Sometimes, walking to the Kesler Student Activities Center (KSAC) feels like driving to Marion twice.
The challenge does not stop at the KSAC doors either.
Entering the gym can be overwhelming with the whirring of machines, heavy breathing, music, the clang of weights and the sounds of multiple conversations. Not to mention getting “gains” is taken a bit more seriously with summer’s soon arrival.
If we’re honest, for us newbies, it’s intimidating.
Mustering motivation is difficult.
When Darcia Nurkkala, coordinator of academic outreach works with students, she said she often hears students say, “I just can’t make myself do it right now.”
They know what they need to do — even how to do it. It's just forcing yourself to get started, Nurkkala said.
Junior Logan Ross is the co-director of the Fit and Health program.
She said a way to remove the intimidation from exercise is to enjoy it. Instilling longevity to working out can be accomplished by simply enjoying it, Ross said.
People can exercise through activities they enjoy: walking around the neighborhood, playing pickleball or riding a bike.
When she gets a new client, she finds out what the client’s goals are and what workouts they do or do not enjoy. One client hated burpees and running. Ross said that was totally fine; they don’t have to do those workouts.
“It (exercising) doesn't have to be something that's super intimidating like going from zero to 100,” Ross said. “I mean, it's like — just move. You know that's what I'd say: just move.”
Too often, exercise is treated as a chore– a laborious task. It is necessary to reassess how you feel about your exercise routine. Do you — we — enjoy it?
Matthew Renfrow, dean of natural and applied sciences, said vulnerability accurately describes how some people feel in the gym.
“You’re putting yourself out there,” Renfrow said. “You're attempting to do something that you're probably not very good at, right?”
However, there are other effective ways to exercise rather than being in the gym. Outside can be a less intimidating environment, he said. For example, if someone isn’t a great runner, rather than being two feet from another person on the treadmill, a runner may pass a couple of people at a time outside.
He said it’s also easy to get wrapped up in the “best verb” questions: What’s best for this? What’s best for that? He finds these questions fascinating — but it also distracts from the most important detail: Are you moving?
He used to go to the gym with a colleague who was a finance professor.
“You know, I feel like exercise is like finance or investing,” his colleague once told him. “Eighty to 90% of it is just doing something.”
The act of “just doing something” can take different shapes and forms. It does not have to be in the gym. It does not have to be running or lifting weights.
Rather than calling exercise a responsibility, Renfrow described movement as a gift from God.
Humankind has muscles and bones and joints for a reason. When we don’t use them, it’s not going to be good for us, which is not a punishment. Rather that’s just what happens when we don’t live into how we were made, he said.
Have fun with the gift of motion that God has given you and us. Don’t let the gym hinder you from receiving God’s gift of movement. If you can’t muster the motivation: call a friend and take a walk.
“It was a beautiful day yesterday and over the weekend,” Renfrow said. “Just go have fun outside. You know, it doesn't have to be anything super structured or formal — or treadmill. If you feel like a treadmill, go for it, but get outside when it's beautiful.”
