March 30, 2022 by Lazer Brody
Why do people shy away from exercise?
Maybe they have PTSD from having been forced to do all kinds of strenuous and unpleasant things in PhysEd class in junior high school. Maybe some impersonal gym teacher made them run until their lungs were on fire. That’s worse, they showed up all sweaty afterwards to history class because there was no hot water in the gym showers. Or maybe they hated the forced marches and the constant “drop down, get ten” from military basic training. Or, like so many others of the cyber generation, they feel much happier gripping a game-boy joystick than gripping a lacrosse stick or baseball bat. What’s more, regularly-scheduled exercise requires self-regiment (ugh – get outa here!). Or, maybe they did try exercise and they hurt themselves, or they went to the gym and felt self-conscious. People have more excuses to avoid exercise than pigeons in the park…
That’s a shame, because nothing makes you feel so vibrant as the post-exercise feeling of accomplishment and the exhilaration of endorphin, the feel-good hormone triggered by exercise, which is the world’s best natural anti-depressant. My nickname for endorphin is “natural gusto.” Let’s go for it…
Here’s how I crack my clients’ exercise phobia – I teach them how to exercise creatively. The principle of creative exercise is simply to create an activity that you love, where you can move your body in the process. You don’t have to follow anyone else’s formula. Do what makes you feel good. Here are a few examples:
You get the idea – now use your imagination. Maybe you’ll get your bike or your roller skates out from under the pile of junk in the garage. The key is to do something enjoyable; don’t let it become a dread or routine.
Once you get used to exercising, and you begin to feel great and look your best, you won’t know how you ever lived without exercising. Go for it! Start slow, and enjoy it, just like you enjoy a favorite meal. The difference between the exercise and the meal is that the former burns calories and doesn’t cost you a cent. There is a life of fitness outside the gyms. G-d bless for good health, LB