The Rewards of Exercise

Reap the Unexpected Hidden Benefits

For many people, the pleasure of success is seldom realized because they don’t understand there is a price that must be paid in order to have it. That price is diligence and hard work.

I am 80 years old and I have exercised for 61 years of my life. I have worked out every other day for one hour and 15 minutes (and many times longer). Over 61 years, this equates to approximately 14,000 hours! By God’s grace and my diligence, I have accomplished what many wish for but never obtain.

There were two reasons why I first started working out. I wanted to look good, and I wanted to feel good. Both of these goals were accomplished in a relatively short period of time. What I didn’t realize was the other benefits that would come from working out.

Sowing Seeds for a Healthy Life

I didn’t start working out until after high school. I was always a skinny kid in high school—6’4” and 165-170 pounds. So, after I graduated, I was determined to change that. I bought some weights and started working out and eating big meals. I knew I had to eat more if I was going to put on weight, and I had to exercise if I was going to turn the extra pounds into muscle.

That first year I gained 40 pounds of muscle. Shortly after, I enlisted in the Army. After several months in basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia, and five months in school at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, I was shipped overseas. I served a year and a half in France and a year in Germany, completing my three years of service to my country.

While I was in France, my weight climbed to 255 pounds as I worked out extensively and continued to eat big meals.

I was an athlete and played for the post level basketball and baseball teams in France. I also played while I was in Germany during the Berlin crisis. When I wasn’t working in sports, I worked in field maintenance and refrigeration repair. This was helpful since my civilian job after discharging was in engineering design in heating, ventilating and air conditioning.

While playing basketball and baseball, my weight leveled off to 235 pounds and that’s the weight I maintained for the next 35 years.

While I was in the service, I never stopped working out. Again, I did it to look good and feel good. At the time, I didn’t realize the bonus of other benefits that were included with the package. I became very strong, more alert, was far more disciplined, and I felt good about myself. I believe the discipline also helped me develop a much closer relationship with God.

Short-Term Pain Equals Long-Term Rewards

As I approached 60 years of age, I realized it was getting more difficult to carry 235 pounds, and I was also feeling sluggish. I felt I needed to drop 20 pounds. So, within two months’ time, I gradually dropped to 215 pounds and have remained there to this day.

I’m sure that some reading this will think, [That’s easy for you, but you don’t live in my body. (italics)] My answer to that is, “No, it’s not easy.” I have disciplined my body from the day I started and continue to do so. I tell it what it can and cannot have. I tell it when it’s time to go to bed, how much water to drink, what movies it can and cannot see and what it’s allowed and not allowed to watch on television, just to name a few things. 

When it comes to working out or exercising discipline of any kind, the first thing to understand is that discipline is going to cause pain—whether it is spiritual, physical or mental. In some instances, you may experience pain in all three areas. In most cases, it will affect at least two of the three areas.

The pain and discomfort is the reason most people don’t work out…or why they begin and it doesn’t last long. I am sure you have heard the statement, “No pain, no gain.” It is true!

A man who worked for us years ago opened a workout facility, and he shared an interesting story with me. He said he had 350 people register at his workout facility for a sizeable yearly fee, yet only 17 percent of them showed up on a regular basis. That tells me that pain defeated good intentions for 83 percent of those who signed up.

People don’t realize their reward is forfeited when the pain of discipline is not fulfilled. Far too many senior adults are living in the long-term pain of not liking how they look and feel, needing medication just to function, and not being able to enjoy playing with their grandchildren…all because they didn’t invest in the short-term pain of exercising or working out. A lack of discipline can have long-term negative effects. But I do have good news: It’s never too late to start!

Take the First Step

I have a brother who is one year older than me. Not too many months ago he made this comment: “I wish I would have done what you did all those years you were working out.” I told him, “It’s too late for that, but you can start now.” I’m happy to say he has begun, and he’s doing so much better.

I want to ask you a question. Have you ever thought about working out and found yourself dreading the idea of it? Some of you might say, “Yes, almost all of the time.” The reason you dread it is because when you think of it, you think of the pain instead of the benefit.

Any negative thought will provoke a negative response in your emotions. If you will think of the benefits of the workout instead of the dread of the workout, it will change your entire attitude toward it. This same formula works in all areas of discipline, so I encourage people not to dread anything.

Now that you have knowledge in this area, dread will no longer be able to deceive you and steal your success. You will have the pleasure of success because you endured the discipline that leads to victory.

Dave Meyer is Joyce’s husband and vice president of Joyce Meyer Ministries.