1. You should work out because it makes you happy. I don’t mean this in an esoteric way. I mean it very literally. You’ll feel awesome after you exercise. Immediately. Intensely. Unequivocally. Study after study confirms the direct relationship between exercise and increased feel-good hormones, including a study that suggests high-intensity exercise modulates the brain in a very similar way to cocaine use . (That’s gotta feel good.) Another recent study confirmed that serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine levels in the hippocampus were significantly increased by exercise, suggesting physical activity can help manage depression .

“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day,”

 

  1. You should work out to make your life easier. Being stronger, leaner, happier, and more capable can make for a more manageable life:

Training increases your capabilities. That’s the law of progressive overload—lift something a lil bit heavier each day, get a lil bit stronger. Run a lil faster each day, get a lil bit faster. A body that is increasingly capable makes for a life that is increasingly manageable.

 

  1. You should work out because it helps you win at life. Setting and achieving goals inside the weight room helps you set and achieve goals outside the weight room. The goal-setting/goal-accomplishing cycle is a learned trait. From a very early age, winners start to reinforce this idea that if they set their mind to something and tirelessly work towards its accomplishment, the outcome will be positive.

“Happy are those who dream dreams and pay the price to make those dreams come true.”

Initially, these victories are small. But eventually, the accomplishment (or foundering) of our goals comes to define our life. This same cycle repeats itself on a daily basis with our exercise. For example, if you’d like to be able to be able to do a pull-up you might:

Do seated rows. Recover. Do inverted rows. Recover. Do lat-pull downs. Recover. Do assisted pull-ups. Recover. DO A PULL-UP.

Set-work-achieve-rinse-repeat. The more you reinforce hard work with a positive outcome, the more you think of yourself as a winner. If we get good at winning at exercise, we can be good at winning at anything.

 

  1. You should work out for your family and friends. I don’t want to get too sappy but the people closest to you rely on your love, energy, and compassion. Mismanaging your body is a disservice to them.

This holds true for young mothers, aging grandparents, or loving husbands. Taking care of your relationship with self is the first step towards taking care of your relationship with others. Making time for exercise is absolutely, positively, in NO WAY an act of selfishness. Quite the opposite: It’s an act of generosity. The people around you deserve your best. The best version of you is a version that is constantly challenged and improved with a kick-ass exercise routine.

 

  1. You should work out because you can. Initially, it’s easy to view exercise as a chore. Consider this instead: Exercise is a blessing. Not only do you have the knowledge and the means to exercise (how fortunate), but you’ve been given a body that is strong as a friggin’ tank, fast a cheetah, and more agile than a jackrabbit. OK, perhaps that is slightly overstated, but a healthy body is truly a work of art.

Take inventory. If you are fortunate enough, you have…

  • Two strong legs that can carry you anywhere you damn well please.
  • Two strong arms that can lift lots of really heavy stuff.
  • A strong core and a strong heart and strong hands.
  • It all works. Every day. It works really well. In fact, if you stop and think about it, it’s baffling just how impressively well it works.
  • Your workout is a celebration of that.
  1. OK, you can work out to be sexy too. ‘Cause the ladies likes a guy with a little sweat on his brow. And guys like a lady with a little ………..

These are only a few of the millions of good reasons to get started in to an exercise routine. Simply put, exercise makes for a more awesome life.

Do me a favour and send this to someone who doesn’t work out. They’ll thank you later.

I’m curious to hear why you workout so let me know??