4 Ways to Fall in Love with Exercise: Part 1

Falling in love can be a beautiful experience. If you’ve ever fallen in love, you might be reminded of those first dates with your partner while you’re reading this. It was blissful and beautiful. It may even have been easy. That, unfortunately, is seldom the case when it comes to exercise though. Anyone who’s ever begun an exercise journey toward a goal can remember it being a brutal and painful experience, and yet, some of us emerge from that baptism of fire not just able to handle its difficulties but craving them daily.

If you think that this article will explain ways to fall in love with exercise easily, then I’m afraid that you’re reading the wrong article because such an article either doesn’t exist or is lying to you. That being said, let’s jump into the first of four ways to fall in love with exercise, despite its difficulty.

#1: Start With Why

In 2015, James Lawrence achieved the impossible by completing 50 Ironman races in 50 days, each in a different state in the USA. He had attempted this feat several times before and had failed, so what made the difference in his 2015 attempt? - His children. Just before Lawrence left home for his first of 50 races, he promised his children that would reach his goal this time. From that point, every time he wanted to give up while swimming, cycling, or running, he would remember his promise to his kids. To him, he believed that a father should never go back on his promises to his children, and that helped him to complete 193km of swimming, 9012.5km of cycling, and 2110km of running all within the space of 50 days and with an average of 4.5 hours of sleep per night. He was no longer just competing for the glory of achieving his goal, but for the trust and respect of his children.

It can be easier to find motivation to do something difficult if you can see how it connects with your values. Let’s take my hypothetical conversation with Bill for an example:

“Why do you want to exercise more?”, I asked.

“To lose weight”, Bill says.

“Why do you want to lose weight?”

“So that I can look good.”

“Why do you want to look good?”

“I think it will improve my relationship with my wife.”

“Why do you want to improve your marriage?”

“Because having a successful marriage is of paramount importance to me.”

“So, could you say that you’re not necessarily planning to exercise to lose weight, but that the real reason is so that you can possibly improve your marriage?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Now I’m going to work extra hard in the gym and I’ll keep thinking of my wife and how much I love her as I train.”

People don’t necessarily start businesses because they want to make money, but because they want to create something significant. People don’t buy Playstations necessarily because they want to be entertained, but because they want to be someone else, somewhere else for several hours a week. What’s the real reason as to why you would like to fall in love with exercise? Have a conversation with yourself similar to the one I had with Bill, and you’d have taken the first step toward falling in love with exercise.

Be sure to look out for part-two to this blog series on how to fall in love with exercise. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of this article. If you have any suggestions for future articles, drop us an email at moreletavillage@body20.co.za. We’d love to connect with you.

Keep Growing

Dave Roebuck