I Don’t Like Working Out
I don’t enjoy exercising. However, I like not exercising even less. Over the past two years, I’ve finally found a consistent routine that I find of essential value to my daily life.
My alarm goes off at 6am most mornings. I never want to exercise. I always consider bailing. I never do. Maybe one or two bails in two years. What gets me out of bed is my love of coffee and the day ahead.
I make the coffee and work a little. Something in my email frustrates or upsets me. I consider not going to the gym and just stewing over the email issue. I cast this impulse aside.
I don’t eat breakfast before working out and tend to get nauseous easily. I’ve found that BCAA powder in water soothes my stomach during work out, so I mix it into my water and head to the gym.
The gym (Structure Personal Fitness) is two blocks from my house and is run by my friend Kevin.
What makes the training unique is:
- Small group training: you work out with 3–4 other people and one trainer. This creates a community element and is significantly more affordable than private. People tend to be on a schedule, so some people in my group I’ve been working out with for over a year. It becomes a bit like being on a team. I’ve seen them excel and get stronger, they’ve seen me do the same.
- It’s almost all weight training and the exercises are different almost every day. On a given day you do: upper body, lower body, or total body. This is both mentally stimulating and challenging. It avoids the mundane nature of cardio — where you stand on an elliptical at low heart rate reading your phone.
- I wear a heart rate monitor that is projected onto screens, this allows me to track my rest periods.
Even before the training begins, often during the warm up, my mind is clear. All the hassles and worries float away, and I am focused on the physical exertion and challenges of the complex movements.
This may all be obvious to many, but I’ve never been an athlete and it took till my late 30’s to get this workout experience.
Interestingly, two years in, I’ve started getting productive ideas between lifting sets, and have employed a notebook that I keep at the gym for ideas.
After training, my clothes feel better that very day, I have more energy, and I feel even more spring in my step than usual.
I train about 4 to 5 hours a week. It’s a big part of my life. And I’m glad I’m doing it, even if it came to me late.
