Exercise? No thank you.

Working out is hard.
 

Just thinking about exercising is a struggle most of the time. All the mental energy that goes into picturing me going for a run or lifting weights is enough to make my stomach curl into the most uncomfortable of knots.

I used to be a “workout person.” In elementary school – and especially in high school – I was always active. Whether it was lifting weights or training on my own for an upcoming sports season, you couldn’t pay me to sit down as long as I could get up and run. I wouldn’t even get a job in the summer. I’d sign up for three or four different leagues spanning multiple sports, and I’d have an exercise-related commitment nearly every single day. A couple of hours of exercise a day equates to a full time job, right?

Then college hit. Does anybody else remember those self-pledges not to gain the freshman fifteen? What about all those New Years’ Resolutions to “get back in the swing of things” for beach season? And freshman year that was with residual motivation carrying over from high school. The deeper and deeper I trudged into the bowels of collegiate life, the further and further away from the bright light of exercise I slogged. Sure, I’d go for a swim every now and again. Hell, I might even do some pushups in my dorm room before rounding out my workout with a hearty bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos. But who was I kidding? I knew I’d peaked. My exercise trajectory slipped from working out every day, to working out a couple days a week, to – before I knew it – telling myself that taking the stairs and walking places burned plenty of calories. Now I get a little winded going up a flight of stairs. My high school self would be so proud.

Working out is hard. It’s a drag. It’s a mental and physical drain. But there are some good things about it, I must grudgingly admit. Like how, after you do it a couple times, you feel this freshness about you for the rest of the day, like you’ve done something worth doing, something to better yourself that makes you feel good. Or how it can relieve stress and help you live longer. Those two aren’t bad. I’d like a little less stress and a little more life in my life, I suppose. The best is that it curbs – and yes, possibly even prevents – depression. No one wants to be sad all the time. So the next time you think about how hard working out is, think about just how much better you could be feeling. I started working out again the summer going into my last semester of college, and I haven’t looked back. Who knows what it could do for you? Sure, this won’t make your physical workout any easier, but it might remove a few of those mental chains that are holding you back. And that’s a start.