Let's Get Physical (Part Two)

A couple days ago, an acquaintance said, "I don't feel like I've gotten a good workout unless I've worked so hard I feel like I'm going to throw up." Besides the rather graphic and disturbing image it brought to mind, it struck me as wrong somehow. Is a good workout really supposed to be so... unpleasant? Tired, yes. Sweaty, sure. A bit sore, ok. I'm actually pretty sore myself today from an intense upper body workout I did yesterday, and I love that feeling. But I strongly believe that exercise, just like eating, should be if nothing else, enjoyable. What have you really gained if you're forcing yourself to eat bland, boring food, and enduring painful and miserable hours of physical exercise??

Living in a large city, I see a lot of people out jogging on the sidewalks. Some of them *look* like runners... they have slight bodies, long and lean muscles, and look completely effortless and at ease. They're clearly running because they love running. I can understand that (as much as a non-runner can understand I suppose). What I can't understand is the many many people I see who look completely MISERABLE. They look like they're dreading each and every stride as they thump, thump, thump down the street. I always want to roll down the window and ask them WHY they're running. If they're running because they have a genuine interest, and are just new to the sport, then I will be supportive like crazy. But I can never help but wonder if some of them are running simply because they want to lose weight/tone up/improve health, and think that running is the way to do that... even if they hate it. Which is odd to me, because it's just one of umpteen thousand ways of getting exercise!

I'm not a runner for a few reasons (not the least of which is that I trip a lot) but I love to exercise. My favorite form of exercise is actually incidental exercise, the kind you get the old-fashioned way... hiking, working outside, playing with the kids, even cleaning the house. Beyond that, I like to try almost anything, with one criteria: I have to LIKE it! I'm not going to force myself to do something I hate just for the sake of exercising. Maybe it goes without saying, but vomit-inducing would be a deal-breaker for me as well. I get bored very, very quickly so I never really liked exercise tapes (even though I've bought several of them). I do them a few times, or until I feel I've mastered them, then ditch them for something else. The same holds true for exercise bikes, skiers, rowers, treadmills and ellipticals. I do some yoga nearly every day, because I love the way it makes me feel, but otherwise I'm all about variety. The advent of all the exercise programs for the Wii was a God-send for someone like me, who needs things constantly changed up. Upper body one day, lower body the next. Cardio on Tuesday, core work on Wednesday.

I really look forward to exercising, and I miss it when I have to skip a day. I think that should be the goal when starting any sort of exercise program - to find something that you love so much you just don't feel right when you have to miss it, whether it's kickboxing or tai chi, yoga or spinning classes, dancing or tennis lessons, martial arts or pilates, jogging or ice skating, weights or ellipticals. Or something else entirely! It always makes me laugh a little when people say things like "I don't like vegetables." I think that just means you haven't tried the right kinds of vegetables. I believe it's the same with exercise. If you're someone who says you just don't like it, you just haven't found the right kinds of exercise.