Andrew Turner
Dr. Dreyer
ENGL 1213
29 January 2014 Fitness is it in You? Why do so many people dedicate their time to go through sweating, soreness, and struggle? Some people may simply enjoy sweating profusely while they fight the burning in their muscles as they try and finish their workout. Athletes may dedicate themselves to fitness to increase their potential in athletics. Some people may not enjoy it, they may not participate in sports, but they do what they can to be fit for their health. Working out and staying fit is proven to help social life, physical health, mental health, and it is easy to make time for.
Instead of saying “I have nothing to do.” And plopping down on the couch with a bag of chips to watch television make exercise an activity for free time. If it is nice outside and there’s nothing to do put on the running shoes and go for a jog is a great and cheap and effective way to stay fit. Gym memberships may cost money but spending money may just be the motivation someone needs. Things become important once someone’s personal hard earned money is spent on it. So once they get a gym membership their thoughts may be I need to get my money’s worth out of this, and in turn find a healthy way to spend their free time. It may even be a life changer, there tend to be many friendly people at the gym, so one may make some valuable friends while at the gym or even find their significant other. Let’s say we don’t want to spend any money on free time activities, that’s no problem for staying fit. There are many basic exercises one can do at home such as pushups, sit ups, squats, and jogging. Some people may find the basic exercises to be boring and find no satisfaction in them, the internet holds many appealing work outs.
Can you remember a time where you were out in public and had someone walk by and turned to catch another look because they looked like they would have a nice personality? I personally have not, physical appearance is an aspect that is a deciding factor for many people in relationships, or even friendships. As Patti Stanger says “Not only are looks an important thing when you’re making a first impression, they’re literally the only thing. Your appearance says hello before your mouth actually says it.”(Stanger 2) it does not matter if the personality of someone is everything someone wants, if their looks aren’t appealing enough they will never have the chance to show their personality. Even outside of opposite sexes, physical appearance can be important. For example when my soccer team and I received some new players one of them happened to be very large, and I don’t mean in the muscly way, my first thought of him was “how is he going to make it up and down the field”. In the end he happened to be a fairly good player and scored a couple of goals in his playing time.
An unexpected positive effect of fitness and exercising is it helps mentally. We all see the physical effects exercise has on a person, the bigger muscles, the loss of weight, but one thing you may not notice is the smile it is putting on ones face. In Huffington Post’s article “Less Stress, More Living” they state that scientists have shown exercise an effective way to manage and overcome mental illnesses such as depression, stress, anxiety, and defects of your brain(Avnet 1). When someone exercises endorphins are released in the brain which create feelings of happiness, so why go through anti-depressant pills if exercise literally gives you happy chemicals? Exercise is a way to