I took a fitness class yesterday at OrangeTheory. I’ve been to a few classes there now, and like the blend of cardio and strength training because strength training isn’t something I generally do on my own. Now I’m so sore that, although I’m too warm, I can’t bring myself to take off the hoody I threw on this morning because the thought of moving my arms that way is unbearable.
But this day of relative inactivity and immersing myself in the last regular season NFL games (nice job, Seahawks!) has given me the chance to ponder my reasons for doing this workout. Last night I was going to a holiday party, where I knew there would be lots of wine and things wrapped in bacon. I wanted those things. So, I reasoned that I would somehow earn those by putting myself through a good workout in the morning.
It’s probably the case that any motivation to make me workout is good, on some very basic level. But I dislike the fact that I, and so many other people I know, think of exercise as some sort of price that must be paid or time served as punishment for doing things I enjoy more. I’m pretty sure that this mentality is part of why I have such a love/hate relationship with fitness, and why my motivation to exercise can be wildly inconsistent.
I don’t have a good answer to this problem right now. But, for the next few weeks, I’ve vowed to try to look at physical activity as a reward. I’m going to mix up my activities a bit, do some things I like but haven’t done in a while, meet up with friends for some social fitness time, and ask other people what works for them.
This starts tomorrow, with a hip-hop dance class I’m taking with three of my favorite people. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be awful at it, but I’m looking forward to it. Dancing never feels like exercise to me, so I’m excited to try it and hang out with friends. We’ll probably grab a cocktail after, but it won’t be because I earned it with all those whip and nae nae reps. It will be because that’s what we want to do next and we’re having a good night. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’ll let you know.
In the meantime, if anyone has any tips on this topic, please share. I’m excited to try new things and figure this piece out.
January 3, 2016 at 8:01 pm
I’ve read some interesting articles in the past about how certain activities in physical therapy work better than others. For example, a person with a shoulder/arm injury needs to move their arm with small weights in a motion that is similar to swinging a tennis racket. With plain exercise, many people give up/get bored and don’t push themselves. But if you add in a Wii controller and a Wii sports and suddenly people are enjoying themselves and pushing further and harder. I heard a term a few weeks ago called “Gamification”. The basic idea is turning necessary but less exciting tasks into a game. Dancing isn’t work – it’s fun! Running along the track is boring, but running through a wooded trail listening to a zombie survival story is awesome! I try to game up my activities whenever I can, be exercise, house work, or getting some late night work done.
January 3, 2016 at 10:40 pm
I love trail running. I’ll have to try infusing the zombie survival story next time. 🙂
January 4, 2016 at 3:38 pm
I agree that often its a ‘workout so that I can enjoy X’ type of attitude, and Im guilty of that too often. It restricts my diet in other ways (a whole other problem im trying to solve) and becomes unhealthy. I’ve read articles that try to focus on you eating to FUEL performance and becoming stronger rather than earning your food. So think, eating the bacon wrapped stuff will give you the energy to kick ass in your class the next day. Also, I’ve found that some exercise makes me feel better. It gives me a mental zen like feeling, and the post workout feeling is rewarding. Im doing it because it makes me feel good, relaxed, strong, gives me adrenaline….which is a reward right?
January 5, 2016 at 1:10 pm
Absolutely! I’ll keep those thoughts in mind over the next few weeks. And yes, I’m never upset that I’ve done the workout. When all this soreness of getting back into it passes, I know that I’ll be really happy that I’m getting back into shape.