For many the gym and fitness conjure up images and feelings of dread, dislike and misery.
Hours thumping away on a treadmill or cross trainer. Moving weights aimlessly. Going to a soulless space where no-one talks to each other. Where you are simply a membership number. And what you look like is what matters most.
This is supposed to be your leisure time. The way you unwind and enjoy yourself. However, it is anything but. It’s hard. It’s painful. It’s uninspiring. It’s depressing. It’s no wonder so many give up.
But why does it have to be this way? Fitness should be fun. It should be a time for you to do and achieve new things. For you to work hard. For you to laugh and smile. To meet new people. To feel good about yourself and to get fit doing so.
Too much of the gym is about how you look in the mirror, and not simply about what you are achieving. Of course, who doesn’t want to look good naked? But what if that was secondary? A by-product of having fun, moving well and doing new things.
Someone once said to me, “Adults are children with money.” Like children, grown ups want to play too. We want to have fun. We want to learn. We want to compete. We want to do new things. And then celebrate our successes.
Fitness should be fun. Something you look forward to and want to do. Not something you don’t. Because If you don’t look forward to it and don’t want to do it, you are less likely to make it a habit and be successful in your goals.
Therefore, fun and play are essential. They:
Reduce stress
Refresh your mind and body
Increase energy
Reduce burnout and
Stimulate the mind, improving creativity and mood.
So, find a sport you enjoy. Something you can have fun doing. Something which will make you work hard, challenge you, make you play games, celebrate your successes and put a smile on your face.
Perhaps this could be a ball game, or racket sport. It might be going running with the dog. Or it could be setting fitness challenges and workouts between yourself and a group of friends. Make yourself accountable to them and the challenge part of a collective goal. Doing it with others, even if they can’t be next to you, will make it more palatable, more likely you’ll take part and more likely you’ll stick with it. Have a look at our At Home workouts on Facebook, to see what we're doing at this time.
CrossFit could be it. You’ll learn and try new things. You’ll use barbells. You’ll do pull ups and you’ll try standing on your hands. You’ll move and be coached to move well. You’ll work hard and always be challenged with new things. You’ll play games, you’ll celebrate and you’ll smile. And you’ll want to come back for more.
Whatever you do, don’t suffer, attempting to do something you don’t like. Find something you do and turn that hour of suffering into an hour of fun. It might just become the best hour of your day.
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