I liked this bit by Myke Bartlett in The Graun about taking up running during Covid. Partly because it had everything I want in a Grauniad piece about exercise. A slovenly Grauner, forced into self loathsome movement, a…
No, that’s it.
I was struck by a couple of later lines in the piece about how he’d eventually come to hate/love it so much that he got rid of anything that distracted him from the pain.
“As the novelty of running wore off, I learned to jettison the apps – those tools that strive to gamify exercise… Over time I’ve even stopped listening to music and leave my phone at home.”
I’ve reached the same place with strength training, although unlike Bartlett I love it and can’t wait for my next hit. But while I used to listen to a couple of crunchy playlists to get me through, I now prefer to lift in silence. I think it helps me concentrate.
Still need music for cardio though. That will never change because, honestly, it’s super fucking dull and I need the beat to get through.
i've never been one for regular strenuous exercise. Used to swim laps when the kids were getting swimming lessons but once they stopped so did my laps. I walk once, sometimes twice, a day. The morning one done in silence with the dogs with the most noise coming from an exasperated curse when Monty the dog wants to shoot dust at yet another standing pole/tree/fence post/bush/blade of grass or just plain pissing in the wind. That walking time though time is bliss. I get to think about stuff and sort things out or just day dream while listening to the world wake up. The sometimes second walk at lunch is when my work mate and i catch up for a chat and always makes the afternoon better. I listen to audio books while doing chores outside though - used to be with headphones but now its either the phone speaker or a bluetooth speaker as that way i can hear if a snake is trying to make itself noticed and giving me warning signs or i hear gang gangs crunching int he trees above and i need to rush off to get the camera. I think i prefer to walk with no other distractions than the world doing its thing around me. And if i miss that morning walk? Hooboy, i get fidgety and grumpy. I'm glad that the article confirms my suspicion that running will never provide that so called rush for me :)
I think the silence and the repetitiveness of the action, running, walking, swimming, lifting, allows your mind to wander, allows it to sort out your shit in the background while you focus on the present, I guess, the now, the physicality, the action.
I find I also need white noise, well, something that becomes white noise like familiar music or the Noizio soundscape, or a beat like you need for cardio, to distract my conscious brain from thinking so my unconscious/semiconscious/whatever brain does what it needs to do.
Cardio for cardio's sake is always, I think, going to be a slog. But finding some activity you enjoy that forces you to do cardo? That's way more fun.
My current drug of choice is mountain biking. Get out on the bike for an hour or two in the bush, listening to birds singing, watching wallabies hopping away, dodging the very occaisional koala on the track.. it's magical. Add in some low-grade adrenaline, tempered by the sensibilities of middle age, and it's a great companion activity to lifting.
I get most of my cardio from walking the dogs, which is pleasant enough. But a couple of times a week I will hop onto my air bike and smash out about 10 to 12 minutes of HIIT.
I always tell people I don't run because I enjoy it (that's cycling), I run because it teaches me how to do hard things and achieve goals.
For years I refused to listen to music and in the last few months have got a set of bone conducting headphones and now always run with music. I am still on the fence with it, I don't think it helps me perform because if it distracts me my pace instantly drops. But I have all my workouts uploaded to my watch and the updates in the headphones make doing my intervals SOOOOOOOO much easier. So I would probably wear the headphones even if they weren't playing anything.
All the people who exercise it can be different, try with, try without and find what works for you at the time. You and your situation can change, do or do not whatever help you. I like seeing/reading the different experiences and hear that they worked for them.
i've never been one for regular strenuous exercise. Used to swim laps when the kids were getting swimming lessons but once they stopped so did my laps. I walk once, sometimes twice, a day. The morning one done in silence with the dogs with the most noise coming from an exasperated curse when Monty the dog wants to shoot dust at yet another standing pole/tree/fence post/bush/blade of grass or just plain pissing in the wind. That walking time though time is bliss. I get to think about stuff and sort things out or just day dream while listening to the world wake up. The sometimes second walk at lunch is when my work mate and i catch up for a chat and always makes the afternoon better. I listen to audio books while doing chores outside though - used to be with headphones but now its either the phone speaker or a bluetooth speaker as that way i can hear if a snake is trying to make itself noticed and giving me warning signs or i hear gang gangs crunching int he trees above and i need to rush off to get the camera. I think i prefer to walk with no other distractions than the world doing its thing around me. And if i miss that morning walk? Hooboy, i get fidgety and grumpy. I'm glad that the article confirms my suspicion that running will never provide that so called rush for me :)
I think the silence and the repetitiveness of the action, running, walking, swimming, lifting, allows your mind to wander, allows it to sort out your shit in the background while you focus on the present, I guess, the now, the physicality, the action.
I find I also need white noise, well, something that becomes white noise like familiar music or the Noizio soundscape, or a beat like you need for cardio, to distract my conscious brain from thinking so my unconscious/semiconscious/whatever brain does what it needs to do.
Cardio for cardio's sake is always, I think, going to be a slog. But finding some activity you enjoy that forces you to do cardo? That's way more fun.
My current drug of choice is mountain biking. Get out on the bike for an hour or two in the bush, listening to birds singing, watching wallabies hopping away, dodging the very occaisional koala on the track.. it's magical. Add in some low-grade adrenaline, tempered by the sensibilities of middle age, and it's a great companion activity to lifting.
I get most of my cardio from walking the dogs, which is pleasant enough. But a couple of times a week I will hop onto my air bike and smash out about 10 to 12 minutes of HIIT.
I always tell people I don't run because I enjoy it (that's cycling), I run because it teaches me how to do hard things and achieve goals.
For years I refused to listen to music and in the last few months have got a set of bone conducting headphones and now always run with music. I am still on the fence with it, I don't think it helps me perform because if it distracts me my pace instantly drops. But I have all my workouts uploaded to my watch and the updates in the headphones make doing my intervals SOOOOOOOO much easier. So I would probably wear the headphones even if they weren't playing anything.
All the people who exercise it can be different, try with, try without and find what works for you at the time. You and your situation can change, do or do not whatever help you. I like seeing/reading the different experiences and hear that they worked for them.
I've never been able to exercise to music.