It’s been a crazy week, and anyone who says otherwise is just wrong. You can argue any position about stuff that has happened this week, and there could be validity to your argument. But if you think this has been a normal week, your level of acceptable crazy is unhealthy. I am not going to comment here about my feelings on the President Elect. If you are interested, head over to my Instagram @Lsher.fit. In a recent post, I stated my opinion.
What I am going to talk about is why this week, amidst this craziness, is the perfect week to get your butt to the gym. Here is a list of possible reasons/ categories you could fit into. Pick one, and then hit the gym!
Some of my reasons are satirical and comical, so please take them with a grain of salt. Yes, I am aware of how important and influential the election is, I’m not trying to belittle that in any sense. I just know I could use a little comic relief, and maybe a few of you could too.
1. You are angry.
Maybe your candidate didn’t win and you hate the person who did. Maybe you candidate did win, but you hate how people are reacting. Maybe you are angry at how the country is reacting and the violent protests erupting across the nation. Maybe you washed a white t-shirt in your colors load. I don’t know, there are many reasons to be angry this week. So take all of that pent up anger to the gym. Do an extra sprint, hit a new PR (personal record), try a machine you’ve been too intimidated by, actually go to a gym instead of your basement, try the weight room and not just stick to cardio. Anger is the best pre workout, I promise.
2. You feel like you’ve lost control.
The popular vote was different than the outcome of the Electoral College. Vine is gone. Things are happening that seem to be not what the people want, and we can’t stop it. But, we can control ourselves, our bodies. We can decide whether or not to go to the gym, whether or not to do an extra exercise, whether or not to eat a donut. Now I am not saying that donut will cause you to balloon 10 lbs. But, I am saying you can decide to make healthy choices to change your body. No, change will not happen overnight. But by taking control of your decisions and actions, you can grow stronger (inside and out).
3. You feel unsafe.
Protests are happening in almost 40 states, police are using teargas, twitter is more hostile than ever. Being in shape to defend yourself is a good idea. Go sign up for a boxing class. Practice some agility training as HIIT. Work on your glute muscles so you can accelerate faster on the battlefield. The more in shape you are, the faster you can retweet someone.
4. You’re considering moving.
Moving is hard work. You have to pack up all of your stuff, and boxes are heavy. Maybe you live in an apartment, which means you’ll be doing a lot of stairs trip after trip to your U-Haul. And then, who knows where you’ll move to; Canada has a lot of terrains. You could have a mile walk to your mailbox. You’ll need upper body and leg strength for the move, and then endurance for the extra cardio during your day-to-day life in your new home. Start hitting the gym now so come January you're ready to go.
5. You need some new friends.
All I have been seeing on my newsfeed is “Unfriend me if you voted for ___”. I’ve heard of people disaffiliating their fraternity or sorority because their brothers/sisters voted for a certain candidate. The gym is the perfect place to meet some new, like-minded people. You can find new friends who share your passion for wide grip rows and your hatred for the stair master. These are the important qualities you should share in a friendship.
These are the top five reasons I could come up with, but if you have more, I'd love to hear them!
I only have a little left to say. First, if instead of getting into Facebook comment thread fights, or actual fights on the street everyone just went to the gym, this country would already be on a better track. And, you can’t control the opinions of others. You can just mold your own actions. Be the best version of yourself. Look to making tomorrow better. You can’t change what happened yesterday, but the future is not set in stone.
