First Person: My discovery of the year? I really enjoy exercise

My heart pounded against my chest as I trudged along in my running shoes. My legs felt like they could give out at the slightest breeze. My face was coated in sweat and my breath laboured like a puppy who’d run too fast. My knees were weak as I fell onto the floor. Staring at the ceiling, I thought this is what it’s like…to die.

And then I realized I was just exhausted after my workout on the treadmill. I weakly got up and headed to the ARC locker room, avoiding the confused stares of every other gym-goer. Or, at least, it felt like they were. Maybe I was just delirious after working out for so long.

Physical health is something that is on a lot of students’ minds, for a lot of different reasons. Some people wish to get healthier, some people wish to get thinner and some people like me – crazy? pragmatic? – go to the gym simply so they have something to do.

In my case, beginning in the winter 2024 term, I started working out twice a week. That’s more than nine months ago. “Pre-exercise Me” me wouldn’t have believed this. The amazing part? I’ve ended up liking it.

Why did I start exercising? As I’m already balancing part-time work with attending college, why add in an additional thing?

Initially, it was a practical decision. During my second term, I had one class on both Monday and Wednesday, and both classes were two hours long.

As someone who lives in the Kanata area and has to take the 88 to get to school, getting up an extra two hours early to even make it to school is a nightmare. So it seemed counterproductive, spending two hours on public transportation— one hour to college, one hour home— just to only stay at school for two hours.

So, in my brain, I thought of a way to get more bang for my buck. Why not exercise at the ARC? It’s free with my tuition, and I’ve been meaning to lose a couple of pounds, so…why not? Although I feel a bit odd for having such a weird reason for attending the gym in the first place, it got me there.

At first, I thought I would hate working out. I mean, I tried working out when I was younger at the insistence of my mother, and I hated every moment of it. But I have since found out that not only does going to the gym make me healthier, but it also greatly improves my mental health.

The first few weeks of my journey can only be described as a roller coaster. On one hand, it felt good to be improving myself little by little, but on the other hand, doing these intense exercises was putting a lot of strain on my body. There would even be times where I would have trouble going up the stairs after my workout.

It didn’t help that I have never had the best self image. I never liked attending the gym before because I felt so out of place there. However, after attending the gym a couple of times, I started to notice how silly this idea was. Everyone at the gym keeps to themselves and doesn’t judge you. After all, everyone is going through their own personal journey.

Adam Voutier, a personal trainer at the ARC agrees.

“The best way to remind people to keep going to the gym is to remind people of their end goal,” said Voutier. “Being able to love yourself and improve yourself is what keeps people going to the gym.”

Even though I was sore after my first workouts, I kept reminding myself of why I was even there. To make the most of my time. Not to get fitter, not to lose weight, but to simply have something to do. And the more I kept going to the gym, the easier it became.

The more I started to go to the gym, the more I noticed how, not only was I getting just a little bit slimmer, but my mood started to increase. I felt happier after every single workout, even though my legs felt like jelly afterwards. Whenever something would inconvenience me, I would just brush it off as not a big deal. I started to smile more.

Joanna Fhe, a nurse at the Civic Hospital, says exercise can do this.

“Being active releases chemicals in your brain called serotonin, which makes you feel happier,” she said.

Hearing that definitely makes a lot more sense as to why I feel much happier nowadays. I’m pretty sure someone could burn me at the stake, and I’d still go down with a smile.