Hello, my ginger family and welcome back to the blogs! I am very excited for today’s topic, and this might just be the motivation you need to get you off your backsides and get you moving. In the past my blogs have been very food orientated or perhaps can be perceived as quite negative, BUT NOT TODAY!! Today we are going to talk about the benefits of exercise, because after all, exercise is a celebration of what your body can do!
There is no feeling in the world like the endorphins you get after exercise, the feeling of moving around, getting your blood pumping and finishing something difficult that ultimately benefits you is second to none, it is something I have done most of my life and to be honest I just don’t think I would be where I am now if it wasn’t for exercise. Had a bad day? Exercise! Feeling tired? Exercise! Angry, sad, happy, up, down, left, right…. EXERCISE! It is has honestly got me through some of the hardest times in my life, and I’m not just talking about going to the gym, lifting weights is my therapy, but there’s a specific type of exercise that and means a lot more to me. Getting out to a class and seeing all your friendly faces and moving and sweating with you is what I live for, but I’ll be honest, as the time comes closer that I need to put on my trainers and head out the door, that little voice in my head will start to speak up and convince me it’s a bad idea! Now I know you’ve all experienced this, sometimes the voices win, and you don’t go, but as you see the class pictures and realise it would have been all over by now, admit it, you really wish you’d have just got your act together and got out the door! Well, myself and Sophie are no different, luckily for us, its our job and we don’t have a choice, but regardless of that fact, as soon as the class gets going, the endorphins start to kick in and the high of a Ginger Girls class starts to kick in, and that’s enough to turn any frown upside down, you are only one workout away from a good mood.
The excuses not to go are endless, we can all manufacture any situation and reason not to go, I have spoken about these at length, but instead of finding reasons not go, lets turn it on its head and really discuss why you should go. Myself and my best friend Pete have a saying, “don’t be the fat dad at the playground”, now this actually doesn’t mean anything to do with how you look, but instead its being able to move around and play with your kids and not have to take breaks whilst their little faces look at you with a look of disappointment. See, being able to use your body for what it is meant for and to its full potential is something I believe we just take for granted, losing weight is great, but actually being fit is something else altogether. When there’s 100 people all moving around in time together, the music is great, there’s smiles and happy faces all around you, it’s a euphoric feeling, I compare it to being at a music concert! You feel connected to the people around you, you’re all in this together, with the same goal, there’s zero judgement and we all love seeing each other achieve something! This can be a feeling that’s quickly forgotten when its time to leave the house and go, but none of you have ever regretted doing it.
Back when Sophie was doing her master’s degree, we looked at the reasons people adhere to exercise and looked over 100 studies, which we narrowed down to about 24 that suited exactly what we were looking for. The only thing that showed close to 100% adherence was being paid to exercise, and this is why athletes are in such great shape, BUT a very close number 2 was friendship and community. You are all in teams for a reason, this team for 12 weeks should feel like a second family, and our classes are the perfect reason to get out and meet all these people, get through a workout together, and feel a deeper feeling of connection as well as feeling good about improving yourself little by little, and the improvement part is huge! To see a difference in the mirror might take weeks or even months, but fitness is improved almost instantly, every single class you get to will make the next one feel even easier, and if physical improvement is what you need to keep you motivated, a Ginger Girls class will give you it faster then you can say ‘mouth pleasure’.
I’ve mentioned this a few times, but one of the biggest indications of longevity is cardio vascular fitness, I know I’ve berated running in previous blogs, but that’s only for people who do it for the wrong reasons, any cardio vascular workout that improves your fitness will help improve longevity, but the one that you can stick to and keep turning up for is the one that matters the most, and as the meta-analysis we did showed, a workout with friends is by far the most likely type to keep you turning up. Someone who is fit but makes other poor lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking and eating fast food will outlive someone who doesn’t do any of those things, but doesn’t exercise to improve their cardio, I didn’t believe it when I first read it, but the evidence is there, move your body and you’ll live a long and healthy life!
Now I understand not everyone is able to get to classes, or at least believe they can’t, but you can bring your kids, there’s classes you can sit in a chair and follow along, there’s easy options for the first timers and more advanced for the more experienced class goer, we even have online classes if you live out of town. You might feel you aren’t getting the same connection doing the online classes, but being able to share your experience with the other ladies in your group will help to improve your connection, and the more connected you are to those with the same goal, the better results you will see. The classes at Gingers are the absolute foundation of what we provide, and we would never envisage GGFF without them.
I want to bring it back to my original point, exercise and being able to use your body is a celebration, we are all so lucky we can get out and move with our friends and enjoy what we are capable of doing, exercise is king, nutrition is queen, put them together and you’ve got yourself a kingdom! Our bodies are amazing things, we put them through a lot, exercise might not always feel like it, but it is the kindest thing you can do for it, love your body for what it can do and get to a Ginger Girls class!
Big love,
Az
Ps. The hardest thing about exercise is to start doing it. Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.
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