The Gym as a Sanctuary

Here's the text of an email I received from a friend today: "If I don't get to the gym tonight I'm going to kill someone."

Sure, it's over the top but I understand the sentiment. The gym, or wherever you train, does more than keep us in shape. It's an escape from everything else in our worlds, a way to work off all that stress. In the gym, it's about us, about making ourselves healthier and better, not solving someone else's problems.

I never fail to walk out of the gym feeling better, and often what it does for me mentally seems to outweigh what it does for my physically.

So my friend calls it his sanctuary. That seems about right.

The Problem with Gym Machines

There was a time when I used machines at the gym in every workout. But that was before I actually knew what I was doing. Today, I rarely use them.

Yes, they do have a place in workouts. The cables are good for some core work, for instance, such as the woodchopper. But most gym machines take your body out of its natural alignment.

Then there's this other issue, which super-trainer Craig Ballantyne points out -- they're too easy.

Training isn't supposed to be easy. After all, in almost everything you have to put forth effort to get results.

Powerful Motivation

OK, I'll admit it -- there are days when I don't feel like working out.

That's saying something, considering that fitness has basically become a hobby for me. Today is one of those days. I simply feel sluggish, which means it would be easy to stay home after work instead of changing and heading to the gym.

But I'll go. I know I will. And here's why -- working out has never failed to make me feel better. There's that simply sense of accomplishment I get from having done it. Then there's the knowledge that I'm doing something to improve myself physically. Finally, it makes me feel better mentally, more alive, more focused.

With benefits like those, I'd be crazy to skip a regular workout.