Why physical fitness is the easiest thing you can do: Perspective on fitness and sport motivation

Many people dread the idea of working out. Even seasoned athletes or lifelong fitness enthusiasts go through phases of avoiding or fearing their time in the gym.

And I get. You’re tired from sitting for hours on end in a soul-crushing body-bending cubicle. Your day doesn’t have enough hours. Your “health and fitness” self-image was hijacked long ago by the demands of family life or the immeasurable time you spend working, but not working out. How can you be motivated, when you can endure the pain of working out, but you just can’t summon the will?

You ask “what’s the point” as soon as lactic acid begins to build up in your muscles… And not having your “why” is enough to make you quit anything. This article is not about finding your “why”; it’s about perspective on physical fitness.

We can all agree that physical fitness brings health benefits that improve longevity and quality of life. Not only that, but the most important benefit of healthy working out (not over-training) is the emotional and cognitive benefits it brings. The ancients used to say “Anima sana in corpore sano” or “νοῦς ὑγιής ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ”, meaning “healthy mind in a healthy body”. While we brush this off as a vapid old proverb, its meaning has greater implications: only in a healthy body can a healthy mind exist. And not only that, but would you trust your health with a doctor who doesn’t work out? I certainly would not!

But here’s the conundrum: you need fitness to be have a positive strong state of mind; but you need a strong positive state of mind to actually get your ass to work out with determination and commitment to your goals (short-term and long-term goals). How do you exit this viscous circle when you know you need to work out, but simply can’t get yourself to actually do it?

There is no easy answer, and definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution. But it helps to realize one thing: that fitness is the easiest thing you can do. Why? Because the return on your investment is dependant only upon the investment. There are no other variables involved. Yes, regardless of your genetic predispositions or your abilities/disabilities, the health benefits you get from physical fitness are directly analogous to the amount of effort, time and nurturing you put into it. There are no external factors involved, no economic crashes, no star alignments required.

Nothing else you try in life is as simple, I think. If you open up a business, you can work as hard as you can, but you’re still reliant upon regulations, economic circumstances, and geopolitics that are beyond your control. If you try to raise healthy children, it doesn’t matter how good of a parent you are; there are still variables affecting your children’s development that are out of your control, like school influences, friends, pop culture, and the occasional bully. If you study for university, your grades are still not 100% up to you, because a lot of your work is subject to some professor’s interpretation and mood in a particular day.

I hear the naysayers claiming that your fitness results are dependent upon your mood, or how tired you are, etc. Actually, these variables may only affect your effort. But, given a certain effort, you get the equivalent results.

I hope this mindset helps you with your fitness goals. Knowing how predictable, direct and easy your fitness results are can empower your drive. With the direct positive relationship between fitness effort and fitness results, with no other factors affecting your results, you’d be crazy not to do it!