Disclaimer: Before I delve into this post, I’d like to put some things on the record. I am not currently in the best shape of my life. I do not look like a fitness model, far from it; I just had two kids in two years. I am NOT coming from a place of judgement or telling you what you need to do. I’m merely sharing my own experience. I’m posting this, not to judge anyone, but because I’m passionate about the subject. I was in MMA for years, and for a brief time, a certified personal trainer. Exercise has played a major role in my life, and I wanted to share my experience.
The fitness industry is HUGE; valued at approximately 390 billion dollars (source). It is projected to grow in the coming years and I understand why. We value our exercise as a source of health and even our identity. But even with all that resting on it, exercise seems to come in spurts for most. There is this cycle of getting motivated, exercising like crazy, exercise slowly declining, not exercising at all, and the cycle continues (maybe it’s just me?). I would argue that the problem (and cure) for this cycle is the heart; the wellspring of life. Where your heart is on the subject will inevitably shape your relationship with exercise. Honestly search your heart to see how you feel about the matter. Here are some reasons exercise doesn’t matter (and why it does).
Why Exercise Does NOT Matter
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Vanity
I have (and still do sometimes) exercised for the sake of vanity. I can have a mental picture of what I want to look like and use that as motivation for exercise. I picture myself looking a certain way and achieving a sense of satisfaction within myself. I was curious and decided to look up what vanity actually means. I don’t know about you, but I use way too many words without really knowing their definition. Anyway, vanity means, “lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness.” Ugh! This is not what I wanted to hear. However, it makes sense for me! My fitness regimens and diets that are motivated by vanity, NEVER LAST! I think for me personally, the hollowness of being motivated by vanity isn’t enough to make the hard decision to exercise when I’m exhausted and don’t want to make time.
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Pride (not to be mistaken with confidence)
This is the other reason my resolves don’t last. Let’s say vanity has motivated me to exercise to the point that I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I’ll give you an uncensored preview into my thoughts at this point, “I’m amazing! I look great! Well, that was I wanted. I don’t really need to do tomorrow’s exercise, because I already look amazing and that’s all I wanted out of this.” Don’t get me wrong, I might actually be amazing and look great, but clinging to that in the spirit of puffing myself up WILL NOT LAST FOR ME! I usually stop exercising (because my vanity has been briefly satisfied), but then I fall back into feeling terrible. This usually makes me feel insecure, causing me to long for vanity; the achieved vanity puts me in a puffed up state of pride, but that doesn’t last. Do you see the cycle?
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Comparisons
I’m embarrassingly competitive. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being competitive, but it depends on the spirit of the thing. If my exercise is mostly motivated for the sake of comparison, it won’t last. Comparing myself to someone can result in two ways. One, I come up short; this makes me feel insecure and I might even quietly resent the person I compared myself too. Second, I come up better; this makes me judgmental and unemphatic towards the person I was comparing myself too. There’s a great blog, Compared To Who, that dives further into the subject, I can’t tell you how much I love Heather’s writing. She writes in an incredibly relatable way and makes me feel normal!
Why Exercise DOES Matter
Exercise DOES matter though! Scientifically speaking, exercise has been proven to increase your life expectancy, lowers your risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer, improves heart-lung function, reduces stress and gives you an endorphin boost! Just because there are lots of reasons that shouldn’t motivate you to exercise, there are many more that should motivate you.
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Take Care of Yourself
We only have one body while we are on earth and we should take care of it! I’ve been tempted with the idea that “I’m young now, so I should just enjoy myself; I can worry about my health when I’m older.” The thing is though, I would like to lay a healthy foundation now, while I’m young. As a Mom, I can completely tell the difference in my energy when I’ve gotten to exercise. I have more energy and am less stressed.
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Break Free
There is no uniform bar of success when it comes to exercise. Through prayer and wise counsel, the Lord has been working in this area of my life. When you are free of the cycle of vanity and pride, free of comparing yourself others, there is so much freedom, confidence and joy to be had! It’s a hard thing to do, but I encourage you to examine your heart and motives in regards to exercise. The results of freedom and confidence don’t come from a HIIT routine, but from having the right motives.
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Set An Example
This is a personal reason and by no means applies to everyone. I personally, want my daughter to have a healthy relationship with exercise. I want to be aware of my speech around her in regards to exercise. I want her to see me joyfully exercising. This is an ideal that I have by no means achieved, but I believe in having goals.
Exercise is a routine part of our lives, how we relate to it matters. Take the time to consider why you exercise (or why you don’t). I believe that examining your heart and prayerfully changing can result in a heart that has a healthy perspective on exercise, and this change of heart will inevitably have positive impacts on other areas of your life.
I wish I had tips and tricks to share. I am currently trying to get the motivation start exercising, and this definitely helps. Thanks for sharing such an honest post!
Thanks so much Stephanie! I’m planning on posting more practical tips and routines in the future. I just felt like I couldn’t do that until I’d established this.
You’re definitely not alone in feeling this way & I like your point of view!
Thank you so much Vivianna!
Thank you for sharing something that left you feeling a bit vulnerable – inspiring read!
Thank you Aimee!
This is fantastic! I’m such a big believer in determining what the actual, truly valuable reasons for doing things are – in checking our motivations. This area is a biggie. As someone who struggled with body image and an eating disorder for years, I had to relearn and retrain myself to view healthy eating and exercising as an opportunity to take care of my physical, mental and emotional well-being instead of a way to punish my body and attempt to look ‘perfect.’ Thank you for sharing these points!!
Thank you so much Kelsey! I think you put that very well. I think the mindset of “punishing” in an attempt to look perfect is far too common. Thanks for sharing!
I really appreciate these thoughts. My background is in public health and whenever I used to teach about exercise I would tell people that it’s not about being skinny or fitting into your favorite jeans–it’s about health. I’m glad you’re illustrating this here.
Thanks Shannon! That’s so great that you did that! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I like this post! I think so often people get caught up in the wrong reasons, instead of the right reasons. I often say that I workout because of the free child watch !
Thanks Meredith! I totally agree with you!
I couldn’t agree more! There are so many RIGHT reasons!!!
I don’t LOVE exercise but I love how it makes me feel and I love that my toddler knows what exercise is!!
Simply Shaunacey
Thanks Shaunacey! I totally know what you mean, it just makes me feel better. 🙂
For me I am navigating a weight loss journey for 8 months now. My dedication to it had to go past vanity. My husband loves me the way I am. I had to find something more than looks to do intense,sweaty workouts and eat the way my body deserves. Honoring my temple and glorifying God through the process has become very important to me. I only get one and I have to take care of it. I love this, thank you for your transparency.
Congratulations on 8 months of dedication! Thank you for sharing your story; it really is inspiring. I just checked out your website and I love it! I’ll have to go find you on social media. Happy Sunday!
This is so true! We need to be exercising for the right reasons, not going to the gym for to take selfies! 😉 Thanks for sharing these reminders.
Thanks Heather, I totally agree with you!
Hi Lauren,
I never exercise. I am always blogging in my free time. Thank you for coming by my site on Saturday and commenting on my how to repeat high page views post. You said you bookmarked the post for the future. Thank you!
I wanted to mention that I publish posts like that one all the time. I would love to encourage you to subscribe so you never miss an article.
Janice
Thank you Janice, I will check it out!
I love to exercise. But when I get up in comparing myself to others -what they can do that I can’t and what I look like compared to them – it sure steals my joy! Great post. Motivation is so important! I’m Happy for You looks like a wonderful book!
Thanks Cathy! I totally agree, comparison is a joy thief!
I love this post and absolutely agree with all of your points! I know that when I start a workout routine just because I want to look a certain way, it doesn’t last. But when it is because I want to get healthier and feel better, then I am able to stay in it for the long run. I think I was in the best shape of my adult life back in 2013, and although my working out started with wanting to lose weight, it actually became more, and made me feel better about myself so I was able to stick with it. I need to get that frame of mind back now. Thanks for the reminder and the motivation, and thanks so much for linking up to Fitness Friday, I hope to see you back again tomorrow!
Thanks Miranda! I totally understand. Yes, I will be there!
Thank you for helping me figure out why I have something against exercise. It’s not that I don’t want to be healthy but it’s that I am bombarded by so many people doing it for the wrong reasons.
It is definitely hard to find the good motives for exercise in popular culture. Thanks for reading!
I’m obsessed with this! You are so right. There are so many people who do it for the wrong reasons. Vanity and what we look like will fade. The important thing is to be healthy! I’m always saying its all about how you feel, not the pounds on the scale! Keep rocking it mama!
Thanks Lyndsey! I totally agree with you, it’s important to know your why!
I know how it feels to hit the submit button and wonder if you really conveyed all that you wanted to, and if your message will be receive the way you hoped. For the record, I LOVE your points here. I grew up with a wonderful mother who talked about exercise and eating right in terms of being healthy and doing good for your body rather than about being thin, or beautiful, or whatever else. I’m so grateful to her for that. I’m not the most consistent at exercising, but I know that any time I can get my body moving is good for me. I look forward to seeing more practical tips related to this in the future.
Sometimes when our reason for exercising is vanity or whatever, it is harder to stick to our goal because we tend to compare our bodies to others & it is discouraging because it’s not at all realistic. We all have different genetics, even if we are in the best shape we won’t like x fitness model. Great post! Right now my reason for exercise is strength! I plan on taking my kids on walks to the park this summer instead of driving & I just want to be prepared for any situation. Most likely I won’t have to fight off any attackers lol but I’ve seen too many news stories lately that I want to be prepared even if it’s super unlikely. hopefully admitting my mom paranoia doesn’t make me sound too crazy 😉 lol
Lol, you’re in good company for Mom paranoia, Lexi. I like your point about genetics! I looked at your blog and it’s a beautiful design! I’m following you on Instagram and look forward to reading more from you!
I’m currently a personal trainer and your post really resonates with me. In my job there is an industry stereotype of what I should look like. For my relationship with fitness to flourish i need to focus on exercising joyfully. Great post.