Workout kindness comes in many flavors.
1. Use headphones. Not everyone wants to jam to your jam.
2. Wipe the equipment. Because no one wants to share your sweat.
3. Put the weights back in the rack. Duh.
4. Let folks work in. You need to rest between sets anyway.
5. Pick up your stuff. You’re a grown-up now and it isn’t that hard.
Kindness is so useful in workouts. I need more of it, myself. It shows up in at least two ways.
One way is in doing the workout itself. Taking care of my body is kind to it, even if it isn’t always fun in the moment. Kindness takes vitamins and flosses teeth. It eats veggies and drinks plenty of water.
The other way is in how the workout gets done. When I’m working out, I am, definitionally, doing hard things. Sometimes I don’t do them very well. I can choose to be kind to myself in that moment and keep an eye on showing up rather than performing to perfection. Very occasionally, kindness can even mean resting instead of working out. Kindness listens to the body.
What’s your favorite way to be kind?
Patience is a gift that I can always use more of. (A friend of mine once said it is a bad idea to pray for patience, because God will send all kinds of patience exercises. I think that is definitely one of God’s ideas of humor.) When it comes to workouts, it’s really key.
I don’t think I’m alone in wishing that workouts gave more instant results. What do you mean I have to do this every day for weeks to see results? Also, learning new things can be challenging. It’s very tempting to get impatient with myself for not getting it right away.
One thing that helps me practice my patience is to keep the long term results in the back of my head while I focus more on the instant gratification. I really do feel better right away when I work out. I may not be instantly stronger or cuter or anything, but I do feel good.
What helps you be patient?
Sometimes I forget about an exercise for a while. It’s time to punch things! Three rounds.
(lunge) punches | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
1 leg squat | 10 |
| |
1 arm clean and press | 30 |
flies | 20 |
renegade row | 10 |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
deadlift | 20 |
pretty princesses | 10 |
Ways to bring more peace to workouts:
1. Plan ahead. It’s much more peaceful to work out when we have all our stuff.
2. Finish with stretching.
3. Smash the cis/hetero/white supremacist/capitalist/imperialist patriarchy (definitely good exercise, too.)
Peace may not spring to mind as a fitness gift, but let me explain.
When I work out, I burn off negative emotions. Rage workouts are good workouts. Nothing fights the Depression Monster like some nice, hard cardio. If I’m crabby, I really ought to choose the gym every time.
Further, workouts make me tired, and tired people are usually peaceful people. After I’ve worked out, I just don’t have the energy to act out.
Not enough? Fine. I’m also going to give myself peace in my workouts by letting go of my attachment to the outcome. Maybe I didn’t do the best workout ever, but I did a workout. I can be at peace with that.
The next gift I’m giving myself is joy. In the current world, joy can be a rare thing because there are so many things to worry about and stress over. We all have too much to do, personally, socially, politically. That’s all true.
And yet.
Every single time I get on my spin bike, I feel better afterward. When I get up early in the morning and the sky is blue and pink and the sun is coming up, it’s beautiful. Things are growing in the garden. I get to hug my loved ones. There are books to be read and naps to take and I love taking photos and cooking things.
Some of those things are fitness related and some not so much. However, one aspect of my fitness practice helps with all the things I need to notice joy. It’s my daily yoga and meditation and my Pilates work. The mindfulness I get from moving my body (and quieting my mind) makes space for joy to emerge, even when things are less than perfect.
What gives you joy? How do you notice it?
