How long till I enjoy my workout?

in #fitness7 years ago (edited)

Hi all,
I just finished teaching a spin class and one of my participants asked me this question: how long until I enjoy it? That is a very good question.

Some people never enjoy working out and they do it for the benefits to their physical and psychological health. On rare occasion, you encounter those who enjoy it from the get go. These people may have had an active childhood and they are getting back to it after many years of sedentary lifestyle. They are simply awakening their inner athlete which they forgot was part of them. This goes to say that your appreciation for the sweet pain of exertion is largely determined by nurture.

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If someone is incorporating exercise to their weekly routine and if to learn to enjoy it is part of their goals, why not start with low level aerobics such as frequent walks? You can walk faster for a spell according to your motivation and build up intensity over a long period of time.

Maybe you are eager to see the results and want to jump into some interval training. If that’s the case, you will quickly find out if you come to dig the pain of these high intensity bouts. Perhaps the post-workout release of endorphines will subliminally entice you to appreciate the process more.

When I went to Japan a while ago I was lucky enough to stay with a friend and her folks in Tokyo. She let me sleep in her bed where she had an extra firm straw pillow. I can imagine that being brought up with a less comfortable lifestyle generally makes for a more disciplined individual who cannot be swayed by convenience so easily.

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How badly do you want to loose that weight or perform on that kayaking trip? How old do you want to be before you can’t bear 8 flights of stairs? If you ask me; fitness is hands down the most potent antidepressant out there although it works best to prevent depression as opposed to treating it. This is just my opinion of course. How determined are you to keep sadness and morosity at bay?

You can make a commitment to your health with exercise and hope that you find the fun in it eventually. Lastly, I would like to mention that your training regimen should be coupled with healthy eating habits and sufficient sleep for best results.

I hope that these words have proven motivating for you to embrace physical activity, there is so much to achieve! Life is short make the most of it.

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I agree it is MOST helpful in cases of depression. My mental health deteriorates if I can for some reason not exercise at my usual weekly rate.

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From what I can recall after 4 days I became somewhat used to sleeping on that pillow. This was at the beginning of the trip and I wager that it helped me understand old school Japanese mentality on a deep level for the month to come. Perhaps it would have taken me longer to adapt if I was much older when I went on this trip. To remain mentally flexible for a long time is one of by biggest life goals.

I also want to address the nature (as opposed to nurture) aspect of this pain/pleasure dichotomy which defines the fitness industry. I am flexible by nature so I have always been fascinated by the discomfort of a stretch where I feel pain and pleasure in equal amounts. If someone were to dig the pain too much, they might injure themselves because they are not listening to their bodies. Those pain signals stem from our survival instincts and in this case, they exist to protect us from our own selves. The more competitive you are with yourself, the more important it is to remember to ease into stretching session by session, day by day. On another note, the myotatic or stretch reflex allows you to naturally go deeper when you reset a stretch from the starting position. Use this fact to your advantage to increase flexibility.

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