Work for it's own sake is stupid. Do something constructive.
Wait, are you saying working out for the sake of working out is a waste of time?
This is one time I do agree with the OP; however, you don't even necessarily need a gym membership. There are plenty of ways to get active at home, though some upfront costs might be helpful in the effort to diversify the activities so that you use more muscles.
Working out for the sake of dieting is not really all that awesome, but it can help with dieting in two ways: it at least helps burn off
something, which is better than not even trying; and it was provide an emotional boost, helping you feel better and more accomplished, which can do wonders for personal long-term goals. The better you feel, the more likely you will keep your own promises, which is better no matter what your goals.
Working out helps your body utilize the chemicals you put into it, in a far more efficient manner. Sugars can be used for the reasons our body wants them, fatty acids and proteins can be utilized for more cellular construction, and in general, it helps push neurotransmitter ratios into a different direction and even while feeling like the workout you just completed was brutal and took away all your energy, you can't help but also feel better about yourself.
Our body is "designed" in a such a way that our current lives are really preventing us from being where we should be naturally.
Animals don't really need to "exercise" for the purpose of exercise, but they still get that activity. Most of us rarely walk all that far in our daily lives, and rarely run unless we actively decide to run for exercise (or forced to do so). The chemicals are body seeks from nutrition, while normally very beneficial in different ways, are actually causing serious medical and mental health problems, since they are just sitting in our body and the body has decided to store them as a natural instinct.
We should eat like caveman, and eat carbs for energy in-between such meals We are able to handle a few days of heavy carbs until we can get more meat, that's why we are omnivores - we are such to survive when we can't get the meals we need, we aren't omnivores so we can eat whatever we just feel like eating at that point in time.
Plus, plant-type foods can be great for energy boosts for short-term needs - like physical activity.
ehh... I'm rambling and leaving my original point.
How most of us live our daily lives, have prevented us from realizing our potentials - both physically and mentally. We could all have far more mental clarity, focus, energy, live happy with stable moods, and have far better health. Blood pressure, neural growth and repair, cholesterol and insulin activity, etc etc etc. With a diet more geared towards regular physical activity, you'll tend to feel great and ready for everything life throws your way.
However, that does ignore the whole physiological stress response we must endure day after day doing the stupid shit we have convinced ourselves we need to do...and, well, we do need to do it in order to have all the nice things we have, but since most of us have removed the physical activity from our daily lives and concerns, we have to sacrifice time in order to do what our body really
needs to do. Sedentary life, as documented with almost all animals living shorter lives in captivity, is harming us. Since most of us can't remove the mental stress we have to endure half of our waking hours, activity can help knock back what stress does to our bodies.
I have a strong feeling that our average lifespans would be even longer if we didn't have the blue and white collar stresses, had access to all the modern medicine we have today, and still had to live like cavemen.
Of course, it would be hard to have that modern medicine without the modern life... so, a moot point?
Facebook
Twitter