Working out ultimately is not only about looking good. It is about health and loving yourself. Ultimately it is a way of being. It is growth. It is connected in several dimensions to mentality and spirituality. One thing you get about working out is to stay committed to your goals, forgive yourself when you do not meet them, and get back up over and over again. If you do not do this, you are quitting, and missing one of the many lessons that working out gives to you. Even if you work out alone, you grow and learn from working out. You apply the lessons to life, family, work fun and everything!
This is a valuable lesson that you do not want to miss. Whether you do not reach your fitness goals or weight goals, or you miss a day, or you do not get an exercise right, or you feel pain after an exercise, or whatever else, you will learn, as long as you are present and aware, to get back up over and over again. That is success.
Success is defined by culture and media. It often means for people to look good, have great relationships, have money and have things. None of these aspects of success are inherently bad. YOU get to define success for yourself. And an important element of that is to forgive and love yourself, and to get back up over and over again.
Working out is not just about looking good and getting bigger and stronger. Its benefits include mental and the spiritual elements.
When you work out in one hour, one day, one week, one year, or years, through the same or different routines, outdoor sports, aerobics classes, free weights or anything else, you get to know yourself. That is one of the huge benefits of working out.
What do I mean by getting to know yourself? Have you ever overcome a big obstacle? Have you overcome heartbreak, relatives that are a way that does not work for you, a boss who acts like a jerk, tough courses in school, an illness or any other situation? Well, that is like sticking with your workout, finishing a Marathon, going when you see no results yet.
Like peeling the layers of an onion, with you being the onion, you get to see who you are, what you are made of, what makes you tick, and what you can do. And that is priceless.