Boredom in exercise, where is your Joie de vivre?

Boredom in exercise, where is your Joie de vivre?
7/8/2013
Updated:
4/24/2016

Boredom or where is your Joie de vivre?

 

Boredom in exercise is not uncommon, even fitness professionals or seasoned athletes may encounter it. As a rule training of any kind often requires repetition as a requisite to achieving mastery or even basic competency. However, all practice is not created equal. I don’t know who said it first, but more than one of my teachers said… “ To have a perfect practice, you must practice perfectly”. The inclination, the desire to do something well to work on perfecting or attaining proficiency, a passion for excellence must be present in an endeavor to maintain interest.

Possessing and nurturing these qualities within ourselves is the tool that allows us to peer below superficial involvement. It brings us into a state of being where focus breeds fascination.  We can pull back the veil to uncover the mysteries.

We can discover the joy of limitless self-cultivation. In all things desire to do something well, endeavor to incline yourself in something, to be better.

 

 

“Being well is doing something well…”

 

Em

           

 

Many modern “exercise trainings” lack a substantive direction to develop abilities. Their focus is to shape the exterior to the current body trend physique. Pick up a magazine from ten or even five years ago and the difference in what was considered to be healthy and the appearance of the optimal physique was significantly different from todays. Keeping in mind that health is on the decline even as longevity is increasing.

 

Trainings that emphasize change to the outward appearance, as their primary goal are the lowest level of exercise and movement training. Body composition changes occur whether you want it to or not, if you make good food choices (healthy) and engage in a holistic exercise regimen that incorporates strength, flexibility, relaxation–release, alignment, agility, muscular endurance and movement skill development.  You will look the best you can.

 

Boredom is inherent in the practice of any “exercise” that is not directing the practitioner to achieve competency in something real, functional and sustainable . If the focal point of any given exercise training is to alter how the body appears for the sake of appearance without regard to enhancing, maintaining, restoring function or spiritual development the motivation for it will wax and wane. Boredom is a byproduct of the lack of interest in the level of achievement. Boredom is a consequence of not paying attention. Boredom is the enemy of self-control and limits self-development.

 

Combating boredom

 

Make exercise training an act of awareness and act on the feedback to make adjustments. Everyday is different don’t judge what you need to do for yourself today based on what you could or couldn’t do yesterday.

Stay involved, pay attention to yourself utilize your sensory feedback to refine what you are doing. Get better on purpose. Extrapolate your ability into the everyday, the information i.e. exercise education must leave the classroom to impact and inform your life or it is not meaningful enough to be pursued.

 

 

Manipulation of the body’s outward appearance by influencing body composition is finite and does not take into account the natural changes brought about by aging.

           

In “natural” (without drugs) exercise training there is a limit to what you can change and augment in the human body’s appearance.

 

 1.    There is a limit to the amount of muscle you can develop.

 2.    There is a limit to how much body fat you can lose.

 3.    “There is no such thing as spot reduction”

 

There is a limit to where that fat can be lost from. “There is no such thing as spot reduction” you cant even choose where it will be lost from and in what quantity as that is not under your direct control.

 

 

If.

 

The sole goal of your “training program” is to alter the body composition it is limited. And with proper progressive exercise modalities often reaching the peak of what is possible can be done in weeks or months. The mind is now relegated to staying motivated with witnessing maintenance or minute cosmetic changes at best.

 

So.

 

  • Mathematicians are expected to be training in mathematical proficiency.

 

  • Musicians are expected to be capable of producing music.

 

  • Trained athletes are required to develop the range of skills in their sport.

 

In every school of human endeavor the expected outcome of “training” is to become proficient in or to develop the ability of that training. Physical exercise training with no goal or expectation of self-development is flawed and for many they quickly lose sight of purpose and motivation.

 

Try this.

 

 

On a stationary exercise bike

 

Do not watch the screen or a screen.

 

Put the program on random

 

Close your eyes and pay attention.

 

Ask yourself…

 

 

 

Posture

 

Is your posture correct?

 

Do you have space in your lower back?

 

Is your neck comfortable? Are your shoulders tense?

 

Are you holding on to hard or too loose?

 

Are you sitting too far left or right?

 

 

Breathing

 

Are you breathing through your nose?

 

See if you can close your mouth and still maintain your pace.

 

Can you feel the bottoms of your lungs as you breath in?

 

Are you expelling the air from the bottom of your lungs?

 

Middle? 

 

Chest?

 

Are you using all of your lungs or is your breathing shallow coming from the chest?

 

Can you breath deeper?

 

Use more of your lungs without losing control?

 

Which lung are you using more?  The left lung or your right lung?

 

Can you balance it out?

 

Which nostril are you using more?

 

Can you balance it out?

 

 

Balance

 

Are you leaning too much on your left side or right?

 

Can you balance it out?

 

Are you using your left leg or right leg more?

 

Can you use them equally?

 

Are you using the left foot or the right foot too much?

 

Can you distribute the work equally?

 

 

Are you still bored?

 

 

Emory M Moore Jr. is the founder of EM Technique - way of body harmony for more information visit  www.emtechniques.com.