The new year is well underway, and besides winter, something else may be winding down for you: your New Year’s resolution to exercise. If you made a resolution to start exercising or get in shape, you’re not alone. And if that resolution is already falling by the wayside, you’re not alone there either.
Exercise seems to be one of those things people either do, or they don’t. Some make it a habit and keep it going for a long time – maybe a lifetime. Others, not so much. If engaging in regular physical activity has been a challenge for you, don’t worry – you’re not alone. But there’s always a way to overcome any challenge, and overcoming this one may not be as hard as you think.
Move it or lose it
Your body was made to move, and it needs to move to function properly. Physical activity involves using and strengthening muscles, stretching and flexing joints, and increasing blood flow to your tissues and internal organs – including your brain. Take a look at someone who has been bedridden for a long time, and you’ll see the results of an extreme lack of physical activity. Without physical activity, your body withers, shrinks, and deteriorates.
Your body isn’t a machine, but in comparison, even machines need to move and be used regularly to function properly. You wouldn’t expect a car sitting in a garage for ten or twenty years to run smoothly and optimally, would you? At the least, that car needs a tune-up, an oil change, and a new set of tires. And then a drive around the block before you take it out on the open road. So, if you’ve been inactive for a long time, give yourself some grace. You had your reasons. Now, it’s time to find a reason and a way to get moving and get out on the road again.
How did working out get to be a thing anyway?
Exercise is an intentional physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and health. But humans haven’t always engaged in exercise, so what did people do to stay active before the fitness culture began?
Most people were physically active just doing what they needed to do to survive. Hunters and gatherers walked and ran, climbed trees, and carried tools and the food they killed or found. With the development of agriculture, intense physical activity such as walking, carrying, and lifting was required. And then, with the Industrial Revolution, our lifestyles steadily became more sedentary. We began spending more time indoors versus outdoors, more time sitting versus walking, and more often using machines to do the work our bodies used to do.
So, as the Industrial Revolution was winding down, and technology was beginning to rise, people began doing exercise – what we now call “working out”. Only working out doesn’t work for a lot of folks. It’s time-consuming, it can be expensive, and most of all – it isn’t all that fun.
People who do work out regularly do it for many reasons, but one of the main reasons they continue doing whatever they do for exercise is because they enjoy it. They think it’s fun. They found their jam. And when something is fun, we don’t need to be motivated or disciplined to do it.
Stop exercising and start moving
So, the first step to becoming physically active is to stop exercising! The best kind of physical activity is the one that you do, so find something fun that you enjoy doing and do it. There are many ways to be physically active besides going to the gym.
Walking is a great all-around physical activity that almost anyone can do. Yoga and Tai Chi are two practices suitable for everyone and are especially helpful for reducing stress. For some reason, playing sports doesn’t always register on the radar as a form of physical fitness, but it can be, and there are many sports that are great for beginners. Dancing is an activity you can do on many levels – from bopping around your living room to taking a class, dancing checks all the physical fitness boxes.
Another way to improve your enjoyment of physical activity is to do it with others. Combining physical activity with time with family and friends multiplies the benefits for everyone. Sharing time with those you care about while doing a health-promoting activity will strengthen your relationships as well as your body.
I’ve curated a collection of resources on my website, Welloverall, to help you start including physical activity in your daily routine. There is a section dedicated to walking and starting an exercise routine and a section on yoga, Tai Chi, and other forms of mindful movement.
So take the “work” out of “working out” and make your new resolution to simply move more. Find at least one thing you like to do that gets you moving, and before you know it, you’ll be physically active and loving it!