To call fitness boring, I think it’s important to define it first. Those who find fitness boring tend to synonymise it with puritanical figures who preach the virtues of emotionless hard work: turn up, run, lift, grunt, sweat, then shape your entire life around being able to do this again the next day.
But to me, fitness represents physical problem solving. The fitter you are, the more obstacles you can overcome in life.
You can play with your kids on the floor then hop back up unencumbered. You can catch yourself when you trip on the street, run when you’re late for a train and explore a new city while on holiday. You can even buy something rogue on Facebook marketplace without worrying about how you'll get it home – I speak from experience here, having hiked a heavy oak table more than a mile.
Better yet, you can do all of these things comfortably and competently.
The same applies in sport. A fit body allows you to hit the five-a-side pitch and drop the shoulder without worrying about your ankle rolling, or jump on the netball court knowing your knees and Achilles tendons are up to the job.
Most of us exercise to be better at living, rather than living to be better at exercising, and fitness widens your horizons. It allows for a larger life, leaving few activities off limits and priming you for any potential adventures.
The act of getting in shape doesn’t have to be dull either: despite what social media seems to tell us, exercise exists beyond running and trips to the gym.
Muscle strengthening activities include anything that challenges your muscles to work against load, whether that’s a barbell, band or your body weight. You could do press-ups in your living room, lunge up a hill, hit a Pilates class or try the 12-minute bodyweight workout Helen Mirren has used for years.
As for cardio perks, these are on offer from any activity that raises your heart rate and leaves you breathing hard. If you can find a way to do this that you enjoy, and keep coming back to it, your vital organs will thank you – whether that’s dancing, hill-walking, swimming or, in the case of one friend recently, kickboxing.
So is fitness boring? For some people, yes, as much as it pains me to say it. In many cases, this can be overcome through experimentation; trying something new, doing it with a group. But for a select few, this still won’t deliver much satisfaction.
But fitness makes life anything but boring. And for that reason, moving more is one of the few universal prescriptions I am happy to throw my weight behind.
Hope that helps!
Harry
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