Let's Talk About...Working Out

Ok. Now I know we live in one of the most healthy, athletically inclined, outdoor oriented places in America. In fact, I remember when I first moved here, I was asked, "What do you do?"

Call me crazy but I thought they meant what do I do for a living, or what is my profession. As I mumbled something about corporate law and estate planning, I was interrupted with, "No, I mean what do you do, like sports."

My eyes grew wide as I again fumbled for an appropriate and Boulder-friendly response. Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore.

I have not been caught flat-footed answering that question since.

In fact, I have tried all the most common sports, as I am sure most people here have, including skiing, hiking, climbing, cycling (both road and mountain, of course), tennis, swimming, scuba, river rafting, water skiing, windsurfing, bowling, softball, golf, horseback riding, and an occasional waterslide.

Recently, I tried paragliding, hot air ballooning, helicopter rides and skydiving (maybe not sports per se, but tons of fun). Oh, and I will never forget my short-lived venture into martial arts over the years: karate, capoeira and kung fu. Those didn't really work out for me.

So with all that fun, why is it that when it is time to really work out, it feels like going to school on a Monday morning? Anything but!

Ah, it's one thing to exercise doing a sport or something you love. It is entirely different when it's time to go to the gym. And if there is a trainer involved, yikes, the pressure! Suddenly, you aren't feeling well, overslept, your work-out buddy isn't coming, or you have to do the laundry. A million reasons not to go.

Pick your poison: the StairMaster, elliptical trainer, Peloton, rowing machine, reformer (which has not yet reformed this body), and, of course, the TRX that mockingly dangles in my office. The anticipation of that leg press, bench press and chest press just makes me kind of depressed.

Like most people in Boulder County, I have been to countless yoga (hatha and hot, which is a whole other column), and Pilates classes, paid a personal trainer, jogged and biked up and down hills, and even did a pretty lengthy stint learning kickboxing, which taught me not to eat much before a workout or it will end up on the floor.

Here's what I ultimately concluded:

Basically, at the gym, instead of learning a new skill or sport, you learn how to gauge how long an hour really is. Seriously, a five-mile hike is a pleasure but five miles on the treadmill is torture.

Yes, I know exercise is important for your heart, lungs, muscles, circulation, and a key to a longer life. And I know the sweet endorphin rush after a 25-mile bike ride. It's kind of a Rocky Mountain High. But as I grow older, my feeling is that if I want an endorphin rush, gummies are now legal.

So, go for it all you climbers, cyclists, swimmers, hikers, and runners, I say more power to you. If you love the weights, treadmills, and presses, great! But for me, I like to play my workout and take the work out of it.