“If we could give every
individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not
too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”
-
Hippocrates
Have you ever had the absolute
perfect amount of physical activity in a workout session? Do you remember a
time when your workout was exactly what you needed that day? Whether it was
achieved by going for a run, bike ride or participating in your favorite group
exercise class, that moment was unforgettable! Many people can remember at
least one time in which the endorphins and sweat were flowing in just the right
proportions that you felt absolutely amazing! You felt as though you worked
hard enough to feel results, but not so hard that you were completely spent for
the day or contemplating wading into an ice bath or looking for the pain relief
gel. That is one of the more perfect examples of how minimalism and exercise
fit together.
If you are the type of person
who does physical activity to the extreme, then there is absolutely nothing
wrong with that approach either. Minimalism is about reducing or eliminating
anything in your life that does not bring you joy. If running an ultra
marathon, participating in a triathlon or enjoying an intense cross fit session
brings you joy, then those activities should be the focus of how you spend your
free time. If you can honestly say that you are not harming yourself or others
in pursuing your fitness goals, then anything that brings you joy should be the
activities in which you choose to participate. Regardless of your preferences,
the guiding principle between minimalism and exercise should be to reduce or
eliminate everything in your life that does not bring you joy. I’ll say it
again for emphasis: minimalism is about seeking joy! Let your sweat, endorphins
and enjoyment of your fitness experiences become your guide to what a
minimalist exercise routine looks like for you. Minimalism looks different for
everyone because each person’s “why” for choosing a minimalist lifestyle is
personal and unique to them. I will be discussing three major connecting
factors between minimalism and exercise: finding joy through your journey to
physical fitness, financial cost and the impact of exercise on your entire life.
Finding joy through your journey to physical fitness
“It’s going to be a journey.
It’s not a sprint to get in shape.”
-
Kerri Walsh
Like most good things in
life, you get whatever you put in when it comes to fitness. That being said,
your journey towards a fitter body is yours alone. None of us truly know when
the last day of our lives will be. I do not ascribe to working out in such a
manner to achieve results as the sole means to an end. I have nothing against
having goals to look and feel better. However, would you be so keen on being
miserable in your workouts and sacrificing every day for the beach body of your
dreams only to die in a car wreck a month before the beaches even open? Though
you would make an attractive corpse, this would mean that your personal
happiness and satisfaction were sacrificed on the altar of aesthetics while completely
ignoring how you felt. Would that truly be worth it to you? In my opinion, that
seems contradictory to minimalism, unless the number on the scale is how you
measure your personal worth.
Can you remember physical
activities that you enjoyed as a child? Perhaps you weren’t great at sports or
phys ed class wasn’t your favorite subject. Surely there were at least a few
things that you did that were a lot of fun but also didn’t feel like work and
make you feel absolutely miserable? Did you enjoy throwing a Frisbee? Now, in
your adult years, there is a great game called Frisbee golf in which you aim
your shot at “holes” or metal baskets across the course. Many cities, towns and
villages across the country have such courses in outdoor parks. Did you ever
jump on a trampoline and think it was great at 8 or 9 years old? Nowadays,
there are indoor trampoline parks that even offer group fitness classes to get
you moving. No matter what types of physical activities you once enjoyed, there
are now adult versions of many of them available for recreation. Even if your
idea cannot be duplicated without running around the playground with a bunch of
five year olds, drawing on these memories can be your muse to what types of
physical activities you may enjoy as an adult.
No matter what you decide,
let you pursuit of joy and how the activity makes you feel become the barometer
for how you proceed in seeking out and exploring these new fitness
opportunities. Remember, this is your journey and no one else’s! Don’t sign up
for cardio kickboxing just because your best friend enjoys it, knowing full
well that you are not nearly coordinated enough to master all the moves! The
search for joy must come from within. Discovering who you really are and being
honest with yourself will be crucial to finding your joy through fitness.
Financial cost
“It is health that is real
wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
-
Mahatma Ghandi
Making fitness and exercise
an important part of each and every day is vital to living your best life. The
problem is, those of us who choose to live a minimalist lifestyle must
carefully account for where our money goes in order to reap the maximum benefits
from this manner of living. There are many different exercise programs, gyms
and fitness studios that will try to make money any way that they can. I do not
fault them; after all they are a business! Like any business, they are trying
to get you to spend your hard earned cash in order to help you live a healthy
life and maximize your fitness. Selling vitamins, supplements, gadgets and
fitness accessories has become a multibillion dollar industry. Would it
surprise you to know that there are many extremely physically fit individuals
who spend very little money on fitness? Would it also surprise you to learn
that there are many others who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars per
year on their physical fitness and are considered morbidly obese or otherwise
out of shape? Do not fall into the trap of believing that you can buy fitness.
Physical fitness will belong to the person who consistently shows up and puts in
the work and effort into their pursuit of a healthy body. There are no
shortcuts to get what you want out of life. This is a truism for many things in
this world, including health and fitness.
When considering how much
money you want to spend on fitness, a minimalist approach would be to determine
the maximum joy for the minimum amount of dollars. Sometimes, it’s simply not
likely if you happen to enjoy an expensive physical activity. If you get the
most joy from ballroom dancing, equestrian sports or mountain climbing, then
your fitness costs will be significantly higher than someone who enjoys taking
complimentary classes at a budget gym chain franchise or laces up a pair of
sneakers for a run around the block. In either case, doing your research to
find affordable alternatives to more expensive options will help you keep your
minimalist focus well in hand. Sometimes, your budget will make the choice for
you. For instance, if you add up the allotment in your budget for fitness and
calculate that you would not be able to afford thousands of dollars to climb
The impact of exercise on your entire life
“Typically, people who
exercise, start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke
less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit
cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. Exercise is a keystone
habit that triggers widespread change.”
-
Charles Duhigg
Like every one of these
twelve concepts that I will be writing about, fitness and exercise are as
interconnected as anything else in your life. From how it impacts your spending
habits, your associations and your life choices, exercise has an influence in
every facet of your existence. Either you commit to your personal physical
fitness goals and reap all the benefits or you ignore exercising completely and
watch your body and entire life fall apart and eventually slip away. Once your
health is gone, in many cases, it’s gone for good. You only get one body to
live in for the duration of your stay here on earth. You cannot go to the store
and buy a new one when the body you currently inhabit wears out. For the few
that do come back from the precipice of type 2 diabetes, heart attack or stroke
caused by morbid obesity, there is still permanent damage that has been done to
your body. While your quality of life will be significantly improved with
exercise, some will have the scars of their poor choices for the rest of their
lives. If you have not yet experienced any of these more serious symptoms, then
it’s possible that your window for turning around your physical fitness is
closing in soon. Do not delay too long or you may regret your inaction.
Exercise is not just for the
young and extremely fit to maintain their tight physique. In fact, those who
are considered geriatric often see the most dramatic results from adding
exercise to their daily regimen. Heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes are
health conditions that can be managed by older adults through exercise. Though
these conditions exist in the morbidly obese, geriatrics also are prone to such
afflictions. Older adults can also benefit from improved balance, reduced
incidents of falls, and can reduce or even prevent arthritis and osteoporosis! It’s
never too late to live your best life. Make each day count, no matter your age
or stage in life!
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