People often approach exercise with questions like ‘what is the best exercise to lose fat?’ or ‘will this exercise help me lose weight?’. Yes, exercise can help us burn (some) calories, but the questions may be coming from the wrong place – they are coming from a place where the assumption is that certain exercises are better than others for losing weight. This is not true; all and any exercise burns fat if the body is in an energy deficit. Secondly, this is reducing exercise to something that is merely a tool for cosmetic appearance when it is so much more than that. Exercise is a way to improve physical and mental health, sleep, quality of life and reduce our risk of developing chronic diseases. It is a way to enjoy our body, to have fun and reduce stress and to challenge ourselves and to adapt and overcome. Any exercise type for any duration can be beneficial for our health.
Changing the way we perceive exercise may help to improve our relationship with it. Here are some ways in which we can do that:
Start from a place of gratitude – Many people can get stuck thinking that we must exercise to solve a problem such as dissatisfaction with our bodies, our weight or appearance for example, and we see exercise as the solution. Instead, starting exercise from a place appreciation for ourselves and our bodies might be a better place. Instead of telling yourself ‘I should exercise more’, tell yourself ‘I get to exercise more’. Show appreciation for what you have, a remarkable adaptable machine that is a human body, no matter what shape you feel it is in. Movement and exercise are a celebration of your body for what it can do and achieve.
Avoid restrictive dieting – To coincide with the previous point, exercise is not something to punish yourself with. Many people feel the need to punish themselves with exercise when they feel they may have overindulged. In some cases, in an attempt to change shape, they decide to cut calories drastically and suddenly start exercising more aggressively. This can be counter intuitive. Severe restriction of calories can result in poorer exercise performance. Couple that with a sudden surge of intense exercise and risk for injury, fatigue and burnout increases which can completely derail any sort of consistency. Instead of drastically dropping calories, eat enough to properly fuel your physical activity which will allow you to have more productive, enjoyable workouts.
Choose the exercise that you enjoy the most – The consistency of your workouts compounding will bring the most health benefits. An amazing or perfect workout done once a month will not be better than a mediocre workout done multiple times a week. Ultimately, consistency is found doing an activity that you enjoy, that you can repeat, time and time again, because you enjoy the process, you find it fun, or you enjoy the challenge. If you perceive exercise to be torture, your willpower may only take you so far.
Seek intrinsic – Evidence suggests that being intrinsically motivated to exercise is linked to longer term adherence when compared to extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is driven by our internal desire to exercise, specifically for the inherent satisfaction we attain when doing it. When you are intrinsically motivated, you may enter flow states when exercising and enjoy the personal accomplishment. You enjoy exercise because it makes you feel good both in the moment and afterwards. Conversely, if your exercise is purely for extrinsic reasons, such as social approval or fixation on a specific outcome such as ‘6 pack abs’ or losing 10lbs, you may be at risk for unhealthy comparison and increased body dissatisfaction which can negatively affect your relationship with exercise.
Yoga with Trish 