Exercising with purpose? What does that mean?

Over the past 12 months I have been on a road to recovery. After being diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that attacked my heart, I have overcome nasty medication and the side effects of a body that doesn’t function the same.

But the good news is that everything seems to be getting ‘back on track’ from a function perspective.

Exercise has been proven to help counter balance the side effects of a mal functioning immune system. http://www.womensfitnessclubs.com/blog/2012/09/27/6-important-tips-for-exercising-if-you-have-an-autoimmune-disorder/

As a personal trainer and fitness instructor, I know firsthand how important exercise is. And now as a autoimmune suffer I know the benefit of exercise and how it affects the immune system.

But when you are struggling with side effects of medication, daily exhaustion, brain fog, and the various other ailments that come with auto immune problems, exercising suddenly becomes really difficult to imagine let alone do.

Over the past year I knew that every little bit of exercise I did, would help. I got into a rhythm of waking up, walking down stairs, getting on my spinning bike and just start riding, hoping that it would make me feel better. My purpose was just to ‘feel better’.

As the months past, I started to notice that my regular exercising became mundane and boring. I got into a pattern of doing the same thing. Then I realized I has lost my purpose. I no longer had reason to exercise, it just became a habit.  

This is where I had my ‘AHA’ moment. Everything we do in like should have a purpose, well actually it does. We wake up every day, from sleeping, where the purpose is to rest our bodies. We eat during the day to nourish our bodies so they can function. We kiss and hug our families looking for love and affection. So why should exercise be any different.

If you start exercising with purpose then the time you are investing no longer seems wasted. So I started to think about it every time I exercised; what was my purpose today? One day I wanted to sweat, a lot! Another day I wanted to make my workout last 1 hour. One morning I tried to stay in my plank for longer than 2 mins. This focus really started to wake my brain up and realize that living day to day with purpose really awakens your perspective.

There will be days that you don’t want to exercise and just getting on your shoes will be an effort. On those days we can allow our brains to rest and let the body do the work.

But take a few minutes and think about everything you do, and how it is done with purpose. The question is when you are exercising, what is the purpose?

Set an intention or purpose for your workouts and you will see a dramatic increase in your performance. Of course I want to hear about it. So let me know!