Is exercise negotiable in your life? Part Two

For, me, exercise comes down to motivation - is there a convincing reason that gets me to exercise each day. When the reason is non-negotiable, then exercise will be part of my life.


I listed some non-negotiable exercise experiences from my life in my previous post.  Another is when I have been part of a team sport - touch football, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer - and yes, I have played seasons of these social competitions while I was in my 20s.  You train on the training nights, and you play the games when they are on.  Being part of a team sport means the exercise is non-negotiable.

But what do I mean by negotiable exercise? I think it is exercise where YOU are the only person who experiences the consequences - negative or positive - of doing the exercise.

So, exercise then comes down to how convinced you are of the reason you are choosing to exercise.

Negotiable exercise #1
I have a myriad excuses to negotiate my way out of cycling to work these days.

Nowadays, I drive to work. I am obese, I don't feel that cycling is an option anymore because it is so hard to cycle that far. I have to pack all my clothes and toiletries for the shower, and leave a lot earlier and so on. 

I race around Brisbane for meetings all over the city - so a car seems a far more sensible option than my bike (I don't even know if it works anymore!).

In my current circumstances, cycling is now a negotiable exercise option.  And so far, all my excuses for NOT cycling to work are far more convincing that trying to cycle to work.

So, I am working to eliminate as many excuses as possible, because I LIKE commuter cycling, and it's great exercise.

Negotiable exercise #2
To lose weight, I started personal training last year for a few months, and one more month again this year. But I lost motivation to go because I wasn't losing weight.  The reason to exercise was not convincing, I was doing the work, but not losing weight. The exercise was negotiable.

The were some nice consequences with PT - I could do 80 push ups in a session, I could do chin ups, sit ups were hard but doable.  I had more muscle on my arms.  But, those consequences were not enough to keep me going.  There were not enough positive or negative consequences to keep me going to PT.

Negotiable exercise #3
Right now, I replaced PT and my ridiculous weight loss goals with training to do a 10km fun run in July. It is not a weight related goal - although I am hopint it will be a side-effect.  And I would be pretty proud of myself to jog 10km.

So, is this reason to exercise convincing?

I don't know. I can stop it any time I want, becuase the only consequence would be to my own well-being, or feeling of achievement from jogging in a fun run.

It is hard - three times a week I am pushing myself to follow this training program I found online - and I am red, puffed, sweaty afterwards.

I almost quit the training last week because I had skipped three sessions... I was a "failure" to have stopped training, and would never be able to jog 10km anyway, so why bother.

It is likely that this training for a specific purpose is negotiable exercise, but at the moment, I am keeping my eye on the goal - to do the 10km Gold Coast Marathon Fun Run.

Conclusion
For me, the reason I exercise is key to whether I actually exercise.  Weight loss doesn't seem to be a convincing enough reason to stay exercising long-term.  It is too easy to quit if that is my only goal.