Renée Zellweger Gets Her Therapy at the Gym

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Actress Renée Zellweger is SELF magazine’s October cover girl. In the article, she talks about facing her fears, running for breast cancer awareness, and how her own brush with breast cancer (which turned out to be nothing more than a scare) only reinforced her healthy eating and exercise habits. Here are the highlights.

Renée tells SELF that she hits the gym six days a week whenever possible to clock 3-5 miles on the treadmill or elliptical trainer. To me, this cardio program sounds varied (high-impact running is balanced out with the elliptical trainer, which is low-impact) and fits within the general recommendations for cardio exercise. (Although I wish I would have heard something more about strength training in there, which is also a must!) With her busy career, Renée is often living in new places for short stints while filming or traveling. So the one thing that keeps her sane is hitting the gym.

What she says about the gym shows a healthy attitude towards exercise:

“The gym is my therapy. I’ve got to get stuff out…The perk of going and spending time by myself and getting my head straight and thinking through what might be bothering me is that I get fit. That’s not the goal, but it’s a nice by-product.”

I think it's great that Renée sees exercise as something more than just a means to looking good. And it sounds as if "getting fit" isn't even her main goal, but that she focuses more on how working out makes her feel. For many people, exercise provides energy, stress relief, and emotional benefits—and these perks can be a great motivation to stick with a routine.

And she doesn't let travel, moving or a busy schedule get in the way of her workouts either, saying, "wherever I move, or wherever I’m stationed, or whatever phase of life I’m in, the gym is my common denominator. I move to L.A.? I find my gym. I get to Santa Fe? I find my gym. In New York? Found my gym.”

Now that sounds like the habit of a fit person to me—sticking with a routine instead of making excuses.

How about you? Is exercise "therapy" to you, like it is to Renée? What are your favorite benefits of working out besides getting fit?