0 CommentsMidlife motivation to start exercising takes many shapes and burns at different intensities.
For me, a looming 50th birthday was a powerful reason to whittle away at a waistline that had expanded without much notice from me – until I saw pictures on Facebook. I had been aware enough to realize that my energy levels were flagging and feeling good was more elusive.
A midlife move to finally get in shape requires many kinds of motivation. Grab one – any one – and ride it, says Greg Hassell, who started on an elliptical and recently discovered indoor cycling. Photo taken at Trotter Family YMCA.
About the same time, a friend urged me to join a fancy health club that stretched my budget but offered every amenity I could dream of. One of the most seductive was the tall cup of free, Starbucks-worthy coffee available after morning workouts. But if I’m being honest, one of the most powerful sources of motivation came from a most unexpected place – the disgusted look on a personal trainer’s face. After joining that new gym, I signed up for a complimentary session with a trainer, who turned out to be a 20-something with a buzz haircut and almost zero body fat. We were getting along pretty well when the conversation turned to the routine for my infrequent workouts.
“What cardio machine do you use?”
“I like recumbent bikes,” I said, referring to the machine most similar to an easy chair with pedals.
Long pause. The trainer’s eyes swept the room while he tried to find the polite words to tell me that a recumbent bike would be a perfect option if I were 70 years old or recovering from a catastrophic car crash.
“Recumbent bikes are for people who are – ummm – older and in worse shape than you are.”
Fair enough, I thought. What would be better?
“Try something weight-bearing, like an elliptical machine.”
Then we walked over toward a particular elliptical machine that was more challenging than most of those lined up in the long, gleaming rows. He gazed at it as if it were a treacherous mountain he was ordering me to climb.
“Ideally, you’d use this one.”
“How long should I try to go each time?”
It was then I saw it – a crawling smirk that slowly covered his face.
“Whatever you can manage,” he said in a way that suggested I’d probably fall dead after a very few minutes.
And that was it. Sure enough, I made a beeline for that machine every time I went back to the gym after that. I had to conquer the smirk or die trying. The smirk reliably popped up before my eyes whenever my muscles started to burn and all the oxygen seemed to have been sucked from the room.
And there was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to let the smirk win.
Some folks have asked if this was all part of the trainer’s mind game, but I am certain it was nothing more than the dismissive pity he felt for a white-haired dude who’d let himself go.
By the way, I am not particularly proud of any of this. And I’m not recommending this approach to anyone else. But I do think you should burn whatever fuel you’ve got handy. If you want to impress an old girlfriend at your high-school reunion, why not use that? But I suspect the lower the quality of your fuel, the shorter its lifespan.
If you want to live longer, that’s fuel that will probably last. But if you need a quick boost to get over the hump, being chapped at a smug trainer is not such a bad way to go. Heck, it got me through a full year and helped me lose a dozen pounds.
Recently my wife talked me into joining a spin class, something I’d rejected repeatedly because an hour of hard pedaling sounded downright brutal. She promised it would be fun.
As it turns out, we were both right. Sitting on that bike, flop sweating and hanging on for dear life, I frequently glanced at the big clock on the back wall. Once, I was astonished to see only 10 minutes had passed. I wondered if my old friend, the smirk, would make an appearance. But it never did.
That motivation has finally dropped away like a spent tank of fuel falling off a rocket. Something else may take its place eventually. But right now, feeling good again is motivation enough.
