2.25 hours per, without fail. I only miss workouts if I’m deliberately taking a break. If I need to do something during a time I would normally work out, I either try to move that event, or I make it up. I chose “I like the way it makes me feel”, “addiciton”, and “you left out my reason.” I don’t worry about losing weight or maintaining or whatever, as that handles itself as long as I’m continuing to challenge myself.

As for how it makes me feel, it helps give me energy and helps to stablize my mood. I almost always leave feeling better than how I arrived, and whenever there is disruption in my exercise routine, I can definitely feel it in lacking energy and in being cranky. I’d like to work out more steadily to reduce the fluctuation even more, but the body does need to rest.

The addiction part is largely because of how I feel, but also knowing that if I don’t stay consistent in working out, I may lose the habit all together. On top of that, though, there is a runner’s high and a lifter’s high, quite similar, and they’re pleasant feelings. On top of that, being able to move a lot of weight or do difficult routines is good for my self-confidence.

The biggest motivators, though, are the parts left out of the poll. Most importantly, it’s about health and challenging myself. Exercise is imperative to just generally staying well, but it also helps with my mind working effectively, and vice versa. It seems odd to me to exercise only certain parts of oneself, we need to be challenged physically, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally (the last I already mentioned). In fact, to that end, I’m often working through those aspects AS I work out, and I often make as much or more progress there as anywhere else. I’m also an introvert, and getting out of the house regularly, even if I don’t interact with people, is good for me. Going to the gym is actually part of how I make sure I socialize with people, and there usually are other regulars at the gym that I talk to, typically about things that aren’t very charged. And, finally, routine is important for keeping myself grounded. Yes, I have other things I do to stay in routine, like my job, but exercise is a huge part of that, particularly as it comes to weekends and holidays.

13

I try to do hiit 2-3x a week, which can be hard with after work appointments and weekend travel. My motivation is mostly for energy, I have more energy when I do my workout twice a week. Other factors include trying to control hypertension and delay diabetes.

14

I like being active and I like the way exercise makes me feel - spending energy gives me energy. Also, it helps me accept my soul-sucking job as a cubicle-dwelling corporate drone. We were not meant to live our lives sitting and staring at computer screens.

I like being outdoors, and staying fit lets me enjoy other activities, like skiing and snowboarding, hiking, eating, etc. I run or cycle 4-5 days a week - when the weather changes I look forward to challenging conditions. I enjoy running and riding on their own as well.

Also, my parents both succumbed to preventable illnesses too early, and I use them as an example of what to do differently.

15

I’ve long ago given up using exercise as a weight-loss mechanism; it doesn’t seem to do a damn thing for me. Every time I’ve successfully lost weight it was usually mostly through diet or being sick.

That said, I do exercise regularly because:

1 - the number of health benefits for exercise are simply overwhelming. I don’t know of any other one thing that is simply always good for you, so I do it.

2 - I like staying in shape. It’s fun to be able to bike/ski/whatever and not be out of shape all the time.

3 - it really helps to keep my blood sugar in control (Type 1 diabetic).

4 - maybe it does help me maintain my weight. Hard to tell. But I’m sure it doesn’t adversely affect weight.

5 - I wouldn’t so much say I like the way I feel while I do it, but I do like how I feel when I’m done.

16

Truthfully, I’m addicted. That’s mostly it. I like the way it makes me feel, I like the way it makes me look, I like the indirect health benefits (too myriad to list), I like it all. I have become dependent on my routines in order to keep my depression at bay. When anything in my routines (eating, exercising; all the routines directly and indirectly involved in these activities) becomes disrupted, I become agitated and stressed out.

17

I had a heart attack fourteen months ago. I get to the gym almost every day, stay on my medications and eat a healthier diet to keep that from re-occurring. On the good side, My cholesterol numbers are great, I have more energy and I have lost 45 lbs (16.79kg). Side note: 45 lbs is a lot of excess weight for a guy five feet, five inches (165cm)tall…

18

You left mine out, and it seems everyone does in such polls. I don’t have a target weight or health problems, but I do work out regularly. It’s not about appearance or weight control or fighting off illness, and I don’t particularly enjoy most of it, but it seems reasonable and intelligent to me to stay fit enough to deal with life’s hazards comfortably. To me, healthy isn’t just “not sick” but capable. It’s weird how people seem to think that if disaster ever strikes, they’ll suddenly be gifted with the strength and coordination to lift heavy objects off loved ones, carry fully-grown injured people miles to safety, or haul themselves up by their arms, even though they can’t deadlift their own weight or do a pull-up.

19

In the beginning weight loss and strengthening. Now mostly mental health (my head loves endorphins, seriously) though moving slowly into quite ridiculous fitness over the last 5 years has made my COPD seem much less severe, so much so I just plonked down cash for a year at a gym when all bets were that I wouldn’t live through this one. I can also eat pretty much anything I damned well like and I do love to eat.

20

I’ve told my story here many times, so let me just say I work out for the following reasons (more-or-less in order of priority):
a) Health (keeping my cholesterol low, and strengthening my cardiovascular system).
b) Because I can. Before my surgery, my stamina had dropped of dramatically.
c) Vanity. I like the way I look when I exercise much more than when I don’t.
d) The roar of the crowd. The occasional comment on my physique is a real motivator.