User blog:Taldin/Exercising Demons

(One of my big ideas to be more active is to create content that sparks discussion -- this is Workout Wednesday, as opposed to Thoughtful Tuesday.   Dedicated to physical activity, or ways to challenge ourselves to push our limits.)

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Wednesday is my official workout day. I have a class that I joined up with on a whim -- 'Real Movement / Correct Movement', where the instructor mixes up something he calls 'stick yoga' with body weight stretching exercises and joint strength improvements. It is the polar opposite of lifting weights -- most of the time we never use weights at all.

The principle behind this is that most exercises are about building muscle density, but can also build bad habits because we have certain exercises that we favor (biceps being the big thing), and we avoid doing exercises that we don't like and / or don't provide a lot of obvious value.

"Show me a bodybuilder who can dead lift 350 pounds, but who doesn't do any knee flexibility work, and I guarantee you that by the time he's 45, his back and knees will be shot." he says. Every week he changes up the exercises as a way to keep us coming back -- each session is a mystery, and a way to show us, as I put it, 'where I had muscles I didn't realize I had. Ow.'

We all have our exercises of choice; it's how we motivate ourselves to get out and do it. Our reason for doing it -- being healthy -- is weighed against the effort and opportunity cost of doing it. I have a bunch of friends, family, and coworkers who are running enthusiasts - but, having had bad knees for years, I avoided running extensively.

Others are swimmers. Others are rock climbers. The key to exercise is similar to work and a habit rolled together; you have to enjoy it, and you have to find motivation in your head to stick with it. To make it a habit, to wit.

At one point in my life I spent two years taking Zumba classes; I enjoy dancing, and this is exercise plus dancing. It got my endurance up. But my current therapist said that that was part of my knee problem -- Zumba is about uncontrolled movements and rapid direction changes and stops if you really throw yourself into it -- and I was really throwing myself into it.

At one point in my life I was a climber; if there was a high spot, I would climb up into it. (I was nine.)  I don't have that ability anymore. Maybe someday I'll get there again.

Exercise is mental just as much as it is physical. It ought to be fun - which is why so many people get tennis elbow, I imagine.

What's your exercise of choice, what got you into it in the first place, and how long have you stuck with it?

How do you 'raise the bar' once it gets easy, or do you just coast along with the flow of enjoyment?