Exercise Should be Fun!

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I used to exercise all the time. I exercised before school, after school, before bedtime, and nearly every day all summer and winter break. I just didn't call it exercise.

I called it playing, and it was fun. I played tag, hide and seek, football, baseball, basketball (basically anything that was played with a ball), and rode my bike. The bike was my main and only form of transportation, so I rode it everywhere.

Of course, it wasn't just fun, it was hard too. I remember sprinting until my lungs were on fire and felt like they were going to explode. Then I remember catching my breath, laughing, and doing it all over again. As kids, that is what most of us did.

Fast forward to adulthood, and it is a different story. At the gym, I watch a stream of adults trudge in, heads down, body language saying that they would like to be anywhere else. I know what they are thinking, because I am telepathic. Well, maybe not, but because I have thought the same thing at times: "I have to get in my 20 minutes on the treadmill so that I won't gain weight." They then make a halfhearted attempt at exercise, barely breaking a sweat, and trudge out of the gym, headed to the next thing that they don't want to do.

How did we get from being a kid who likes to play exercise, to an adult, who finds it to be a chore? Does this change in attitude affect the results we get? You bet it does! Like with most things in life, it is not just what we do, but how and why we do it that is important. Exercising with a poor attitude will steal most of the benefit away, for two reasons:

First, you will not put in the effort you would if you were having fun. Second, the high cortisol (stress hormone) levels that come with doing something you dread actually increase the storage of fat, and promote muscle breakdown.

The cure? Do something that you like to do! Whether that is walking, running, swimming, climbing, weights, or a sport, it is very important that you enjoy it and look forward to doing it. Gradually, as you get into the habit of exerting yourself again, you will look forward to the feeling of pushing your body. Then you will be ready to take on the kind of harder training that you would not have liked or wanted to do before.