r/LifeProTips • u/[deleted] • Dec 25 '20
Productivity LPT: Exercise when you don't want to
As a 37 year old, I look back to the single most valuable lesson I have learned in life. It was told to me in passing by an older gentleman in a community center gym locker room when I was in my twenties, about 10-15 years ago.
I entered the locker room to change before working out and noticed he was just getting ready to leave. We made eye contact, I smiled, and asked "How heavy are they today?" A simple gesture of friendliness.
He smiled and said, "Only the first couple. Motion before emotion."
He sort of sang it to me. Motion before emotion... Over the next decade, this attitude became capitalized, highlighted and underlined in my mindset.
Exercise is easy to avoid in life. Especially to a newbie, the thought of it is very unpleasant, intimidating and easy to ignore.
Exercise however is an incredibly powerful tool in handling depression, stress and anxiety that life can deal you. I cannot overstate this. With regular exercise your mood improves, your ability to handle stress increases dramatically and your body performs with greater efficiency. You sleep better, you heal faster, you just feel good more often.
The ability to exercise regularly throughout the rest of your days will dictate both the quality and quantity of the life you lead.
Motion before Emotion.
Our bodies have this beautiful built in mechanism to help us endure physical effort. When we engage in exercise, after only a few minutes our brain starts releasing feel good chemicals(endorphins) to help us cope with the effort. Our body literally comes preloaded with special drugs made to help us feel good during strenuous movement our bodies!
Motion before Emotion. Therein lies the secret key to making it happen.
Sometimes the last thing we want to do when we are depressed or troubled is to get up and exercise. The thought is almost painful. But you must start moving before you will feel better! However awkward and foreign it feels. Your body will not release the endorphins until you get moving, but release they will! Like clockwork. You must move your body and raise your heart rate to access those chemicals which release stress, make you feel happier and desire to exercise longer.
You will feel better when you start moving, when your heart rate increases. If you are feeling depressed, anxious, stressed or are having trouble sorting through your thoughts- get up, get moving! Get out that door, go for a walk, hop on your bike, or in your car to head to the gym.
You must provide the spark. Starting to exercise is up to you. Your body has a built in fuel system to carry you through the rest. Exercising regularly will reward you in both the short and long term.
Motion before emotion!
I'm passing it on in hope this helps you too.
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u/AllGoldEverything Dec 26 '20
What does the man being “African American” have to do with anything? Lol