Lean and Hard

(Photo credit: fitsugar.com)

Many people do. So they don't do it. Some people do it anyway, but there's absolutely no enjoyment in it. Then there are those who actually find pleasure in it. They work out regularly and they truly love it. Where do you come down on this? I kind of matters, doesn't it? To your health, happiness and healthspan (as opposed to lifespan).

We've all heard the age-old wisdom of "no pain, no gain." And there's truth there, but here's my thinking: If your workouts don't give you some pleasure and enjoyment, even as they cause some discomfort, you are far less likely to get regular exercise or keep it up as a lifestyle. So what can we do to make working out enjoyable?

Accepting that achieving and maintaining fitness requires hard work, it makes sense to find an enjoyable means to that end. Some tips:

Find an activity that you love and that fits your life. It could be golf, tennis, gardening, basketball, running, walking, rock climbing or going to the gym and pushing your muscles to fatigue (that's when you can just barely complete that last repetition).

Do enough to be fit, not to be a star athlete (unless you really are a star athlete). Some people push themselves so hard at the gym that they dread going. It's a matter of cost versus benefit. Exerts tell us that the difference to health between moderate exercise and no exercise is vast, while the difference to health between moderate exercise and strenuous exercise is relatively small. And what's worse, if you push your body to the point of injury, you won't be able to exercise at all, at least for a while.

Build your fitness gradually. Muscles that are not used to any exercise will sing with pain when starting out. The soreness that comes when you work out for the first time in years is horrible. You'll walk around wincing with each step. It makes sense to start out slowly, letting your atrophied muscles have some time to adapt to the new demands of your workouts. That way you can minimize that initial soreness and feel good about keeping it going. (There's another kind of soreness that is a regular part of working out when you do it right, but this kind is actually pleasant in a weird way.)

Do it regularly and often enough for it to benefit. Don't be a weekend athlete who collapses with a heart attack trying to do things your body is totally unprepared for. That's no good to anyone.

Any other tips you'd like to share? Add your comments!

Workout song of the day...



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Some people believe that if you can picture something in your mind, or even speak it, you can bring it into being. I don't believe in some mystical power we all have to create reality, but it's perfectly logical and reasonable to think that if we can envision some state of being in our minds, we'll be more likely to be motivated to do the things that will make it happen, and to recognize opportunities to bring it about.

That's why I like to motivate myself with visions of people I want to look like, at least in terms of leanness and hardness. Here are a couple of my motivational movie stars:






What else helps motivate me? Great workout music! So from time to time I'll share some of my favorite tracks. (I hate the slow, soulful stuff they play at some gyms, makes me want to sit and contemplate the mistakes I've made in my life. There's a time for that but it ain't at the gym.) Here's one to start things off. Feel free to share your own in the comment section.

Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict a Riot


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Today I weighed in at under 200 pounds. A few days ago I wore a pair of pants that have been too small to wear for a very long time, and I found in the right front pocket this movie ticket from 1995. Die Hard 3! The child's ticket means I had taken one (or more?) of my wonderful kids. I think that year was probably the last time I weighed less than 200. Elementary, dear Watson?

To me this is a more significant milestone than losing 100 pounds, I'm not sure why. It just feels more important for some reason. So, lean and hard is now within my grasp!

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