Having brains about brawn Balance must be found over how much a person works out
W
ith the new year on the horizon, resolutions are about to be made. One of the most common goals will be to improve personal fitness and lose weight. According to Cooper Aerobics, 38% of all resolutions will be related to improving physical health. Of those, only 25% last more than one week. What is it about fitness that lends itself to failure? In a peerreviewed article from Very Well Fit, people set themselves up for failure. Some will mistakenly start out with workouts that are way too hard, causing them to lose interest when they do not succeed. Others fall victim to a workout they simply do not like, so they do not make time for it in their schedule. In the end, they give up. Then there are those who find success and meet their goals, but the success can become a slippery
slope. Healthline reported on exercise addiction and the drastic effects that can have on someone’s life. Dr. Charlie Seltzer fell into this trap. He described a life filled with anxiety and concern over missing a set or eating an unhealthy meal. Those are signs of an unhealthy reliance on going in for a workout. Some will try to “make up” for meals at the gym. Others begin to follow a “mandatory” schedule that they will not allow to be broken. Once someone gets hooked to the gym, they could begin to have a worse body image if they do not meet certain checkpoints. These issues are just the start; some gym addicts may end up with eating disorders or end up using enhancing supplements according to NPR. As with many things in life, there must be balance. We cannot quit on our personal fitness. There will be hard sets; there
will be days where the workout routine gets pushed out of the schedule because life gets in the way. Just because that happens once does not mean you have to quit on having a healthy lifestyle. In order to be healthy, you do not need to sell your soul fighting just to lose a couple pounds. On the other hand, having a passion for maintaining a healthy lifestyle is great, but overdoing it is not necessary. Letting one thing, such as time at the gym, dominate your time is never good. Missing a day or having to stop early in a tough workout is not the end of the world. Instead, take care of yourself, and try again later. In the end, the most important thing is that we accept ourselves. We are all works in progress and as long as we all make the effort to grow and put our best foot forward, we are doing alright.
FHS is home to two expansive weight rooms. While doing exercise activities is crucial to a healthy lifestyle, overworking yourself with two many workouts also has its own risks. Photo by Emerson Elledge.
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Tiger Times
December 2021
