New feature alert! As many of you know, if you follow the blog or me on twitter, fitness is a huge part of my life. I usually mention something fitness related in my monthly recaps and have also talked about my marathon journey last year. I decided to channel all that love into a monthly feature! I realize this isn’t book related but I hope this will still be a fun feature for everyone!
For the kick off post, I wanted to talk about WHY I’m so passionate about fitness. And as it is the start to a new year and I see a lot of resolutions revolving around wanting to “work out more” or any sort of exercise, I wanted to talk about how and why fitness is and should/could be fun and how that will be a motivator in keeping up with those sort of resolutions!
Reasons I’m passionate about fitness:
- I want to be healthy: There are so many health benefits to exercise – both physical and mental. I won’t expound on the nitty gritty details of the health benefits because it’s not that sort of post but just google exercise health benefits and you can see the plethora of good outcomes!
- I want to be strong. I am constantly inspired and impressed by women athletes and what they can do. It makes me inspired to work hard toward that strength. There’s the physical strength but also the mental toughness to get you through hard work outs when you want to give up or overcoming setbacks.
- I like challenges and goals and fitness gives you an outlet to control how you can set and achieve tangible goals. My road to my fitness life started because I set a goal of running a certain Seahawks race. From there, it spiraled off in the best way. I like the numbers whether it be a longer distance run or a PR or a climbing grade or whatever. You have these tangible things you can work toward!
- “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere”! My heart yearns right along with Belle’s every time I watch that movie! I have a wanderlust heart and fitness plays a role in exploring so many things! I love hiking, seeing new beautiful trails, mountains, oceans! Biking through new cities! I love exploration and travel and adventure and having a good fitness level definitely helps fuel some of these things I like to do — it sort of goes hand in hand a bit. And also ties into why it’s FUN!
So how can you find reasons why you will love fitness? There’s a reason why those resolutions were made so start off with that and then find activities to enjoy. I seriously love all the activities I partake in. Yes, I’ll always need a kick in the pants sometimes to get my butt in gear when I’m feeling lazy and there truly isn’t anything “fun” about running in the pouring rain and freezing but those things help build up the dedication and consistency to get to the fun parts! That’s what I like to think, at least! 🙂
Ideas for finding that fun factor!
- Look for nearby parks! Sometimes you don’t even realize some beautiful parks or trails are right by you! Check one out and walk around!
- Try a new activity you’ve never tried before! I rock climb three times a week now and the only reason I got into it is because I signed up for a beginner’s climbing class JUST FOR FUN one summer day. Think of something you’ve wanted to do but never have and see what classes are nearby! Gyms or rec centers usually will have a wide variety! REI also has some interesting ones too. Will it be kickboxing? Rock climbing? Salsa dancing? Ball room dancing? (still something I’ve wanted to do and never have) Kayaking? Snowshoeing? (JUST did this with REI and I LOVED it!) Bowling? Cycling? It could be anything! SIDENOTE: a lot of studio gyms/classes are offering free trial classes right now — take advantage of it!
- Find a buddy! Not only will that help with accountability but things are so much more fun when shared with someone! I’m lucky to have running friends and even more lucky to have found a virtual running club that has allowed me to meet people close by! See if there are any running groups in your area — or just drag a friend along in your fitness journey! Go for a long walk and then grab coffee! Or, related to #2, take a friend with you on a new activity adventure!
- Have a rockin’ playlist! I used to listen to audiobooks on my runs (still a great option!) but I can’t go back from my music now! I have a list of high tempo upbeat songs and it always, without fail, gives me an extra pep in my step. Put WHATEVER you love on there — I have a very eclectic list including: Kesha, One direction, Usher, Avril Lavigne, Broadway musicals (Wicked, Hamilton), N’sync, old school rock.
- Structure helps keep you focused! For me, goals and challenges are fun. There are lots of apps with suggested work outs which are great if you’re just doing quick exercises at home! I personally haven’t used it but I used to do a lot of Tone it Up youtube work outs at home and they now have a dedicated app!
Anyway, that’s why I love fitness related things so much and a few things that I think can add to the fun in fitness for other people! It doesn’t have to be something you dread all the time or a chore “ugh I have to go do my work out now”. Do you have any fitness related resolutions for the new year? I’d love to hear them!
Yes, yes, yes!! So happy we are fitness buddies and are able to push and inspire each other. Agree with everything in this post. And LOVE the new feature!