The other day I was playing table tennis at the office and one of the boys, who apparently has a “notion” that everyone who goes to the gym and has a decent body is Hulk (mentally) and cannot think more than 2 words - “HULK SMASH”. Came over and said, “Dude, this a TT table and not a Bench Press”.
Apparently I beat the crap out of him on Table even though I just recently started playing, while he has been at it for quite some time now. Not bragging about it, but that’s another thing you get when you are involved in some for of workout for a long enough time. You get more athletic, which means, you can pick up any sport quickly and get pretty good at it. But I digress.
Working out doesn’t mean you have to think like General Lee. There are a hundred ways how you can stay fit. And your approach towards fitness really makes a big difference.
Do your own thing. So you hate the gym… so what…? Go swimming, play tennis, go for a run every morning, do push ups at home… There are a hundred options I tell you… but the best would be any sports. Trust me, although it looks glamorous going for a run every morning with some cool running gear and smart ear phones, it is not as glamorous when “you” do it. But if you pick up a sport, like tennis or even table tennis for that matter, you will like it because there is the spirit of competition there.
The competition factor. Humans have a natural predator instinct from the primitive times that doesn’t get used any more. Evolution couldn’t keep up pace with the technological explosion and here we are with large bellies, bald heads and bloated back sides.
You see everything that used to happen in the primitive times, chemically, inside our body is still happening. All the hormones are getting pumped into the blood whenever there is anxiety or fear, muscles contract and body gets into fight or flight. What’s not happening is the actual fight or flight. And that’s why we love a sport where there is a little bit of a fight. Your instinct wants you to fight or flight because you rarely get to use your physical capabilities these days. The body that used to walk miles and fight saber tooth’s now does nothing but sits in the back of the car reading.
Use this instinct of yours. I have seen some friends of mine, who, if I may, are ferociously lazy. They will protect their ease with a tenacity. But when you challenge them to some specific sport, I have seen them spring up to action too. But not every time. Vikas will fight back if it is Tennis or Table Tennis. Challenge him in swimming, he will just sit there laughing. Swimming, for him, is like being the crocodile. Laying around in the swimming pool doing nothing. Find your own sport and challenge yourself. It will add a different zing to your life, and the past will appear to be sedentary.
Reward yourself. Keep targets and reward yourself with “stuff” you want when you achieve them. A good thing would be to start with gear. That swim suit you have been wanting to wear, but didn’t buy because you thought you wouldn’t fit in, those Reebok / Adidas / Nike sneakers, that amazing new IPod Shuffle that has voice over and stores 4 GB of songs, even a new tee or a track.
Targets could be anything, like being disciplined in whatever you are doing for 1 whole month, or running x miles in y minutes, etc. Keep achievable targets in the beginning and reward yourself. Motivation is a major factor.
It doesn’t have to be the Military regime. You don’t have to do 1000 push ups a day and eat nails for breakfast. You can also choose to be creative, and do things that you love and get healthier. After all the target is not to be Hulk and smash things, you know.
