Do You Need To Enjoy Training?
I have been involved in sport and training since I was old enough to take instructions. Whether through nature or by nurture, I love training and I love being physically active.
My love for training, however, has blinded me to the reality that for many people going to the gym or working on their fitness isn’t enjoyable. Having searched the internet myself for whether you should enjoy training, I have realised that many people in the fitness industry are ignorant of the fact that for many people training isn’t, and never will be, fun.
Is it fundamental therefore for long term success that you do enjoy training? Is enjoying your training a pre-requisite to achieving your fitness goals?
Clearly, if you enjoy your training you will be far more likely to stick with it.
Of course, this can be said for any hobby or skill; and on the face of it, it would seem rare that anyone could achieve mastery in something without enjoying it, especially considering the time and practice required to do so.
This opinion is compounded by fitness influencers, writers, personal trainers, and athletes who tell the world that they love to train, a majority of these shout that everyone must love training. Those who do not enjoy training see this, and what they see is influential people with the bodies and results that they are aspiring to achieve, and they begin to believe that they must enjoy the training. It is an obvious and logical link to make. Especially when 99% of information on the internet is telling them that they must enjoy it.
Whilst it is a natural link, and I believe a logical assumption to make, it is founded on a lack of information and perhaps ignorance — on both sides.
Ignorance
First, there is ignorance on part of the fitness professional; for believing that because they enjoy training, everyone can and should. This ignorance lies in a lack of understanding. Many in the fitness industry believe that one should enjoy training, and in fact that it is imperative to do so.
Second, the person who does not enjoy training believes that it is easier for the fitness professional because they enjoy the training. This, of course, creates a problematic scenario in which when they are forced to do that which they have never done before, they do not find it easy. They discover that it’s hard, it’s painful, and it’s not enjoyable.
Not only do they have to deal with the struggle at hand, but they also take the psychological and mental battering of not enjoying it. This reinforces the belief that because they aren’t enjoying something that they should enjoy, they will never be able to achieve their results. How can they stick to something that will make them this uncomfortable every single time? Maybe they just aren’t cut out for it, after all, all the people who have made it, enjoy it!
Claiming that everyone should enjoy training, therefore, is detrimental to progress. The truth is, there are many aspects of training that even those who love it with a passion, really struggle with.
Whether it is running outside, performing a set of squats, or pumping out a set of curls, there are times when it is uncomfortable and painful for everyone.
Pain is universal, and fitness is not enjoyable all of the time.
It is also important to consider that it is possible to achieve mastery in plenty of skills that you do not enjoy.
The obvious example would be your job. Unfortunately, a majority of people do not enjoy their job. They do, however, improve the required skills to advance their careers. It is a necessity to improve in the workplace, to achieve your goals and to go on earning a living. There are times that are hard, and there are times when you struggle. But to go on earning more money, you fight on through so that you can continue earning a paycheque.
Of course, you are not training for a paycheque, and so the motivation to struggle through the pain in the gym or during an exercise program is not the same.
Perhaps the solution, therefore, is that to achieve our health and fitness goals, we must re-evaluate the way we see our health and fitness.
Rather than seeing our health and fitness as an optional “perk”, we must treat it as a necessity. When our training is difficult and painful, we must remember why we are doing it, and why we must fight on through the struggle.
We aren’t training because it is helpful, or beneficial, or nice; we are training because we must be fit and healthy. Yes, as one gets older it becomes increasingly difficult to find the time, energy, or money to train and exercise in the ways that we might want to. But, it is imperative that we treat it as a priority, and that we make time for it. Not only because it makes us look a little better, but because not exercising and keeping fit and healthy decreases the quality and length of your life.
Even if you are training in order to look better, achieving your goals will have a profound on your quality of life and mental health.
Rewiring
It is also important to begin to rewire the way you interpret the pain and struggle you feel at the gym or on your run.
It is common, and logical, that when something begins to get difficult, when you start to struggle, or when you start to feel pain, that you ease off and stop.
It is a natural defense mechanism to want to avoid struggle.
The dilemma, when it comes to health and fitness, is that to improve your body you must subject it to situations that it is not used to. To get better, it must do better. The only way to subject it to the sort of stresses and impetus to improve is to do that which you have never done before.
In those moments your brain must recognise that it is for your benefit that you struggle and fight on through. Your body is an incredible tool, with incredible potential and it must be pushed to achieve your goals.
Your body is so incredible even, that it has its own reward system built-in for moments in which you do struggle.
Rewards
When you exert yourself, your body releases endorphins which help relieve pain and stress. Your body also releases dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin; all chemicals that make you feel good. In essence, the more you train, the better you feel about training.
The issue is that the initial hurdle is scary, and it is also the most difficult step of the journey. For those who have not experienced the feel-good factor of training, the satisfaction of the struggle, and the satisfaction of getting stronger, faster, fitter, and healthier; it sounds like an absurd myth — a ploy to get you in the gym.
An improved effort needs to be made to increase awareness of how important health and fitness are. Not everyone needs to be in the gym 6 days a week, but it needs to be a priority to work on your cardiovascular exercise as well as a form of resistance training.
The fitness industry needs to also address the direction it is traveling. Rather than chasing money and neglectfully building up aesthetics as the holy grail of training, it must do more to show people the importance of training and exercise on your health and your quality of life.
It is an uncomfortable and awkward conversation to have, and people must be prepared to come across as condescending and rude in the pursuit of spreading awareness.
Struggle
It must be matched however with empathy and understanding. It is also important that it highlights that achieving your health and fitness goals will not be easy, and that is not easy for anyone. As Tom Hanks said in A League Of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
Struggle is required for growth. This is as true for fitness as it is any other aspect of life. To reach our potential, we must fight through the hard times. Those moments in which we are struggling are the moments that we learn most about ourselves and about what we are capable of. It is also in those moments that we can seize control, even if just for a moment, of our lives and our direction of travel. In those moments it is not down to fate, or destiny, or any other outside force; the result is in your hands and your hands only.
Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets — Friedrich Nietzsche
So, no, you do not need to enjoy training. It certainly helps, and it is recommended that you find a form of training that you do enjoy. There are hundreds, if not thousands of sports out there and ways to exercise.
Your body has a fantastic way of rewarding you for overcoming your struggles. You are far stronger than you realise, and you are capable of truly amazing things.
You never know, you may even begin to enjoy it.
Originally published at https://samdelabertauche.com on February 10, 2020.
