Other ways to bring joy to workouts:
1. Do something silly. Never tried Zumba? How about tai chi? Laser tag?
2. Do something new. A new hike, a new bike, a new adventure!
3. Do it with friends. But make sure it’s not all chat and no moving!
4. Do it loud. Music helps. Really.
5. Do it. Yep, sex counts.
I have more to say about joy and working out. Sure, on some level, we just have to get our workouts done. Blah blah lift lift run run, right?
But really, when we work out, we are giving ourselves a gift. The time we spend working out is invested in improving our quality of life, and often in increasing our quantity of life. We work because life is good and we like it and we want to feel good in it. We work out of love.
That’s great as far as it goes. I love a high-level perspective. But then I’m looking at the burpees and lunges I have planned and maybe I’m not feeling the love.
There are two ways to deal with this. One is: skip the damn burpees. There are very few exercises that we actually have to do. We can work our muscles some other way. The other is: get them done quick and get on to what we want to be doing. Think of the exercises we don’t like but need to do as vitamins or vaccinations or something slightly unpleasant that saves us from something truly unpleasant.
Look for the joy.
I am as apt as anyone to get stuck in the shoulds. We are surrounded by responsibilities and tasks. Fitness so often gets shoved in with all the other stuff we’re supposed to do. But what if we approached it a different way?
What if workouts were fun? What if we found joy in what we did with our bodies?
Humans need to play. All humans. Not just the young ones. Our brains and our bodies work better when we give them things they like to do.
Here’s how this could work. Instead of thinking “I need to get 30 minutes of cardio exercise today,” I could think “I get to walk and see what’s blooming in my neighbors’ yards” or “I get to play pickleball with my friends” or “I get to swim today!”
Instead of “I have to lift weights today,” I could think “I wonder how many different pieces of equipment I can use in my workout today” or “I bet I can lift more than last time” or “If I finish by this time, I can give myself a prize!”
Try it!
We’ve got a short circuit this week. Use your favorite cardio for the minute (I use my spin bike, but jacks or jump rope or running in place or whatever gets your heart rate up is fine!). Four rounds.
1 minute cardio | |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
flies | 20 |
burpees | 10 |
opposite knees | 30 |
lateral raise | 10 |
brains | 10 |
More ways to get efficient!
1. Do balance work. This can be as simple as swapping single leg squats for regular ones, or doing regular squats on a bosu. Same time, more benefits!
2. Use the free weights. Machines are great for some purposes, but when we choose free weights, we automatically add stability and coordination to the benefits we are getting from our lifting. (Be safe, though. Spotters are useful!)
3. Use microwave time. Sure, we could just stand there while we wait for our ramen or our coffee, but a minute is a great amount of time to use for pushups or squats or even just standing on one foot for balance practice.
Yesterday I wrote about the kind of efficiency that comes from doing a bunch of stuff at once. There is also an efficiency that comes from doing one thing at a time. This is what I love about Pilates.
When we do Pilates, we are focusing in on what we are doing. We move on purpose, in coordination with our breath. We think about the movement. That level of thought puts us in touch with the mind body connection.
With attention, we are able to refine our movements. We learn where we need to work a little more and where we need to ease up a bit. We discover flow.
Then, when we go back to our other workouts, we find that our bodies move better.
I love efficiency. I love tools that can do lots of different things and activities that tick multiple boxes at the same time. This is why I’m always looking for ways to get the most out of my exercise time.
One of my favorite exercise efficiency tools is the compound exercise. When we use lots of muscles and joints at the same time, we burn more calories, improve our stability, train our coordination, and just get done sooner.
Similarly, I love circuits because not only do we get in our weight training, but we also pack in some cardio at the same time. For even more bonus points, we are, by design, doing that cardio in intense intervals, the most efficient way to build our cardio capability.
Other ways to add value to the time we are spending exercising include adding a social element (classes, exercise buddy) and taking it outside (fresh air, nature!).
Go play.
