Health Hints: 

Finding Exercise and

Achieving Goals

Brennan Phelan, Staff Reporter

Brennan_Phelan@csumb.edu

May 8, 2008

Many people tend to have a love-hate

relationship with exercise.

Exercise provides a vast array

of health benefits including a

slimmer waist line and decreased

stress levels, but that is often

not enough motivation to keep

us excited about our workouts.

When exercise starts to become

mundane and boring, we tend to

ask ourselves why we are even

doing it in the first place. This

is when motivation becomes the

defining factor in whether you

stick with the program, or cancel

your gym membership.

I recently ran the Big Sur

Marathon, an event that I spent

months training for while finding

a new sense of purpose for my

workouts. Prior to registering for

the race, I would run 3 to 4 miles a

couple of times a week, but never

really pushed myself in my exercise

routine. My training motivated me

to not only run longer distances

more often, but to also explore

the world of strength training and

other forms of exercise. I began

to have much more variety in

my workout routine, mixing it up

between running, swimming, yoga,

hiking and weight lifting. I also

began to see much better results

from my workouts, including

increased muscle definition and

cardiovascular endurance.

I would not recommend running

a marathon to everyone who is

lacking motivation, but training

for these past few months has

made me realize the impact of

goal setting as a tool for sticking

with exercise.

A study published in the

December 2007 issue of the

“Journal of Sport and Exercise

Psychology” found that goal

setting had a positive effect on the

physical efforts of studied athletes,

and that goal attainment was

positively linked to satisfaction

and psychological well-being.

A goal can be anything from

losing weight for a wedding to

completing a 10K race or learning

to play a new sport. The goal itself

does not matter, what matters is

that the goal provides motivation

to stick with exercise.

As I was running the long race

up the Big Sur coast, I realized

that my goal of completing the

marathon had completely changed

the way that I thought about

exercise. During training my

workouts became about making my

body strong and healthy, instead

of simply about making it look

good. I began to care much less

about the superficial appearance of

my body, and instead focused on

respecting and taking better care

of it. My body became a tool that

I was working with, instead of an

obstacle that I was always working

against in an attempt to have what

society views as “perfect.”

For those who find themselves

becoming unenthused with their

exercise routines, working towards

a specific goal can have healthy

effects on both the mind and body.

Inspiration is an important factor

in staying motivated to exercise,

and there is a great sense of

accomplishment that comes with

obtaining a goal.