bootique-community-jump

Why Community Matters For Fitness Goals

There are times we all just want to be left alone. You know those days — when you want to turn off all the lights, hit the power down button on your phone, crawl into bed and make binge watching Netflix the only reason to turn your computer on all day.

Maybe you’re able to sneak those in sometimes but for the rest of us, that’s not always a reality.

And that’s okay: community matters and being around people can make us feel a whole lot better.

As Americans, we’ve often been under the impression that we should hold independence as more important than “needing” others. But, this can be a dangerous sentiment.

Not to begin with doom and gloom, but to really drive this point home: a Harvard and a UC-Berkeley researcher studied about 7,000 adults in California in 1979 and found that people with few social ties were two to three times more likely to die of all causes than people with wider and closer relationships.

That was the late ‘70s, can you imagine how much more important community has become since then?

For our health, let’s connect.

Community extends into the health of everyday living: the popularity of co-working spaces has skyrocketed; “corporate community” has strengthened; mommy groups are just as common as the diaper bag; and so many other examples exist that whatever your station, you’re bound to find a group that fits. Have you seen the number of MeetUps in San Diego lately?

Whatever group you identify with, remember that energies are contagious and whoever you surround yourself with does in fact correlate to not only how you feel but also how you’re perceived.

A blog post on ExperienceLife.com writes that: “Real community thrives on an organic, participatory sort of energy and intent that is, at least in part, unpredictable. And it delivers a set of inherently human, face-to-face opportunities — to connect, share, interact, help and discover — that are nearly impossible to reproduce through strategy or corporate guile.”

However you define “community” and however it may look to you, many studies show that a strong sense of community adds real value to our lives. It not only helps us connect with the world, but also creates a difference in our happiness and health.

Be a part of something greater than yourself

Genuine community allows us to feel part of something real and meaningful. It deepens and refines our sense of place to bring out the best in us. Community helps us feel like we belong and in a world that can be full of constant confusion and size, we all, at our core, want to belong in one way or another.

Let’s surround ourselves with people who lift us up, encourage us, make us want to be better people, parents, friends, partners, and push us physically to reach new heights in our fitness goals.

One of the reasons many people choose fitness facilities/ groups is because of the camaraderie that cannot be found through exercising on your own. People are there to see you improve, to share successes and failures and to help motivate you. Fitness can be tough when it comes to sticking through it and by having people who know your name and understand your goals, it is very motivating to get you over the walls.

Sure, you could choose a big gym with lots of machines, some classes, and predictable convenience and if you find community there, awesome. It’s harder, though, to connect when everyone seems to use that space as a place to dis-connect as they pound the elliptical with their ear buds blaring.

Bootique Fitness is a different place. Bootique is about community.

We welcome all! From every fitness level and walk of life to be part of one of our programs, and to laugh along with and to be encouraged by a team of women who meet not only to burn some calories and get our sweat on, but also to celebrate community and the strength of women coming together with a common cause. This is one of the ways we are set apart from other gyms and why women continue to find motivation to keep coming back for more.

Community is something worth preserving. It is worth valuing, protecting and building. We need each other, so let’s continue to hold each other with strength: in accountability, in kindly pushing each other to reach new health and fitness goals; and to laugh and cry with because we’re in something bigger than an hour long class. We’re in this for life.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply