Motivation and Exercise – Better Something than Nothing

As the weather warms up in the northern hemisphere, people start looking forwards to spring and summer. But if they’re anything like me, they may be dreading about how to get a nice summer body. After all, we all chunk up for Christmas, and it’s all cold and horrible in January and February. The motivation to get up and start exercising is generally very low. Sometimes, it gets so low that one decides they can’t be bothered to get out of chair, or out of bed even. However, no matter your age, it’s always good to exercise, even if it’s just for a little bit.

Exercise doesn’t have to be hard

Of course, when one says the word “exercise”, what normally comes to mind are things like sports and going to the gym. All these things seem like tasks that only motivated people tend to lean towards. However, no one says that you HAVE to go to the gym or play a sport. Sometimes we lack the motivation to go all-out. Even if you do go to the gym, sometimes you don’t want to do a full hour-long workout or whatever.

But there is so much more that you can do to exercise. Things like running, yoga or hiking are all perfectly valid forms of exercise. But so are tasks like cleaning the house and going shopping. Or just going on a walk in general. Walking in particular can be done by most people, and it is a rather calming exercise. Sure, going for a walk won’t burn a much fat as a full cardio workout at the gym. But walking is a collection of small steps to a healthier life. Physically and metaphorically.

There’s an added bonus to exercise, that, once the tiredness has worn off, quite often, we feel better after exercising. Happy hormones make us feel better and exercise is one of the ways to force our body to make happy hormones.

Doing some exercise is better than doing no exercise

At the end of the day though, it’s almost always better to do a little bit of exercise, rather than doing none at all. Motivation can only get you so far, and in these challenging times, it’s easy to wonder why you are bothering. After all, that pack of biscuits in the cupboard tempts you to not bother. Food is tasty and warm, and exercise requires effort.

At some point though, you can find a happy medium between exercise and not doing exercise. That happy medium is what you want to aim for. The task of doing SOME exercise. Even if your exercise is going on a walk, pretty much any form of movement can become a mini workout of sorts. Once you start doing a little bit of exercise, you slowly but surely start doing more and more. And, eventually, you keep that motivation and exercise going. It can take a long time to reach this stage, but the sooner you start, even if it’s just going for a walk, you’ll quickly feel the benefits of exercise.

Now it’s time to take my own advice. Time to get on my exercise bike and do some pedaling!