Every day we are bombarded with messages that exercise is about looking good. In magazines, commercials, etc. Get flatter abs, sexier legs, rockstar arms, a killer butt. Just by doing [enter specific exercise here]. It’s not about fitness, it’s about having the perfect body. Whatever that means.
A healthy body lets me see places like this (Upper Yosemite Falls Trail)
The perfect body is an illusion. No matter what you do, someone’s going to think you’re too fat, too skinny, too short, too tall, too muscular, etc. etc. That’s the world we live in. The perfect body doesn’t exist. So why spend energy chasing after it?
I don’t train to look good, or to gain some elusive perfect body. I train for fitness.
- I train to be prepared for whatever comes my way, at any time.
- I train to keep my body healthy.
- I train because it makes me feel good.
- I train for good mental health.
- I train because I love feeling strong.
- I train to be ready for adventure!
I only have one body, and it makes sense to me to keep it in the best working order I can, so that it stays functional for a long time to come. I want to be ready for anything, and not have my fitness level be a limitation.It’s been eight months since I began training with kettlebells. In that short time, I’m in the best cardiovascular shape I’ve ever been in, and my body feels healthy and strong. The way that I feel is the best motivation I can think of for keeping it up.
Well said!
I started training for hotness, but now love that I can put on my trainers and run 3 miles for the hell of it, and now I'm training for fitness
Steph – that’s awesome. Glad to hear you’re loving it. I didn’t know why I was doing it at first, I think I started because I thought it would help my climbing. But once I started feeling strong and fit, I was hooked, and then it became all about the fitness.
Very good post. And I agree with you 100%. The focus on 'beauty', with its ever-changing ideals, is detrimental to health, both physical and mental.
As I stated on my own blog:
"We should all stop weighing ourselves and spend more time celebrating the miracle of our bodies and the marvelous things we can do with them. Let's MOVE and enjoy. Walk. Swim. Climb. Dance. Bike. Run. Not because it something we have to do, but because it is fun and makes us feel great!"
(http://hirvimaki.blogspot.com/2008/04/me-i-see.html)
Thanks for the fabulous post!
Paukku – Very well said, thank you!
I love this this post. I'm active because it makes me feel good, and yes making me look good is a nice benefit- healthy good