Healthy Living: Reasons to Get Fit in Groups
Today's post is from contributor - Natasha Gelder.
Natasha is a full time Literature student based in Leeds who is juggling the
quests for higher education, money and rock hard abs. She believes exercising
is a vital part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle and should not be seen as a
chore.
As the majority of us already know, it is much easier to
break a promise that you have made to yourself than it is to break a promise
that you have made to somebody else.
For many the thought
of letting someone down is often worse than keeping a promise that you regret
making. This is a good approach to have when it comes to exercising, as the
thought of disappointing a friend can often be worse than the thought of that
7am run that you scheduled together. If you have made a promise to a friend
then you will be more inclined to drag yourself out of bed and put on your
running shoes than you would be if you were simply going for a run alone.
When you are exercising alone it is easy to cut your
workouts short by a couple of reps as soon as your arms or legs start burning.
Nobody except you will know if you only run 3 miles instead of the 5 you
originally told yourself you would complete when you set off. Working out in
groups means that you simply cannot do this and you have to complete your
workout; this is a good reason to engage in group activities or exercise
classes. Nobody wants to go to an exercise class and leave halfway through,
it’s embarrassing and quite frankly, it is rude. You feel obliged to stay until
the end, whereas you could quite easily set out to do 40 minutes on a rowing
machine and 20 minutes later decide that you have done enough exercise for one
day.
A benefit of exercising with others is that you can encourage
and motivate each other, having a good support system is crucial when it comes
to succeeding in all aspects of life, particularly something as life changing
as weight loss. You will be able to celebrate each other’s successes and really
begin to feel good about yourself, which will in turn send your confidence
levels and self esteem soaring.
This is the same when it comes to diet; if you are dieting
with a group then you will be less likely to eat that extra portion because
your competitive streak will come out and you will not want to be the one who
has lost the least amount of weight. This accounts for the success of communal
dieting groups such as slimming world; if you had to undertake a weekly weigh
in, in front of a group of people then you will want to do well so you do not
have to suffer the embarrassment of having gained a couple of pounds.
You are more likely to push yourself and break boundaries if
you turn exercise into a contest. Although a bit of friendly competition so you
can be quietly smug about your success is okay, the only person that you are
really competing with is yourself; you are creating a better version of you.
Natasha
Gelder, full time Literature student based in Leeds who is juggling the quests
for higher education, money and rock hard abs
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