Attitude towards Exercise Essay
Attitude towards Exercise Essay Exercise calls for active physical activity that engages not just the body but the mind as well. It also requires an investment in resources like time. As such, in as much as exercise is recommended for keeping the body fit, many people have different attitudes and perspectives on the issue of engaging in active physical activity aimed at keeping fit. Some people have the time and the equipment needed for engaging in exercise, but they always find an excuse for not doing it. Others shy away from the gymnastic activities involved in exercise for one reason or another. Factors that influence the attitudes that people have towards exercise are diverse and vary from place to place. Some of these factors will be discussed in this paper (Covert, 23).
The physique of a person sometimes plays a major role in influencing their outlook towards exercise. For example, a person with a naturally full and heavy figure will find it harder to engage in physical activity than a person who is naturally small-bodied or slender. This is given by the fact that many people tend to view exercise as a means through which people lose weight, dismissing the fact that it is not always about the weight, but about keeping the body organs functioning properly. A person who has always been with a full figure for all his life will not find any meaning in exercise is the mentality is all about losing weight. Some people are also born with handicaps or very poor health. Such people hardly ever have a liking for exercise and this negative attitude is predisposed by the disadvantages that the carry with them since birth. However, even with strong positive influence from the outside world, such people with handicaps can overcome their negative attitudes and become world champions in sports (Mark, 43).
In the United States, physical inactivity is a major concern especially for health experts. Physical activity is very rampant among the very young, with a reported 70% of teenagers engaging in exercise, but only a mere 25% of youth above 20 years engaging in the same level of physical activity. At a closer analysis, this is the same population that is characterized by obesity and other health complications associated with physical inactivity. Many of the poor attitudes in young people towards exercise begin at a very early age, where these people are made to believe that it does not matter how much they do but how well they eat. But the problem comes in when it is considered that what they eat is nothing more than junk food, which renders them obese, and hence the continued cycle of not engaging in exercise because of the belief that weight is hard to lose. Other people just lack knowledge on fitness and as such do not treat exercise as important. Exercise is also associated with injury, something that many people do not want to experience or endure (Mark, 45).
However, not only negative attitudes towards exercise exist in the minds of people. There are those who strongly believe that exercise is a crucial component of long life and disease-free living. It is nevertheless possible to change the negative attitudes that people hold towards exercise, for example by letting them know that exercise does not always have to be rigorous or overly demanding, but can be done from simple activities like walking and graduating increasing it to weight-lifting with time. For many people, exercise is like punishment, and this is an attitude that has been implanted in the mind by teachers who tell students to run or do press-ups for being late or nor finishing their assignments, hence the hatred towards exercise. This can be changed with the help of strong positive influence from people like fitness trainers. People can be encouraged to start with activities that they deem pleasurable like swimming or attending aerobic classes that have music playing in the background (Richard, 13)
