Finding the motivation for exercise...(part 1)

It’s been raining and cold outside for the last few days and this has put the Vitx|cycle office in a reflective mood. We’ve been talking about motivation for doing exercise, when the conditions are less than ideal.

OK one of the team has just done an hour on the turbo trainer and says he feels good for it and to be honest he’s looking pretty happy with himself!

We know that after exercise we feel better than before, so why is it sometimes so hard to get motivated? Just looking at some of the benefits on the NHS website should be all the motivation we need, right?

We know that the NHS website isn’t the first place you’d go to get motivation on a daily basis but just knowing the figures below and having them in the back of your mind is a good starting point.

The NHS state that people who do regular physical activity have:

• a 30% lower risk of early death

• up to a 50% lower risk of bowel cancer

• up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes

• up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke

• up to an 83% lower risk osteoarthritis

from a mental health perspective,

• up to a 30% lower risk of depression

• up to a 30% lower risk of dementia

WOW!!!!! So not only is exercise free (well once you’ve got the kit!), easy to do (us humans are designed to move!) and has immediate effects, it has the longer-term health benefits listed above and according to the NHS is the miracle cure we’ve always had.

If this is all you need to pull your trainers on or get on the bike to hit the road then great, if you need more then look out for part 2 of our exercise motivation blog where we talk about how technology is helping us to do more exercise…..