What Does Walking Into the Gym Mean to You?

Your alarm goes off, you turn over in bed and the brightness of your phone screen stares you hard in the face. Must mean it’s time to wake up and make the most of your day. To some, that 5am annoying buzzing means it’s time to get that morning lift, run, spin or yoga class in before the sun comes up.

Okay, maybe you’re an after-work-gymer. That’s acceptable on our terms too. Don’t worry. But now for the real question, regardless of the time of day, why do YOU choose to workout every day? What motivates you?

Truthfully, the answer is likely different for each person. Some want to work up a sweat to burn off the box of Cheez-It crackers they downed earlier, others are trying to tone up for a beach trip, or bulk up for bulking season, and yet others could be there as a way to decompress from a day of stress or better yet, working out could be one’s addiction taking the place of an unhealthy alternative. Whatever your reason for getting up and going, don’t stop, because exercising every day has so many health benefits from increasing mental clarity to the potential of decreasing numerous health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Exercising also makes you a happier person inside and out, thanks to endorphins and this protein that’s released when the endorphins are excited called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Turns out that when you exercise, and your heart rate increases, your body thinks you’re fleeing a stressful situation or fighting the enemy. To protect yourself and your brain from the stress, BDNF is released and acts as a reparative element to memory neurons and kind of resets what’s happening in your head and this in turn makes you feel happy.

So now that you’ve got the science behind why you truthfully are happier when you workout, it’s time to really think about you for a moment and realize what it is that drives you to do what you do every day and are you happy with your decisions? Have you been pushing yourself during your workouts or just been rolling with it every day because you feel that you have to do it?

Making that move to go to the gym shouldn’t be a burden on you. It should be your fun time. It should be your energy in the morning, afternoon or evening of the day. It should be your mental motivation to be the best you each and every day.

Next time you throw on your shorts and lace up your sneakers, make it count. Think about why you’re working out. Why you’re paying for a specific class, your trainer or even just your gym membership. Focus on you and only you at the gym or in your exercise class, and don’t let others around you deter or distract your moment to shine and prove your strength to yourself.

Because at the end of the day, if you’re not making yourself happy, energized and powerful inside and out, who will?