Do you ever have a day that doesn’t go quite as planned? Of course, right? (It’s a silly question, isn’t it?)
Yet, despite knowing that things come up and life doesn’t always go according to plan, we sometimes have trouble accepting these unscheduled adjustments. Other times, we easily make the best of the situation and roll with the changes.
How are you doing right now? Are you adapting as needed or are you struggling to switch gears and keep moving forward? Are you resilient when dealing with stressful situations?
Exercising regularly teaches you to adapt and bounce back. More specifically, consistent exercise in pursuit of a training goal will help you build mental and physical resilience.
For example, running outside means that you might be running in the blazing heat or the freezing cold…or some pleasant or unpleasant temperature and condition in between: sunny and mid-50s (yup), rainy and low 30s (been there, done that), overcast and high 70s (yes), etc. Even if you love running, some weather conditions can make running seem like torture…until your body adapts.
And then it’s magic. 🔥
Even though it might be 20 degrees outside (gosh, that sounds so nice right now!), you aren’t cold anymore.
When you exercise outside, you don’t have the ability to schedule your preferred weather conditions (paying the weather gods is very expensive!), and, as a result, you learn to adapt to the weather. Further, you develop resilience as you stick with your plan throughout the course of a training season and experience various weather conditions.
You can build adaptability and resilience through activities other than running, too. Set a fitness (or other) goal, define a plan for reaching that goal, and then stick with your plan.
Oh, wait! What if things don’t go according to plan?
It’s likely that you’ll experience an obstacle or setback at some point while working to reach your goal. When this happens, rather than getting stuck and giving up, you can choose to use the experience as an opportunity to build resilience.
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