Feel Good Fitness

Although I've never really given it much thought, I guess my fitness philosophy is that it should feel good. I mean, life's too short to do workouts that make you feel miserable, and the truth of the matter is that if your workout doesn't make you feel good, then you probably won't do it enough to get all the benefits.

The only way to reap all the healthy benefits of exercise is if you do it. And the only way you'll do it is if it fits into your schedule, it's fun, and it makes you feel great! Exercise should make you feel energetic, not exhausted. At its very best, exercise should make you feel strong enough to climb a mountain, and it should give you the energy and love for life that will actually get you off your butt and do it! What's the point of exercise if it can't make you fit enough to go on all the great adventures that life has to offer?

There are so many fitness and exercise options available these days, there's absolutely no reason for you to force yourself to do something you hate. People who detested P.E. class in school--getting fit today doesn't have to mean wearing something you feel fat in, and being laughed at because you're the last to be picked for teams, or because you suck at a particular sport. Getting fit can--and should!--be a celebration of the body you were given, and how much it can do for you. After all, you got up out of bed today, right? You're healthy enough to go to work, you've got legs that can carry you all day long--these are all things to be grateful for. Getting fit just means doing a little extra, so you can be strong enough to do a LOT more.

I love it when people try something new, and realize they can do a lot more than they thought they could. I love hearing about people who push past their limits and realize that they're stronger than they thought they were. Fitness should not be about shame or insecurity. Fitness should be empowering!

Feel Good Fitness should mean being able to say, ya, I'm not a size two, but I can do this many push-ups in a minute. Or, I can finish a 5-kilometer race. And I feel great! Feel Good Fitness shouldn't be about competition either. It's cheesy and a cliche, but the only person you should be competing with is yourself. And, there's no way to lose if you're playing by yourself right? So be forgiving, be compassionate, have a sense of humor. Did you miss a day of working out, and eat a whole candy bar by yourself? Don't beat yourself up about it. It's only one day, and you can also get back on the fitness train tomorrow. Besides, maybe your body needed that rest day. (And, hey, chocolate is full of antioxidants, so don't cut it completely out of your diet.)

Of course, I'm not saying that you should be soft on yourself and never do a puke-in-a-bucket type of workout. I'm all for going to your edge, finding that fine line doing something that's INTENSE and doing something that's PAINFUL. But the "edge" is yours, you decide where it is, you decide when you want to play at that edge, and when you want to back off. The only way to do that is by getting to know your body.

Eoin Finn in his DVD, Power Yoga for Happiness, has a bunch of yogis demonstrating all different levels of skill and experience. In his voice-over, he gives suggestions about how far to push yourself. He says you're welcome to hold back, and stay at level 1, but if it feels right, you might want to try stage 2.

And if you want to go deeper, and have a very good reason for wanting to go deeper...

he invites you try level 3. I've always appreciated those reminders. Do I have a good reason for wanting to go to level 3? Do I want to do it, because my body thinks, yeah, I think I'm ready for that now! Or, is it just because I want to look like that great, advanced, super bendy, blonde girl in the DVD? If it's the second thing, then...well...is that what Eoin would call a "very good reason" for wanting to go deeper? And, if I did go deeper, would I feel good? Or would it just hurt?

Getting fit isn't it easy. Otherwise, everybody would be fit. There will always be days that you don't want to work out, and there will always be days where you feel more tired than usual. But I've never finished a workout and said, "I wish I hadn't done that." Sure, there are days when my workout has me beat, but I always have a great sense of accomplishment after doing it, the sense of having done something good for myself. And, that's a great feeling.

The bottom line for me?  Being fit feels good. Being fit feels great! Why should getting fit feel bad?