When Did Fitness Become Work?

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

05 Jun 2008 04:48 AM

Why can't fitness be fun anymore? A decade ago, we had a horse farm and I didn't think about how many steps I walked in a day (in fact, I didn't want to know). I worked outside every day, I hauled hay and horse feed; I worked with horses and I went riding. We would go out on long trail rides every other day or two. Sometimes we'd go for an hour and sometimes we'd ride for four hours. I didn't 'work' out or put myself through the 'grind.' I was physically active and I got all the benefits of working outside and with horses and I had a lot of fun doing it.

Making Fitness Fun

Schools are getting in on the act these days with their emphasis on physical fitness (heck our school district canned art classes so they could add a health and fitness class in addition to P.E.). They push and push, they want kids to do push-ups, sit-ups, jog, walk and get hot and sweaty. I asked my daughter if she enjoyed P.E. (remember, she's 7) and she shrugged. She likes it fine on open play days, but not when they are making them work.

At home, I work out every day and it's routine. I actually miss it when I don't do it, but I wouldn't classify it as fun. Romping in the swimming pool, playing water games, swimming back and forth, diving in and getting a workout that way is fun. Just doing laps? Not so much.

Riding a stationary bike while watching my daily dose of soap operas is interesting, but I wouldn't qualify it as fun. Going out with my daughter as she masters her two wheeling skills and we laugh, chat and hang out as we randomly choose our route with the idea of seeing what's there rather than how far we can go? That's fun.

Why We Do It

Why we do something is as important as what we do. Where our kids are concerned, I would actually lean more towards the former than the latter. When something is fun, we're going to do it and we're going to look forward to doing it. When something is just grueling work - well - I know how I feel about work some days.

How do you keep the fun in your fitness?

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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