But I hate exercise. Oh, how I wished I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that line. What is it about exercise that people seem to hate? Surely it’s not the sculpted abs or v- taper; the reduction in pain or the lowered cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. It may not even be the physical activity part because I could easily find a bunch of people who claim to hate exercise but love to dance, jump Double Dutch, have sex, swim, or run around with their children. So what is it exactly? When I ask, I’m usually offered superficial answers draped in subconscious denial: “I just don’t like it”. “I hate having to sweat”. “I have bad knees (or shoulders, ankles, etc.)”. The reality is that there are too many exercises to hate all of them; a cool enough environment can eliminate the sweating issue; and there are modifications to accommodate every ache and pain, many of which are exacerbated by a lack of regular activity. The irony is that burpees are the bane of many people’s existence until they’re able to do them. Then magically they don’t mind banging out a set of 10 for the gram…for the likes…for the praise from those people they used to be…you know, the ones who hate burpees.
In my opinion, it’s the challenge that people detest. Exercise requires a certain drive to put your body through a stressful experience, on purpose, for benefits that cannot be seen right away. It requires the kind of discipline that will get up early or go out in bad weather, reject poor food choices, and not see the denial as some form of diet prison. Exercise demands an unusual level of commitment that says I will show up when I don’t want to, and when it gets easy, I will make it harder. None of these characteristics are easy to create or instill.
Someone once said that “physical strength is measured by what we carry; inner strength is measured by what we can bear”. We need drive, discipline, and commitment, not just for fitness but for life. Can you lift them in the gym, bring them into relationships, and carry them to work every morning and back home every night? How strong is your core? What can you bear?