If You’re Out of Shape, You’re Lucky
By: Taylor Foreman
Tags: Progress, Lifestyle, Life, Exercise, Motivation

If You’re Out of Shape, You’re Lucky

A new way to look at exercise

Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash

Exercise isn’t about the far-off goal of being a “fit” person. Exercise is about the very real goal of feeling better, today.

I’ve heard many people say it, from Matthew McConaughey to Joe Rogan:

“Break a sweat every day.”

Beginners Have the Advantage of Time

If all it takes to break a sweat is a jog around the block, then that’s all you have to do.

Eventually, you will need to go farther and farther to really get your heart beating, but that’s not something you have to worry about right now. Right now, all you have to do is break a sweat every day.

I have always hated running. I finally realized it was because I was doing it all wrong. I tried to run way too fast, way too early. I thought about the long-term goals of being a “runner.” I bought a bunch of fancy running shit and then gave up 2 weeks later.

Now I love running. Daily running can be as slow as I want it to be. As long as I work up a little sweat, I know that my mood will be elevated for the rest of the day. That’s the result that I use to motivate myself — not losing weight or getting healthy. Those are just too far off.

Just 7 Minutes

At the beginning of my journey, running literally 7 minutes would be enough to have me huffing and puffing. I would stop there, go inside, and enjoy my endorphins for the rest of the day. I didn’t realize until much later how lucky I was in the beginning stages. Back then, it took so little to improve my mood, I could do it in under 10 minutes.

True, now I enjoy exercise so much that I am happy to do it for 40 minutes or more, but nothing beats the 7-minute mood boost of being a totally out of shape person. If you’re currently this out of shape, I envy you. You could go outside right now, run for a little over 5 minutes, and improve your mood for the rest of the day.

We Evolved to Move

For millions of years, when something made us anxious, we moved our bodies. It wasn’t until very recently that something like an email could cross our path, cause us massive anxiety, and we had no reason to run or attack.

The long-term result is chronic anxiety. We never shake off our feelings, literally. They stick with us day and night, and we suffer a mental breakdown. The antidote is so simple that I ignored it for most of my life. Exercise.

I ignored it not only because it was simple, but also because I thought I was too late. I wasn’t an athlete. I wasn’t a runner. I didn’t want to start. If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell him how lucky he was to be a beginner. It’s so easy to shake off a day’s worth of anxiety when you’re in terrible shape. Just run around the block!

It’s Not A Competition

If I had done that every single day for years, I would be a much better runner than I am now. That’s the only trick — you have to do it every single day. Actually, have to is the wrong way to think about it. Get to, more like. No one wants to go through their day with anxiety. Exercise is the easiest cure for it.

We just never allow ourselves to start because we think there is some competition and we already lost. The only competition is with ourselves and we only lose if we don’t get a little better each day. It doesn’t have to suck. It can be fun and make us feel good. Why didn’t I know this?

I missed out on a magic pill to end my suffering. I know that anxiety takes all forms and not everyone will cure it through exercise, but it is better than medication for many. I knew this, I just didn’t know how easy it was to implement. I didn’t realize that I just needed to make sure to do a bare minimum every single day.

Avoid the “Exercise Kick” Trap

One of the more counterproductive things I did was get into an “exercise kick.” Often with a friend, we would decide to get in shape. Sometimes it lasted a week, sometimes a year, but it always ended. To feel good, we need to integrate moving our bodies into our normal lives.

I can’t stress this enough — it can be as goddamn easy as you want it to be. Just do it every day. Don’t have far-off goals — just the goal to feel good today. Don’t push too hard, especially in the beginning.