There are many great reasons to workout, some of which you can read here. My hope for all my clients (and you, dear reader) is that you can workout with pure motives, for health, vitality and quality of life.
But it could be that you are working out for the wrong reasons. If any of these reasons are your main motivation behind exercising, you can quickly run into problems. With that said, here are a few reasons for working out that I would consider flawed:
To punish yourself for overeating. The best thing to do after you overeat is to move on with your regular eating and exercise routine. It might be helpful to reflect on the experience in case there is something to work on (for example, do you binge as an unhealthy response to stress?) If not, remember that we all “overeat” sometimes and it’s totally normal. Going for a walk or doing your regular workout might feel good, but slaving away on the treadmill until you burn 1500 calories does not support a healthy relationship with food, exercise or your body. Be kind to yourself!
To “get skinny.” Please know that you don’t need to make yourself smaller to be valuable or beautiful. Imagine what it would feel like to live in harmony with your body instead of always fighting against it. It is possible!
To win the approval of others. By now hopefully you’ve figured out that you should live by your own values and not the fleeting approval of others. Besides that, this isn’t a very durable motivation for exercise. Try to find an intrinsic motivation for exercise, which is more likely to stand the test of time.
To escape your problems. While exercise can help you manage stress, it can’t be your only solution. Over exercise is harmful for your health just like being sedentary. Balance is key here! So there you have it- 4 terrible reasons to workout. As I mentioned, there many, many great reasons to workout. If you already have good reasons to workout but are looking for motivation to help you stick to an exercise routine, I would recommend reading this post. Thanks for reading! Have a great day.