Top 10 Painfully Honest Reasons Why You Go to the Gym (Or Should)

We all know the amazing health benefits one gets from routinely exercising. Increased happiness, energy, endurance and strength are all proven results of consistently working out; in addition to lowering your risk of disease, deeper sleep and a longer life.

There are a myriad of other reasons (besides those) to work out, but what about the reasons that aren’t related to our health? Are there any other motivators that encourage us to drag ourselves to the gym each day? I would argue yes.

The bottom line: it really doesn’t matter why you go to the gym, just that you do. But in keeping with my above argument, I’ve created a list of the top ten (dare I say, shallow?) reasons why we go to the gym that have nothing to do with bettering our health; hence the title of the article, “painfully honest reasons.” Confession: I’m guilty of many of these myself.

So, why do we go to the gym?

1. To take selfies.
2. To make you feel better about yourself while people are “mirin” your bod.
3. To socialize.
4. To break out your Nike gear or those new Lulu lemon leggings.
5. To be able to rightfully use the words, “swole, jacked, yoked, cut, shredded, ripped, arnold” and “massive” and feel completely justified. "Do you even lift, bro?"
6. To make your ex’s jealous.
7. To look good for swimsuit season.
8. To put off your homework for just another couple hours.
9. To look good for the opposite sex. Um, duh.
10. To prove them wrong.
11. To surprise people from the past/back home with how good you look.
12. To compensate for all the beer you’re going to drink at that frat party on Friday and still look good in your skimpy “ABC themed” outfit.
13. To compete with those who think they are better than you.
14. To “coincidentally” bump in to your crush.
15. To justify your cheating habits. “I worked out today, so I can totally eat this fro-yo, right?”