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I asked a woman in her 20’s what exercise meant to her. She quickly fired off the obvious medical benefits of physical exercise, then added, “Improve endurance, strength, health and speed,” before pausing, grinning broadly and declaring, “And it’s fun!” She identified activities that are truly enjoyable to her and quickly realized she could engage in these more often than previously imagined. That is the crux of it: figuring out the meaning of physical exercise for each of us. In the flash of an eye it becomes much more attractive to us, ergo, more achievable. We are motivated to engage in physical exercise once we acknowledge its value to us, personally.
A woman in her 30’s stated with eyes positively shining, “It means pushing the limit, feeling alive. It makes me happy.” A woman in her 50’s said softly, “It represents confidence and mental resilience. I am disciplined”. Other responses have been, “It’s time for me. It’s recreation time.” To a woman in her 60’s it means, “Engaging in life”. To me the meaning of exercise differs with the activity. If I am walking outdoors it is being one with nature and musing; if it is swimming it is reveling in the senses; if it is cardio at the gym it is socializing with others and enjoying the heady endorphin rush; if it is yoga it is quieting the mind and nourishing the body. For the most part, it is free, do as I wish, play time.
Somewhere along the way some of us have forgotten the very basic premise of exercise: fun. It has taken on this very noble label of being ‘the elixir’ of life. That makes it vague, large, amorphous and unreachable. We know it is good for us; no one is arguing. But what happened to simply doing what we love to do? When did sweet naïveté give way to staid gravity? When did exercise become a must do activity, a dreaded chore, fierce competition (with others or ourselves), or worse punishment? For many of us there are life circumstances that stem those currents of joy. The same activity that was once a source of joy can turn into an onerous burden. A switch gets flipped. It could be going off to college, landing that first job, getting married, having a baby, getting a promotion, or being called to duty. It does not matter what the life circumstance that turns the milk sour. The point is we do get robbed of our uninhibited joy. Recognizing this loss, it is time to reclaim it rightfully. Joy is ours for the taking.
Michelle Segar, PhD, author of ‘No Sweat: How the Science of Motivation can bring you a Lifetime of Fitness’, offers a fresh perspective. She talks about first identifying the meaning of exercise and then engaging in activities that please and app
eal to us. Today, exercise carries a definite stamp of ‘goodness’ for me and I can slide in a platitude such as the body is my temple and hence I see exercise as a way to honor my body. But what gets me excited is that it mostly represents the free spirited aspect of doing what pleases and playing with abandon. It is a cherished gift. What does exercise mean to you? ~ Sushama Kirtikar, July 2015
Related article: “Rethinking Exercise as a Source of Immediate Reward“
“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” ~ Plato