Growing Up (in the gym)

“The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, ‘In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!’” – John F. Kennedy

Cause you’re all growns up!

Usually, if you look back on your life, you can see patterns of development in almost every category of day-to-day activity. Most of the time, you can see a clear path of maturation. For instance, you may still like the same music you did when you were in college, but over the years you may have stopped cutting your hair like the band, stopped wearing band t-shirts every day, stopped following the guitarists’ lives, stopped rushing out to buy the new album the very day it is released, stopped going to as many shows… you get the idea.

Some of these changes are intentional, others not. For most of us, having a crazy hair-do and wearing a band’s t-shirt became inappropriate for our lives, specifically our careers and social gatherings. In the beginning this was intentional: it was a realization that a change had to be made. After a while though, you got used to it, and you are no longer even tempted to dye your hair purple.

Other changes may have come unintentionally: following the personal lives of the band members, or rushing out day-of for tickets or a new album lost it’s place in your life. You didn’t decide to stop caring that much about the band; your life just filled up with other things that made the band a little less important to you. You might still eventually get the album, but hearing it next month is just as good as hearing it right now.

What does any of this have to do with fitness or exercise? Well, just like in every other part of life, there is a certain level of “growing up” to be done when you decide to get your body into shape.

• The moment you realize that you can’t get away with eating whatever you want any more, or the moment that a doctor tells you that your physical exam scores aren’t very good, is similar to the realization that in order to get a good job, the crazy hair and piercings need to go.

• When you get your first real job, there is a shocking transition: you no longer have the freedom to just do what you want: there is a boss and a schedule and specific demands – and you may be uncomfortable with it, and sometimes dread it, and be tempted to quit. When you join a gym or a training program, the same thing happens: you get a clear picture of what your body cannot do. The exercises are difficult. You’ll get sore. The immediate effort doesn’t seem to be producing equivalent results.

• But after the initial shock has worn off, after you’ve gotten used to the system and gotten a look at your first paycheck, somehow you don’t miss the crazy outfits as much. Maybe you can afford a new computer now, or you can finally fix up your car. In the gym, you start to get the rhythm of the exercises: they are still challenging, but they don’t hurt the same way anymore; and for the first time, someone says to you, “Hey, did you lose weight?”

So the intentional change: choosing to join a gym or begin a training program, lead to a change that was gradual and wasn’t dependent on a single moment of decision: your body changed enough for someone else to notice and comment. You decided every day not to quit. And for that, you received your first paycheck.

• As time goes by, you really don’t miss going to a show every weekend. Listening to the album in your car on the way home from work is pleasant enough. Besides, you’re going hiking with your significant other and some friends. When it comes to exercise, you don’t miss eating an extra roll or two at dinner. Giving 3 hours of your week to exercise really is quite nice: you can let your mind stray from work, and you no longer feel wiped out from it;  instead, it’s often invigorating. That hike with your friends is something you can actually handle now: you won’t be the party pooper who always suggests seeing  a movie instead.

• Eventually, you’ve established a lifestyle that requires dedication to your work: you actually go for a promotion and a raise: how else will you pay for the extra car, the vacation overseas and a fantastic birthday present for your significant other? The idea of leaving work early on Friday to get to a show is absurd: you’d rather go to Europe. Likewise with working out: if you find yourself somehow kept away from the gym for a week, you start to feel fidgety and down; in fact, on particularly rough weeks, you go to the gym more often to feel better!

• At some point, you may have children who require guidance. You strive to teach them the value of getting a degree and a good-paying job. They will resist, but you’ve seen the benefits and wish only to share it with them. You can even point out an old friend who dropped out of college, never went in for a full-time job, and is now living, alone, in a small apartment. He never goes anywhere because he can’t afford it. And when you are fit and healthy, your overweight friends may occasionally ask for advice, or give you dozens of reasons why they don’t have the time to get fit. You can tell them about your improved blood tests, your higher energy levels, the disappearance of joint pains. Some may listen. But others will continue to refuse, and will continue to get warnings – more dire as you get older – from doctors; they will continue to bow out of physical activities; they will continue to feel rundown. But you made the sacrifices early on; you realized later that they were hardly even real sacrifices compared to the benefits you gained. You matured and they did not.