Wayne and Garth were wrong

This may not seem like good news, but I’m going to say it anyway:  none of us is more worthy because we work out.  I’m not saying that working out is not a good thing, or that we’re not worthy, just that the two things are not causally related in most cases.

Here’s the deal:  our culture runs around (not literally) peddling (pedaling?) (again, not literally) (the parentheses are running amok!) the idea that worth is something we have to work for rather than something we already have, intrinsically.  If only we put in the time at this career or get this education or eat this high fiber cereal or take 37 fitness classes a week, we will finally be worth loving, it says.  If we don’t, we are clearly lazy, spineless, fat, nonproductive slackers.  And, you know, the culture can sell us something to fix that.

I’m not buying.  We are all miracles, either of the gazillion-to-one odds of physics and chemistry and biology or of creation or both or something else—the point is the miraculousness.  We start from there.

With miracle as the beginning, we have much better choices.  We can think about what makes our bodies feel better and work better.  When we work out because we like being strong or because we have so much more fun dancing with our love or our kids or our friends when we have more energy or because we really like opening our own jars for the satisfying pop and the look of surprise on our dads’ faces, it becomes a pleasure, a gift to ourselves, not some dreary torture that we have to do in order to make it up one level of hell.

So no, I’m not going to hand out brownie points (or brownies, either, sorry…) for working out.  We have all the points we need.  I’m here to encourage everyone to be the most miraculous and joyful humans possible, which might mean a little sweat here and there.

Monday Workout: Medicine for stress

This week, we might be feeling a little stressed.  When that happens, I like to use the medicine balls for slams.  It doesn’t hurt the medicine balls, I get some cardio, which boosts my mood, and it is better at the end.  I may not be the only one who can use this at the moment.  Three rounds.

woodchoppers	30
ball slams	20
rescues	10
Xiser	30
bench press	20
TRX rows or pushups	10
mountain climbers	30
flies	20
pretty princesses	10

Better with a buddy

As we try to pack more in to these short December days when everyone seems to need something from us, may I suggest an alternative to the coffee or movie date?  The workout hangout!  Here are four reasons to grab a friend for working out:

1.     We’ll do it.  It’s really easy to flake on ourselves, but less so to flake on a friend.  When we plan to work out with a buddy, it’s “real” so we show up.

2.     We can try something different.  Our friends probably don’t work out exactly the way we do.  Maybe we have a friend who loves yoga or line dancing.  Going with those folks gives us an easy entry into something new.

3.     We get bonus points.  A lot of our culture leaves us feeling disconnected.  Boosting our brain chemistry by exercising is awesome; doing it with a friend strengthens ties while we strengthen muscles.

4.     We have more fun.  Some parts of exercise are not that exciting.  Having someone to chat with can make the difference between persisting and quitting.  We can encourage each other, spot each other, and generally have each other’s back.

What are we waiting for?