What is the Purpose of working out?

While this may seem like a straight forward and simple question, the answer is often, if you don’t answer instinctively, something NOT straight forward.

“Well we workout to get in better shape, of course” is the WRONG answer. That assumes that we only need to workout if we are not in acceptable shape. Or that once we get in “better” shape, we have no reason to continue.

First, I’m going to tell you what is NOT the Purpose of working out.

It is NOT to compensate for bad eating habits.

It is NOT to improve your sleep.

It is NOT to relieve stress.

It is NOT to improve mental health.

It is NOT to help you find a suitable mate.

And even though working out does all of the above, if that’s the reason why you go to the gym, then you are trying to hammer a nail with a screwdriver.

Need to compensate for bad eating habits? Hire a nutrition coach.

Want to improve sleep? Practice sleep hygiene.

Too stressed? Spend time working on mindfulness and stress management.

Mental health is suffering? Surround yourself with friends that truly care about you.

Need help with the ladies/dudes? A good impression is often done by charisma and confidence.

All of these are better ways to deal with the problems you might have. You will get a lot more from addressing the issue with the specific tool for the job. And if you do so, you will have improve your lifestyle in 5 different ways, instead of trying to slap one big Band-Aid (working out) over all your problems.

Now, for the reason TO workout:

—To improve your capacity in a specific way.—

That’s it.

Need to increase muscle mass? Want to improve VO2max? Is muscle endurance something you struggle with when you do a certain activity?

Then workout.

We often must take a step back and re-assess why we are doing what we are doing, and find out if there is a better way to do it. Working out is something most of us have accepted into our routine without much thought. It’s time we bring back Purpose into what we do.