Moving pixels and throwing shapes: how exercise has made me a better designer
By: Yuri Yoshimura
Tags: Work, Work Life Balance, Design, Productivity, Fitness

The benefits of exercise are well-known and the fitness industry is growing more than ever. I’m pretty sure that the majority of my colleagues here in the Idean London studio take up some sort of physical exercise as part of their weekly routine. The culture of our studio is pretty ‘hip and healthy’ — we have fresh fruit available in our kitchens, a great mental health policy in place and a qualified colleague has run the odd yoga sessions in the studio. Personally, physical exercise has become a large part of my daily life and I’m fully embracing the benefits of it in and outside of work — but it hasn’t always been so.

I was never the sporty type at school nor particularly enjoyed the PE lessons. I dreaded the annual sports day and when puberty hit, I became increasingly self-conscious of my body shape. I wouldn’t have believed it if you had told my younger self that I would come to love exercise and go the gym most days.

So how did a self-conscious girl come to love exercise? I first entered the gym the year I graduated university. This was the year of the financial crisis.

Fresh out of uni, graduates were wandering their way around London like lost lambs trying to find a place who would take them on for an internship. It was TOUGH. Finding a place that will let you gain some experience was incredibly difficult, let alone obtaining a job. After spending a few months building my portfolio website, sending out emails to all the agencies, I found myself pressing the refresh button on my email every 5 minutes — waiting to see if I had received any replies from potential employers. With each rejection, unsuccessful interview and empty inbox, I was losing hope. Of course with no income and low mood I became reluctant to step out of the house and meet friends; because traveling out to see them for some kind of social activity required; money. I was still living at home and my mother had noticed how reclusive I was becoming.

My mother, who had been a member of a local gym for a few years, persuaded me to give the gym a try to give myself a breather. My growing frustrations, bored of staying at home, and along with a bit of an ever-present desire to lose some weight I decided to give it a go. How did I find it?

I HATED IT

Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, they seemed to ‘get it’. At first I kind of floated around, mostly sticking to the treadmill and then venturing onto other machines a few minutes at a time. I then plucked enough courage to join the classes — this was a game changer.

Although at first I was the one hiding behind at the back of the class struggling to follow and coordinate my body, within a few months time I noticed how I was getting better at controlling how my body moves. I thought to myself that if I gave it my all in the classes, not worried about how I looked, I would look like I knew what I was doing whilst probably burning a few more calories than my fellow classmates. I had changed my mindset.

This worked. As my muscles became accustomed to the repeated basic moves, I made the movements bigger to make it more physically challenging and with that, caught the attention of the instructors and the occasional shout-outs of praise during the classes. I even had compliments from fellow classmates. I found the praises were embarrassing at first but it did wonders for my morale. I became someone who got to classes early so I could get the front row spot. Bang in centre. I became friends with the regular attendees, and we even began to socialise together outside the gym. The friends I had made there were people I wouldn’t typically come across in my social circle; students, mothers and people much older than my parents.