I think I've mentioned before that I don't actually like running very much. Although I do admit that I can sort of see the fun in going for an easy run — that is, if there is such a thing as an easy run, which is only possible if you have endured many not-so-easy ones.
Anyway, I was thinking that, for novice exercisers, one piece of advice I don't really buy anymore is the advice that, when trying to fit more physical activity into your life, you should choose your activity based on what you like to do or find fun.
I think the idea is that if you like the activity, you will have extra, intrinsic motivation to get out there and do it. After all, if you enjoy (say) cycling, the thought of getting on your bike will fill you with eagerness instead of dread. You will not f0cus on the unpleasantness of exertion but instead on the cool breeze and the changing scenery and the satisfaction of transporting yourself with your own muscles. And therefore you will exercise more often than if you chose an activity that you didn't enjoy. Right?
It's not a crazy idea. But it may be unnecessarily limiting. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider taking up an activity you don't like or find fun.
(1) Just because an activity is fun doesn't automatically mean you will do it often. Skiing is really fun for me; I do it a few times a year if I'm lucky. Going to a movie with my husband is fun; I think we've gone to fewer than five shows together since we had kids. I also think rollercoasters are fun, and riding on trains, and visiting art museums all by myself. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, I hardly ever do any of these things. I am sure that if you pause for just a few moments, you will think of several activities that are good, that you would say "Oh, I really love doing that," but that… you don't do, or at least don't do much. Why don't you do them more often, if they're so fun? Things get in the way, hm? Well, if it's true about movies, it's also true about bike riding or hiking or belly dancing. I just don't see any evidence that picking an activity you "like" as your very own exercise plan will make it more likely that you will exercise more.
(2) Some things aren't fun until you get good at them. I swim once or twice a week, myself. I like swimming — now. I look forward to the physical sensations of pulling myself through the water — now. Once upon a time it wasn't so. I had to take a year of swimming lessons before I really could relax and just enjoy swimming. Now that I'm a competent fitness swimmer, I really do enjoy it, but there was a lot of hard work getting there. And I didn't get there by restricting myself to activities that I already enjoyed. I got there by deciding I wanted to be able to enjoy it, and knowing I would have to work to learn how, and then by signing up for lessons and showing up week after week. I had to take up an activity that I did not already enjoy.
(3) Many of us can't imagine finding any sort of exercise we like. If you're a really, seriously virgin exercise newbie, maybe the whole idea of moving your body hard and fast is kind of scary. Maybe you suffer from post-traumatic gym class stress disorder. Maybe you hate the way it feels when you get winded just climbing the stairs. If you've never known what it's like to get moving and enjoy it, how can you know what sort of exercise will appeal to you? Don't let these exhortations to "find an activity you enjoy" intimidate you. You don't have to enjoy it to do it. It's not true that you are doomed to quit if you pick the wrong exercise.
(4) "Fun" is probably not the problem. The biggest barrier between you and exercise is likely to be something other than disliking physical activity. Inability to carve out time, or need for someone to watch the kids, or procrastination, or fear of being seen by others, or lack of access to a safe place to exercise, or lack of equipment, or lack of family support, or chronic illness — none of these things will be "fixed" by choosing an activity you ordinarily would enjoy. Figure out what you can do to knock down what's truly standing in your way. It might mean picking an activity that's not your favorite, but at least you'll have an easier time getting there.
(5) Give yourself more credit — you are perfectly capable of doing all kinds of things that aren't particularly fun. The flip side of "There are many fun things I don't do" is, of course, "I do many things I don't enjoy every day." I hate folding laundry and yet I do it a couple of times a week. I don't love to go grocery shopping with four children and yet when I have to do it I can get it done. Heroically I perform countless no-fun actions every day for little or no thanks. Why can't I do no-fun exercise too?
(6) There are ways around the no-fun parts of a no-fun exercise, but it can take time to discover them. I don't physically enjoy running, but in the years since I took it up I've learned some tricks. Simple ones like setting up a series of carefully chosen music playlists in my iPod. Mental ones like focusing on being grateful for forty minutes to spend on myself, or on offering up my tiny suffering for someone else. More complicated ones like following a scripted training regimen.
(7) Some of the things that are no-fun at first, you may learn to appreciate with time. I used to hate the achy feeling that would appear in my muscles the day after a workout. Now, I actually kind of like it. Right now, in fact, I'm aware of a pulling feeling in the backs of my thighs, and I know that this is a mild ache from yesterday's run. But every time I feel that slight burn in the muscles, I am getting a little glimmer of the thought, "Oh, yes — I had a good long run yesterday, I can still feel it." Achy muscles feel like an accomplishment to me now, and because of that I experience them, truly, as a pleasurable sensation. Other things that have morphed from nuisances into pleasures: the intense hunger that appears an hour or two after a workout (because whatever you eat tastes SO good when you're wolfishly hungry from hard exertion), and the sensation of jumping right into a cold swimming pool. Used to hate them. Now anticipate them with longing.
(8) Even something that is not fun can be made interesting, and maybe "interesting" will keep you coming back better than "fun" would. I have had a lot of success, running, with turning it into a learning experience. I don't like running, but perversely, I do like spending eight weeks working on form drills, or following a training regimen for an upcoming 5k. I have found that having a program and mixing things up in a certain way does not make running any more "fun," does not make me "like" the sensation any more… but it does make it interesting, and that keeps me coming back to find out what will happen in the next installment. Tune in next time to find out if Erin will be able to run five two-minute intervals at 7.2 miles per hour, or if she will stumble and be thrown off the back of the treadmill!
(9) There are better rewards than fun. Sometimes when I am running on the treadmill I hate every minute. Hate it. Really hate it. Spend every breath wanting to stop, and suffering more for knowing that at every breath I could stop but won't. And then when I've met my goal and the run is over and I step off — I have this tiny spark of pleasure from knowing that I didn't quit. Each time I don't quit the spark is a little bit warmer. I am changing myself into a stronger person from the inside out.
So — don't feel discouraged if you make lists of things you "like" to do and then realize that none of the things you "like" are realistic activities to engage in regularly. Pick some activity that is realistic to establish first. The nice thing about this is that, since it is realistic, you can start it right away. Then consider committing yourself to learning to like it as much as you can. That should buy you some time, at least, while you figure out how much it is possible for you to like it. And even once you hit that limit, you never know — there may be more to it than you think.
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