Why exercise is important to me
In the next of the series of our monthly guest bloggers, I introduce to you Emma. I have known Emma for several years, whom I met through Justine. She has been a long standing friend of Justine and has become my friend too. Emma explains below, why exercise is important to her, both personally and professionally. Below are her words.
My name is Emma, I am a wife, mum to 2 boys aged 7 and 9 and work as a GP. I have always been active and as a teenager played hockey and cricket. Since finishing University, I have dabbled in a variety of different exercise activities including going to the gym, yoga, Pilates and swimming.
I started running about 4 years ago and discovered parkrun, which has encouraged me to continue running but not in any kind of competitive way.
So why is exercise so important to me? There are several reasons why I exercise: -
I feel that as a GP I should set a good example to my patients. I can hardly lecture people about a healthy lifestyle if I am overweight and unfit myself. People are more likely to listen to me if I practice what I preach.
My job is stressful at times and I find running is an important stress reliever in my life. If I can’t get out and exercise I can get frustrated, going out for a run or a walk does wonders for your wellbeing. I run with a friend and we both find it cathartic to vent our frustrations whilst out running.
As a mum, I feel that it is really important that our children are brought up to be active. We are breeding a generation of anxious couch potatoes who stare at screens all day long. Exercise as a family is about more than fitness, it’s about spending time together and talking to each other as well. My children do parkrun with me and Junior parkrun, they both play cricket, the youngest enjoys tennis and the eldest has started doing triathlons (which at the moment means that not only do I run with him, I’m cycling and swimming as well!) As a family, we go out cycling together and also geocaching, which involves going for a walk and using GPS to finding box that people have hidden.
To sum it all up my life is greatly influenced by exercise, I’m not as competitive as I was as a youngster and have no interest in joining a club and striving for better and better times. It is about looking after myself both physically and mentally, having an outlet to relieve stress but also recognising that if one particular activity becomes an obsession then this can also have an impact on my mental health. It’s also about having the best interests of my family in mind as well and encouraging them to embrace exercise as a normal part of life for their long-term health benefits. If I couldn’t exercise at all I feel I would be a bit stir crazy, but if I for instance someone told me I could never run again, I’d get over it and do something else.
So exercise for fitness, mental wellbeing, to be social and for your children but remember to not let exercise control you.
