Exercise for mental health & motivation
Embarking on a fitness journey isn't just about living longer, looking better, or keeping up with the kiddos. It's a profound odyssey, a transformative expedition that transcends the physical, delving into the realms of mental health and motivation.
My current workout regime is 3 days a week of resistance training & 1-2 days a week of cardio/conditioning. My main goals with this are to live a long time to watch my future children grow up, relish in a healthier existence, and sculpt the best version of myself in my 30 revolutions around the sun.
For context, I've always been fat to some extent & have never been a healthy weight. On my fitness path over the last 2 years, I have still struggled to lose weight, but have gained many other benefits as a direct result of working out.
The most precious jewel unearthed is the enhancement of my mental well-being. Each workout breathes life into tranquility—less anxiety and a heightened sense of calm and presence. The stark contrast during phases of inactivity is a poignant reminder of the transformative power an hour of exercise wields over my overall well-being.
As part of my training regime, I regularly take a 'de-load' week every 4 weeks on my resistance training programme. During these interludes, I find myself teetering on the edge, bouncing between distractions (work, video games, Netflix shows etc.) searching for some kind of comfort, peace & sense of well-being. But no matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to find it.
As a now regular gym-goer I often wonder how I managed to live in the past as someone who never worked out for the majority of their adult life & ate a poor diet. I know from experience if I try that now, that I will feel awful & I can't imagine having lived in such a way.
Another benefit I have experienced is the ability to persevere. I attribute this specifically to the style of resistance training I do, always training close to failure & semi-regularly to actual failure. I tend to think of this kind of like character building in the sense that when I come across a task I need to do in my everyday life, it seems a lot easier than things I've done recently, like cajoling all of my strength in a concerted effort, in order to deadlift 200 kg.
Using my newfound motivation, I've managed to build out this website & semi-regularly make updates to it or write new articles. Just last week I added the ability to subscribe to my musings & be updated whenever I write a new article (It's still not perfect, it won't tell you if you have subscribed successfully) & something I notice now is that doing these things doesn't tend to drain my energy in any way. If there were more hours in the day I'm confident I'd be able to accomplish more personal projects, whereas in the past, I can't say I felt the same way.
Along the same vein, I also find myself more willing to do everyday chores which, to me, is a positive feedback loop. If I do the dishes after dinner rather than leaving them for the next day & vegging out, I get a sense of satisfaction & well-being that I wouldn't have otherwise & feel even better as a result. Before I used to go to the gym regularly, I often would have left them & spent time consciously relaxing instead, only to have to deal with them later & rue my slightly younger self for having not done them earlier.
I'm finding this new well-being & motivation infectious, allowing me to re-focus my career & position myself for a step into engineering management rather than just plod along at my own pace, not putting in any dedicated effort to improve & learn.
To those stuck in life's quicksand, I extend a heartfelt recommendation: take that leap into exercise. Start small if you must, but forge a habit that will echo through the chapters of your life. For the curious minds, dive into Renaissance Periodization principles—the brainchild of the legendary Dr. Mike. It's been a tremendous help to me & I think that having such a regimented programme helps to make sure I don't cop out & phone it in on any given day, as I'm always trying to hit new personal bests.
In this singular gift of life, let's not merely exist—let's thrive. Exercise is the alchemy that transmutes the mundane into the extraordinary. Join the journey; the transformation awaits.
I'd like to acknowledge my companion while creating this article, ChatGPT. While the content of this story is true to my life as I remember it, ChatGPT helped me in crafting it into an engaging text that I hope you enjoy.