Exercise Without Exercising

There’s a great episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld are mimicking Jason Alexander for his new book titled Acting Without Acting. Their premise was that he was still acting regardless of how he did it. I’m running the risk of ridicule by naming this blog Exercise Without Exercising but here goes:

With exercise, you either love it or hate it. Unfortunately, the majority of people seem to hate it. To be honest, it is understandable. What is the point in training when the alternative is Netflix and napping? However, exercise is essential for a healthy life. Scientists (and ..erm.. really smart people) have proved that exercise can have immediate and long-term health benefits. Exercise can reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Dr Nick Cavill, a health promotion consultant states, “If exercise were a pill, it would be one of the most cost-effective drugs ever invented.” Most importantly, it can improve your quality of life. This is what we really want? We want a better life and to be happy, confident, and have peace of mind and exercise can help us achieve that.

Powerful stuff, right? So why does this not motivate to be more active? There are lots of reasons but I think the main one is that we have a misconstrued idea of how to exercise. We think the only way to exercise is by following the crowd and joining a gym. We are exposed to memes and images of going to the gym at dawn and not eating nice – just chicken and rice.However, it does not have to be like this. The true essence of exercise is enjoyment. When was the last time you smiled at the gym?

To enjoy fitness, the trick is to find a sport or an exercise that you love. Exercise is simply physical activity, which can really be anything. Ranging from power walking to water polo. So use your imagination, try finding something that you really, really love doing. There is a saying that if you love your job you don’t have to work a day in our life. Well the same applies to exercise. I am willing to bet it won’t be in a gym.

Exercise can (and should) be fun and effortless. The key is finding a physical exercise that brings out your passion. And when you do, you may find you need to curb your enthusiasm for exercise.