The Workouts of a Non-Athlete

For the last year, I have been consistently working out five to six days a week, for at least 30 minutes a day, thanks to Daily Burn. Of all the ways my life has changed since I moved to Ohio, this one has surprised me just as much as some of the other more significant milestones which have occurred during the same time.

Thirty minutes a day may seem like nothing much. Prioritizing 30 minutes for something that is not driven by work five to six days a week takes me considerable will power. As any adult can tell you (and I don’t even have kids yet), it is easy enough to find something else to busy yourself with instead of working out.

I am not a born athlete, but I was born to two athletes. Although I had never thought about it this way prior to sitting down and starting this post, my parents met because of sports: my father first saw my mother during her swim team’s practice at a public pool in 1965. They did more than swim throughout their school careers: I remember looking through their year books growing up and seeing at their different team sport pictures. They were competitive and physically fit well into their late twenties, when they ended up having two kids. Even with me, my brother, and a number of unhealthy extracurricular habits, they went to the gym often. My father remained dedicated to swimming until the end of his life, holding the Arizona State Master’s Swimming Record in the 1200 yard Butterfly at the time of his death.

They tried to instill the same love of sports in me. I played many sports informally with the kids on my block growing up: baseball, basketball, and touch football were typical in my elementary school years. I added volleyball and tennis as I went through junior high and high school. While I liked playing with my friends in my free time, I never wanted to formally join a team. Although I could never put a finger on it when I was younger, I realize now one thing which kept me from fully engaging in sports is I did not (and still do not) give a shit about winning.

My parents were not stereotypical “sports parents” who took time to come to practices and yelled from the sidelines. As a result, they were less disappointed in my unwillingness to do team sports than some other parents may have been. So if I wouldn’t do team sports, I would just have to come to the gym with them instead. For many years I was lifting weights and doing cardio with them at the YMCA. A new Bally’s Fitness was built when I was starting high school, so we added a family membership there as well.

I usually liked lifting weights, especially when I got to work with my dad doing weight training circuits. I liked cardio much less: these were the days long before there was a TV attached to your bike or treadmill, so there was little to occupy my mind as I pedaled, walked, or climbed. I listened to my Walkman and tried not to stare at the digital timer as it ticked off slow red LED seconds. I got into running when I was a junior in high school, and went through phases of running for exercise as I transitioned into college. I even trained for and ran a half marathon the year after Dad died.

But my bouts of working out were always just that: phases. They would come and go. I could never consistently focus on my work outs. I would work out for other people (my parents, a potential romantic interest I hoped to be skinnier for), but if someone else wasn’t there to motivate me, I struggled to find the reason in going to the gym. It was something I had been told my whole life I was supposed to do. But if I didn’t care about winning something and if shaving off some pounds now and then didn’t make me happy, what was the point?

I realize now that the one common thread about improvements to my life in the last two years is I have had to recognize the value of taking care of myself. Since I have been focusing on self-care and have prioritized spending my time with people who truly value my well-being, working out for thirty minutes a day has not only been easier, but actually makes sense to me in a way it did not before. Although my workouts will not get me into body-builder level shape, they have had a huge tangible impact on my health. I sleep better. Twinges of back and neck pain are greatly reduced/non-existent. My balance is better. Walking is easier, stairs are easier. I am not an athlete, but I am a better, stronger version of myself.