FITNESS FOR THE FITNESS NON-ENTHUSIAST 

Well, I think that describes almost about everyone. 

I know there are a blessed few among us who genuinely love exercising, and they do it because it is so much fun. Typically, they are in their 20s and they have so much energy that they don’t know what to do with it. Might as well take it to the gym.

But most of us mere mortals, or those who have trespassed their 20s and are a little older, rarely exercise because it is so much fun. And they rarely have so much energy that they don’t know what to do with it. Quite the opposite.

So let’s say you’re a fitness non-enthusiast. Yes, let’s admit it. You know you would feel better if you exercised and you’d like to be fit, maybe even look a little tighter overall....but!

You don’t like going to the gym. You abhore the idea of pumping heavy weights until you turn red in the face and sweat pours out of all pores like a fountain. Of running on the treadmill like a hamster on a wheel and never arriving.

I get it. And I agree.

Exercise is not about fun.

I’ve heard it so often in almost two decades of working as a personal trainer in Los Angeles. “I’d like to exercise, but I don’t like going to the gym. I prefer to exercise outside. I want this to be fun. I want to do this for recreation.”

Honestly, if you exercise for recreation, you’re either one of the blessed few who are true athletes at heart, or it’s time you get a life.

Exercising for fun is like brushing your teeth and going to the dentist for fun. Would you do that? I mean, do you stand in front of the mirror at night and say to yourself: “I’m going to brush and floss and flush with fluoride because this is sooo much fun? I can’t wait to do it?! I love it! I’ve been looking forward to this all day! I do this for recreation!”

Seriously. If you do that, fine, but just know you are a bit unusual.

My guess is, you brush and floss and flush because you know it’s necessary. It’s necessary if you want to keep your teeth. It’s necessary because you want to maintain quality of life and take care of yourself.

Exercise is the same thing. Fitness is not for fun. It’s a serious matter. 

It’s fine to expect exercise to be somewhat enjoyable, but if fun and recreation are your main expectation, you aren’t likely to fit and strong throughout your life span. You’ll drop out because the novelty will wear off and you’ll get bored.

Fitness is not about fun. Your level of fitness relates closely to your overall level of health and well being, your energy levels, and how you age. Fitness is a kind of investment into your overall quality of life.

It’s like paying into a retirement fund so that you won’t be poor in old age.

The time you invest every week into increasing and maintaining fitness and strength are an investment into sustained life quality.

You can invest a little bit if you want small returns, or you can invest more if you want to remain strong and energetic into old age.

And this is what it is really about. It’s about how you feel today, how much energy you have today, how strong and flexible you are.

I know 40 year olds who can no longer bend down to tie their own shoes. I know of people in their 70s and 80s who still compete as athletes.

While some people are luckier than others genetically, for most of us it boils down to how much we invested into ourselves.

Are you going to be old at 40 or young in your 70s?

This is not a matter of fun, and it’s not a hobby or recreation. Fitness is about how much you want to get out of your life and for how long. Do you want to live a long, healthy life but be whell chair bound because your legs no longer have the strength to carry you? Do you want to spend the last decades of your life lying down because your back gave out on you?

Sorry, but fitness is not about fun. I agree with you.

It’s kind of hideous to go to a gym where you’re in close quarters with others who perform repetitive movements on gym equipment, haul around pieces of iron that are ironically called dumb-bells, or huff and puff on treadmills.

It’s a hideous thing to do. It gets boring after a while.

But it’s an investment in your life quality. Look at it that way when you go to the gym or choose an exercise regimen. Remind yourself that you’re not doing this for fun. You’re doing this to maintain the strength of your heart so that increased oxygen flow can energize your body and your brain. You’re doing this so that you’ll still be walking in old age. You’re doing it to have enough energy available to do what you need to do today. So you can enjoy your life, because if your body goes out on you, you’ll enjoy your life a whole lot less.

Remind yourself daily, and throw out the idea that fitness should be fun. It’s a discipline. Do it whether you feel like it or not, because you’ll reap the rewards for a long time.