Exercise to Boost Your Confidence
August 13th, 2008 by AndyWhether or not you experience social anxiety in any of its many forms, everyone can use a confidence boost no matter how large or small. One avenue from which I have been finding a pretty big boost is exercise. What I really found amazing was how little exercise I actually had to do to notice a big difference.
Now don’t even bother with the excuses you might have for not exercising. Whatever reasons you may have are just self-limiting beliefs, unless your doctor has told you otherwise. If that is the case, you should be asking your doctor what you can do. The only excuse that I want to hear is that you already go to the gym 3 days a week.
Now before you do start getting more exercise it is important that you do approach your doctor to make sure that what you are going to do is ok. There may be certain reasons why you shouldn’t do certain exercises that are specific to your situation, and I don’t want to hear of anyone getting injured.
Before you clear it with your doctor, you’ll want to decide what you are going to do. I decided to start out doing pushups because a number of people I know where doing the 100 Push up Challenge. Joining in on a challenge such as this is a great way to keep yourself motivated to continue. If you do so with a group of people a bit of competition always tends to ensue. For me, this has been very helpful in motivating me to push forward.
You’re probably wondering what kinds of effects you can expect once you start exercising. Physically you can’t expect too much right away. you might gain a little muscle right away, but you shouldn’t expect to have the physique of an athlete right away. If that’s what you want, that will take a lot of work. If you keep at it you should notice some small changes within a month. What’s more important are the mental changes you’ll notice.
Just knowing that you are doing something good for yourself should give you a small but immediate confidence boost. When you’re sore the day after working out, you can feel empowered, knowing that that little bit of pain means you made progress toward being stronger and healthier. The next time you do whatever it is you’re doing, you’ll feel good when you realize you can handle a little bit more than you could the last. Eventually, exercising may become a habitual part of your life constantly giving you that helpful little boost every day.
It took me about 3 weeks to really start to see and feel results. One day I was walking down the hall toward the bathroom at work when I realized that my shirt felt different than normal on my body. When I got to the bathroom, I couldn’t see a difference in the mirror, but I felt the difference throughout my body. I was more relaxed, standing straighter, breathing better, and I felt more alive. Now after 4 weeks I’m starting to see more physical changes. I have put on 4 pounds, which, being the scrawny twig that I am, is actually a good thing. I also have quite a bit more muscle in my chest than I did before. With all of this I’m definitely more confident in myself, and I know that if you take up some sort of an exercise routine, you will be too.
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August 15th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I recently started doing the 100 pushup challenge as well, and it’s great! Claiming that I can do 100 pushups is pretty bold, and confidence boosting. Plus, if you keep this up, you’ll start noticing some nice definition/development with your body. Also, if you like the results, start doing other small exercises too like situps and pullups (if you can), etc.
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August 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Great post, thanks! It is something to think about