Exercise for a Healthy Marriage!

When you read the word “exercise,” what are the first thoughts that come to mind?

Ugh!

Don’t like it!

If I have to hear Jillian Michaels’ voice tell me to step it up one more time…

We all know there are significant health advantages to exercising: it helps you control/maintain your weight, it decreases your risk for illness and disease, it boosts your energy and lightens your mood, it promotes your sleep, and it can improve your sex life.  But all too often we make excuses:

I don’t have time.

Exercising just isn’t my “thing.”

I don’t like to get all hot and sweaty.

But shouldn’t the benefits outweigh the excuses?  Absolutely!  Shouldn’t we think of exercise as a way to take care of the body God blessed us with? Look at what God’s word says about this:   Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  God instructs us to take care of our bodies- eat right, exercise, don’t smoke, etc.  Furthermore, Psalm 139: 13-14 says,  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

This all makes sense, right?  But what does this have to do with marriage? Well, being healthy can also be a benefit to our spouse.   God’s word supports this, "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband.  In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife" (1 Corinthians 7:4).  Wives, we are to take care of our bodies- for our husband.  Husbands, you are to take care of your body-for your wife.  We are not to give our spouses anything less than our best- emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  What a blessing to your spouse to offer him/her your physical best.  And when we feel better physically, that transcends into all areas of our life. 

Think about this: “If I don't care for myself physically and I die prematurely and my wife becomes a widow prematurely, then she has to suffer because I didn't bring my best physically to the marriage. That isn't what I want for her. I want her to have my best for as long as God keeps me here. I want to extend the number of days of our marriage as long as I possibly can.”  Different perspective isn’t it?   

A study at the Mayo Clinic argues for the benefits of regular exercise because it brings more energy to your marriage. The Mayo Clinic report says that exercise boosts your energy level. Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, giving you more energy to do the things you enjoy. In other words, when you are exercising and you're feeling better and your body is healthier, it doesn't have to work so hard, leaving you more energy to spare.  More energy to do things with your spouse!

This will look different for each couple.  Within the past year, Will and I have found running to be an activity we are both interested in.  We rarely run together, but we often talk about how each of us are doing with it.  We encourage each other.  We challenge each other.  We have found our energy levels increase, our stress decrease, and our overall health improve.  Our marriage flows better when we are engaged in exercise and our children definitely benefit from it as well!  We even ran together, side-by-side, this past summer in our first 5K run.  What an experience for us!  For some of you, exercise may be taking a walk in the evening together, for some it may be attending aerobics classes.  Whatever it is, remember you are doing it not only for your benefit, but for your spouse as well.

So try it!  Exercise for a healthy marriage!