As much as exercise is portrayed as a means to lose weight and get that ideal body shape, exercise is actually more of increasing your strength and stamina. Exercise helps improve both your physical and mental health and energy levels, keeping your mind sharp and more alert...
By Abigail Nimbalker
All of us during this Movement Control Order (MCO) have been forced to live with ourselves. We are also left alone with well stocked fridges and cupboards with delicious food and yummy snacks. Without the motivation of your gym-junkie or health conscious friends, and with no access to the gym, we tend to let ourselves go in this sort of situation. In today’s article, as seen in the above title, I will be focusing on loving our body.
Benefits of Working Out
As much as exercise is portrayed as a means to lose weight and get that ideal body shape, exercise is actually more of increasing your strength and stamina. Exercise helps improve both your physical and mental health and energy levels, keeping your mind sharp and more alert.
Do you realise that you feel a little lighter, emotionally, after a good workout?
That is because exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, while stimulating the production of endorphins, a chemical in your brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators.
Next, depending on the nature of the workout, it does provide an opportunity to either escape the humdrum of life, enjoy some solitude or to even make new friends and build networks.
By allowing your body to be busy, your mind will be distracted from the anxieties and worries of daily life, in turn freeing your mind.
Further and more importantly, working out helps improve your self-confidence.
There is a certain sense of achievement you feel when you see gradual changes to your body either in terms of an increase in strength and stamina, or a decrease in the heavier areas of your body.
It helps develop a sense of mastery and control that then acts as a drive to keep progressing.
This discipline of regular exercise will overflow into the other areas of your life and soon you will notice a renewed sense of vigor and energy within you that you have never known before.
The Rather Popular Sentiment: “I Hate It”
Why do most of us have a negative reaction to exercise? The quote below aptly explains the reason why:
“From couch potatoes to Olympic athletes, everyone has a physical capacity for exertion, beyond which the body becomes stressed and begins to feel bad. How much stems from genetic factors – things like lung capacity, oxygen transport and the rate at which oxygen is used in the muscle cells – is still a subject of scholarly debate…But many sedentary people push beyond their intrinsic range when they try to exercise too quickly or intensely, which can make them hate the activity and want to stop.”
The lesson here is we have got to take it one step at a time and try to find a workout that works for us, tailored to our body’s needs.
Ways to Love It
I have learned from an article that shocking your body into submission is only going to do more damage than good.
Take it one day at a time, one workout at a time.
There are various online workout videos for you to choose from. Once settled on the type of workout, take the following steps to start your journey on loving your body by exercising.
Firstly, commit to a routine.
"Intentionally put aside time to exercise. 15 to 20 minutes a day would suffice. If you are just starting out, try exercising at least two or three days a week."
If you need to, block off your workout time on your calendar and try as much as possible not to postpone or double book yourself during that period of time. Some say decisive action like prior preparation helps lock a plan in your mind.
Thus, go ahead and get your gym clothes ready just before you hit the sack if that helps. After your exercise, reward yourself! Confession: when I was first getting started, I would reward myself by getting bubble tea because I love it a bit too much.
Secondly, don’t overdo it!
Take it slow.
Remember that you have nothing to catch up to. You are doing this purely for the sake of taking care of your health. If your body feels sore, that is normal.
If you start feeling extreme pain or stiffness, you are probably overdoing it. Take a breather, stop and start on your cooldown exercise to ease off the intense routine.
After a while, the same routine may start boring you.
If that is the case, change it up!
It is fine if you want to explore something a little bit more fun. As long as you keep that body moving for those 15 to 20 minutes, you are doing well!
If you still find yourself a little low on motivation, perhaps try finding fitness buddies. I would always recommend getting at least one that is known to adopt proper exercise routines and knows what they are doing so they can point you in the right direction.
When exercising, it is not just about getting the amount of sets in, it is also about doing it in the right position and with the right posture. That is how you maximise your workout!
Conclusion
You only have this life with this one body. You are going to have to live with it for the next 40 to 50 years (depending on your current age of course). Therefore, to reduce the usual forecasted illnesses and other physical deficiencies that comes with age, perhaps it is time we all took steps to take care and love our body a little bit more. Let us not abuse this vessel that has carried us and will be carrying us through life till our very last breath. Instead, let us treat it with respect and tender loving care. Take care, stay safe and here’s to loving our body!
by Abigail Nimbalker
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