PeterLake
Member
When I look back on my childhood, it's striking how much time I spent playing. Every day after the last bell rang, I'd spend hours hanging around the schoolyard playing pickup basketball or touch football. In the summers I'd wander out of my house around 9am and come back around 8pm, having spent the previous 11 hours hanging with friends in the neighborhood. We'd run and we'd jump and we'd skip and we'd do just about any other physical activity a person could think of.
Later on, as I entered my teen years, the amount of time spent playing dwindled. Just as much time was spent in motion, but the motion wasn't so fun anymore. Play was replaced by work. Want to make your high school basketball team? Better get in the gym and work. Want to earn that college scholarship? Better start racking up hours of training.
Even once my competitive sports career was over, this "work" mindset persisted. You're an adult now -- gotta stay in shape, gotta stay fit, gotta look good... Exercise became a sort of second job. It may've been a job I excelled at, but still, it was work. And like a lot of work, I came to resent doing it. I dreaded coming home exhausted after a long day at my actual job and having to force myself to go take care of my compulsory second career at the gym.
Over time, I started to feel more and more burnt out with my exercise routine. It felt like I was constantly falling behind. Gained a little fat? Now I have to go work it off. Lost a little muscle? Better hit the gym to workout and gain it back. Eventually I started to feel pretty horrible (mentally and physically) and I didn't look great either. So I started to think about exercise as a concept and a practice.
The conclusion I've settled on is that exercise is stupid.
Yes, stupid. Incredibly stupid, actually. It's not stupid because it's inherently bad for you, it's stupid because it's based on the entirely false premise that you owe your body a debt for its continued use.
As a nine-year-old, I didn't run around day and night in the name of exercise. I wasn't working out, or trying to become more physically fit. I was playing. Playing was fun, and my body was an awesome tool that allowed me to express and enjoy fun physically. And now, I'm proud to say, I've returned to that mindset. I no longer exercise, now I play.
I know how hard it can be to do anything physical when you're in poor health. You can't play for 11 hours a day when you have a million different responsibilities to worry about and barely enough energy to take care of 5% of them. Still, I really encourage anyone who struggles with "exercise" to try reframing it in your mind. It made a huge difference for me and maybe it can for you.
Here are some of the ways I play:
> Long walks and hikes: it's fun to explore the woods, or even to just get out and feel good in the fresh air and sun.
> Lifting weights: I like heavy, low-rep olympic lifts. Power cleans are my favorite. It's fun to see how much weight you can throw around!
> Yin Yoga: It's fun and relaxing to loosen up the body and make new progress with your flexibility.
> Boxing: It's fun to hit stuff. I recommend looking for an open gym where you can work at your own pace. A lot of classes/trainers try to kill you. I prefer working on technique.
> Gardening/Yardwork: It's fun to grow stuff and build things.
> Dancing: There's literally nothing more fun than dancing. Alone at your house, or out at the bar. Pro-tip for the fellas: It doesn't matter if you suck, the guy with the confidence to really let loose on the dance floor gets all the ladies.
> Running/Jumping/Skipping: I'm not talking about 10 mile slogs. But maybe next time you're out on a leisurely walk, you feel compelled to sprint for 50 feet, or skip for 20 seconds. Will you look like an insane person skipping around at the local park? Yeah, probably, but who cares. It's fun to run and jump and skip around like an idiot sometimes.
> Dancing: Yes, I'm saying this again. If you aren't dancing regularly, you're missing out one of the most fun activities life has to offer. Seriously, next time you feel crappy, dance around your room for 2 minutes and let me know how you feel after.
There's endless ways to play, these are just some of my favorites. If you're somebody who has a negative relationship with exercise, maybe you could have a good time trying out one of the things on my list. I see plenty of arguments on here about if exercise is necessary, how much is necessary, how stressful is it, is it necessary stress... For me, all these questions became irrelevant when I stopped exercising and started playing. Playing is good for you. You can never play too much. Your body isn't a loanshark -- you don't have to pay a vig to use it. It's a tool to be used in your pursuit of fun and happiness. I think that fact is as in line with Ray's philosophy of life as anything could be.
Later on, as I entered my teen years, the amount of time spent playing dwindled. Just as much time was spent in motion, but the motion wasn't so fun anymore. Play was replaced by work. Want to make your high school basketball team? Better get in the gym and work. Want to earn that college scholarship? Better start racking up hours of training.
Even once my competitive sports career was over, this "work" mindset persisted. You're an adult now -- gotta stay in shape, gotta stay fit, gotta look good... Exercise became a sort of second job. It may've been a job I excelled at, but still, it was work. And like a lot of work, I came to resent doing it. I dreaded coming home exhausted after a long day at my actual job and having to force myself to go take care of my compulsory second career at the gym.
Over time, I started to feel more and more burnt out with my exercise routine. It felt like I was constantly falling behind. Gained a little fat? Now I have to go work it off. Lost a little muscle? Better hit the gym to workout and gain it back. Eventually I started to feel pretty horrible (mentally and physically) and I didn't look great either. So I started to think about exercise as a concept and a practice.
The conclusion I've settled on is that exercise is stupid.
Yes, stupid. Incredibly stupid, actually. It's not stupid because it's inherently bad for you, it's stupid because it's based on the entirely false premise that you owe your body a debt for its continued use.
As a nine-year-old, I didn't run around day and night in the name of exercise. I wasn't working out, or trying to become more physically fit. I was playing. Playing was fun, and my body was an awesome tool that allowed me to express and enjoy fun physically. And now, I'm proud to say, I've returned to that mindset. I no longer exercise, now I play.
I know how hard it can be to do anything physical when you're in poor health. You can't play for 11 hours a day when you have a million different responsibilities to worry about and barely enough energy to take care of 5% of them. Still, I really encourage anyone who struggles with "exercise" to try reframing it in your mind. It made a huge difference for me and maybe it can for you.
Here are some of the ways I play:
> Long walks and hikes: it's fun to explore the woods, or even to just get out and feel good in the fresh air and sun.
> Lifting weights: I like heavy, low-rep olympic lifts. Power cleans are my favorite. It's fun to see how much weight you can throw around!
> Yin Yoga: It's fun and relaxing to loosen up the body and make new progress with your flexibility.
> Boxing: It's fun to hit stuff. I recommend looking for an open gym where you can work at your own pace. A lot of classes/trainers try to kill you. I prefer working on technique.
> Gardening/Yardwork: It's fun to grow stuff and build things.
> Dancing: There's literally nothing more fun than dancing. Alone at your house, or out at the bar. Pro-tip for the fellas: It doesn't matter if you suck, the guy with the confidence to really let loose on the dance floor gets all the ladies.
> Running/Jumping/Skipping: I'm not talking about 10 mile slogs. But maybe next time you're out on a leisurely walk, you feel compelled to sprint for 50 feet, or skip for 20 seconds. Will you look like an insane person skipping around at the local park? Yeah, probably, but who cares. It's fun to run and jump and skip around like an idiot sometimes.
> Dancing: Yes, I'm saying this again. If you aren't dancing regularly, you're missing out one of the most fun activities life has to offer. Seriously, next time you feel crappy, dance around your room for 2 minutes and let me know how you feel after.
There's endless ways to play, these are just some of my favorites. If you're somebody who has a negative relationship with exercise, maybe you could have a good time trying out one of the things on my list. I see plenty of arguments on here about if exercise is necessary, how much is necessary, how stressful is it, is it necessary stress... For me, all these questions became irrelevant when I stopped exercising and started playing. Playing is good for you. You can never play too much. Your body isn't a loanshark -- you don't have to pay a vig to use it. It's a tool to be used in your pursuit of fun and happiness. I think that fact is as in line with Ray's philosophy of life as anything could be.
..
