Your Reason for Training

What was your initial motivation to take up exercise?

Boost Self Confidence 23% Injury Rehabilitation 2% Sports Specific 9% Health Improvement 6% Body Image 53% General Well Being 7% Total votes cast: 828

Every month at BodyActive we run a poll on the homepage on a variety of subjects. This helps us get to know what our customers are interested in and helps all of you find out something interesting about your fellow trainees.

When it comes to motivation for starting exercise we got some interesting results. There are plenty of reasons people decide to get into an exercise programme, whether that’s just a gentle swim once a week right up to dedicated athletics, but analysing why we all get started doesn’t always give the same answers you’d find from Doctors, advertisers and other interested professionals.

At only 1% we have those who started for injury rehabilitation, which makes sense really. Most of us get our injuries once we start a sport or physical hobby rather than starting to fix the injury. Did you know that more than 38% of even amateur sports competitors receive an injury within their first year? Sometimes this can be unavoidable but remember a well conditioned body, with regular progressive stretching and a quality diet can minimize a number of common injuries. The best method of injury rehabilitation is getting injury proofed first! Of course should we suffer an injury the best advice is to continue some form of training. This may be lighter than full performance but the old days of simply resting are long gone.

At joint second to last place with 8% a piece are Health Improvement and General Well Being. That’s somewhat of a surprising finding. We are often told that we need to exercise to keep ourselves healthy into old age, to avoid disease and chronic medical conditions and to improve our mood and outlook. Perhaps these aren’t the most exciting calls to push ourselves. It’s hard to see avoiding heart disease or Type II diabetes as a great reward since so many people simply assume they might be struck down with one of these terrible conditions without notice anyway. But the statistics show that in terms of health improvement regular exercise can reduce the long term risk of numerous cancers, heart disease, type II diabetes, osteoporosis (brittle bones) and chronic pain and inflammatory conditions. Exercise, when not done to the level of over training has also shown to improve the immune system function meaning less general sickness and quicker recovery from colds and flu.

Exercise is also known to promote the release of endorphins which are released from the ‘pleasure’ centres of the brain. These can improve mood and focus and fight the symptoms of depression and various other psychological disorders. Exercise also regulates the hormones that control mood and is proven to reduce everyday stress, anger and anxiety. It’s interesting to note that these markers register in more people than those treated with various mood enhancing medications. Why worry about drugs and chemical solutions when simple exercise can help with all manner of health improvement, both physical and mental.

At 10% we have the sports specific respondents. Recreational sport players will far outnumber those of us involved in elite level or professional sports but regardless of what level you compete at supplemental exercise is one of the quickest ways to improve. Although skill specific training is obviously required for any sport, overall fitness, muscle strength or endurance, recovery rates and protected joints will raise the level of anybody’s game. Skill level is responsible for a different level of advantage depending on what sport you play but clearly beyond those markers the fittest, fastest, strongest and most durable athlete will generally come out on top in any competitive sport. You can practice your goal shot, your pass, your swing, your shot or your start near endlessly and with some natural talent you will have an advantage but if you are out of breath before the game is half way through, or simply don’t have the physical strength to push through a tough defence you are likely going to lose. Weight training and specific CV training can allow you to run further, faster, for longer, jump higher and overcome the opposition.

At 19%, and second place, we have those who replied ‘Boost Self Confidence.’ Interestingly this reveals quite a psychological gravity towards exercise. We can measure a lot of things in a lab or controlled test environment. We can see whether maximum lifts improve, whether muscles change volume, how hard we can throw a punch, how fast we can run a certain distance, how high we can jump. But interestingly these certain physical markers do not tell us exactly how we feel about ourselves and the achievements we make. Psychological testing is a lot more open to interpretation and opinion. Importantly feeling stronger, fitter, slimmer, more energetic and more focused can massively boost our self confidence. Just the internal knowledge that our bodies can perform at a higher level than others offers an automatic feeling of confidence in many situations.

There is also the factor of self challenges. In many aspects of our life things remain beyond our control. We are the bombarded with events and crises, even everyday challenges at work or in our personal lives that we have no sense of ownership over. This can lead to a variety of frustrations and even a sense of ‘victimisation’. However, with the choice of exercising we set ourselves an automatic challenge that we are in control of. Deciding to work out is not reliant on others to hand to us or take away; it is simply asking something more of ourselves and then dedicating ourselves to achieving the goals. And the goals do not have to be lofty, simply committing yourself to a regular exercise regime, even a light one, can prove to yourself that you are meeting the challenge and succeeding. Every workout can be a psychological success and regular success leads to a rapid rise in self confidence.

However in top place, with over half (54% at the poll close) of respondents choosing this option, the primary reason we seem to take up an exercise programme is ‘Body Image’. So what does this statistic tell us? That vanity wins? Well to some extent that may well be true. In today’s media-centric society we are constantly reminded of the body beautiful and examples of people who strive and maintain physiques that are often touted as impossible or expensive to obtain. The drive to look good, whether it is on a night out or on the beach during a holiday, for work or any other occasion we all feel the pressure to look better.

Ironically people are more likely than ever to be overweight, even clinically obese in Western countries than at any other time in history. Our poor quality food choices, easy access to sugar and fat laden snacks, our transport that discourages physical activity and the increasing demands on our time for activities that involve sitting at desks or on the sofa mean it can be easier than ever to end up with a body we don’t feel happy with.

There are many ways that people will choose to improve their image, from how we dress, through fad diets right up to plastic cosmetic surgery. However, although the results may not be instantaneous the one tried, tested and reliable way to achieve an improved body image is exercise. Our body is a survival machine, designed to eat, sleep, survive the elements and procreate and we are hardwired to admire those bodies which show health, strength, ability to survive and clear fertility. Almost all of these markers can be significantly improved or enhanced with regular exercise and the results can be long lasting, even age defying.

The question of course is despite our desire for an improved body image, can a great looking body be a healthy and effective body? While it is certainly possible to lose weight or remain slim while doing severe damage to our long term health, in general, those who work out sensibly to improve the look of their body will, inadvertently perhaps, improve the health and function of those bodies too.

For a man, losing our gut to display a hardened six pack and improving our upper body musculature may be with the intention of improving our sexual attractiveness but it has the wonderful benefit of reducing our chances of premature death from heart disease, numerous cancers and diabetic conditions. With less undesirable weight around our central organs and the resultant health improvements we will also experience improved sexual function and a likely increase in sporting performance.

Shedding the excess fat around a woman’s hips and toning the bum, legs and belly may certainly be an image improver that is desirable by magazine standards but it can be an instant way to ratchet up confidence, not to mention improving fertility, reducing cancer and diabetes rates and stabilising daily energy levels.

So we may start exercising to look good (and it certainly shows a lot more benefits than just about anything else) but in the end our motivation to start may end up helping us to live long enough to enjoy it.