"I wanted to get my body and my heart in shape, but I joined [Green Ridge Recreation Center in Roanoke County] partly for the mental part. I meet people who become my friends and it is social for me. We have lunch and sometimes travel together. I try to meet two or three people a day.”

- Bonnie P.
Roanoke, Virginia

Via Working Out the Workout

“Daily fitness relieves stress, makes us stronger and we feel better about ourselves.This makes for a happy attitude at work, and happy employees are always more productive and engaged in their roles.”

- Nancy R.
Yakima, Washinton USA

Via Yakima Herald

"I do a little running around each day—not a certain amount or time—but just to keep everything going.”

- Julia H., 101
Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA

Via Runner's World

"It gives me discipline and a sense of work ethic...it keeps me physically fit...it builds my mental strength...it is a huge passion of mine..."

- TJBoss A.

"Getting on my mat everyday allows me to relieve some stress, stay limber, and to have a sense of accomplishment after an especially challenging practice. I've never participated in sports, so movement was not a big part of my life growing up. That all changed after I took my first yoga class 4 years ago. I immediately fell in love with yoga and started to branch out to other forms of exercise. The following semester, I changed my major to exercise science and decided to devote my career to promoting movement. I currently teach multiple group fitness classes a week and am so happy I get to share the magic of moving with others!"

- Lauren R.
Athens, Georgia USA

Via UGA Exercise is Medicine Club

“I have loved all forms of movement since I can remember. Whether it’s a sport, exercise, or physical activity of any kind (even just deep cleaning my apartment), I love it. It’s hard for me to shorten Why I Move into a concise blurb, both because I am so passionate about this topic and because I use way too many words in general, but I guess in short, I move for three general reasons other than just because I love to:

1. I move for my health, and by health I mean my mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Mentally, exercise keeps me sane. Physically, (apart from the thousands of physical benefits I REALLY want to list but there’s not enough space), I love to challenge my body to be better. Emotionally, exercise allows me to release any emotions (and I have a lot of them) or stress so that I can simply relax and be happy.

2. I move for those who can’t. Being able to lift weights, do push ups, dance, jump, run, walk, even the ability to stand, these abilities aren’t guaranteed for everyone. And because I’ve been blessed with the ability to do so, I will move until I can’t any longer.

3. I move now so that I can move later. One of those many physical benefits that I wanted to list in my first point is that exercise allows you to better maintain physical function as you age. I want to be able to move for a long time, and because I hope to be a Physician’s Assistant, I want to be able to personally attest to the benefits of exercise and physical activity as I encourage my patients (and anyone else who will listen to me) to do so. So, I move now so that I can continue to be active as I age.

That’s as concise as I could make it, but there are thousands of reasons to be active, just take your pick and get moving!”

- Grace H.
Athens, Georgia USA

Via UGA Exercise is Medicine Club

"My friends started taking me to our local mall on Tuesday mornings for pole walking.  It was a challenging, but wonderful experience. I was able to connect with people, who were experiencing the same struggles and successes as I was. When I commented that I was “pretty tippy” and another person said “ We’re all pretty tippy here” I didn’t feel so alone. I had never met other people who had survived a stroke before and it was wonderful to talk to them over coffee, get tips and talk about shared experiences.

The first day of pole walking was really hard. I couldn’t get my poles and my feet to work together. I certainly couldn’t walk & talk!

However, as the Tuesday mornings went by, I was able to go longer distances and soon discovered that I could pole walk while talking. I was improving my both motor skills and endurance, as well as having a social experience with other stoke survivors and my friends."

- Carol A.
Orillia, Ontario Canada

"I love that even though [barre] it’s a workout I am actually having fun doing it. Even when I think I don’t want to go I am smiling as soon as I walk through the doors. Everyone (plus the music!) is so upbeat and positive and the energy is awesome. I love that every class is different and challenges my strength in different ways. I walk away from each class knowing I’m stronger and have done something amazing for my mind and my body."

- Kelly
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

"I love the Barre community. The people that come here and the instructors are always so positive and it helps make me want to push myself to the best of my abilities. The variety of the different types of classes as well as the different instructors keeps me working hard. Plus having a great looking butt is a bonus!"

- Jon
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Via Barre Body Studio

“I work out personally because of the way it makes me feel and the release of serotonin. It’s important to take care of yourself physically, but also mentally as well."

- Demi L.

​Via US Magazine

“I started doing yoga every day. I was doing it because I knew it was good for me.”

- Hannah Mc.