In Defense of Fun

Training can feel very serious. The discourse online is generally how to get the most from your workouts, how to reach your goals, how to get from A to B the fastest way possible, and I'll be the first to admit that I contribute to this. I don't want to waste time!

If you have tight, time-constrained goals, maybe talking about fun feels a little cruel. You can't afford fun! You have to squeeze in your workouts, your dietary tracking, your recovery! And maybe you're right. If you are a competitive athlete coming up on a competition, you might not have a lot of time for fun in this short season of your life.

But if your life has demanded a lack of fun for more than a few weeks or months in pursuit of your goal, it may be time to evaluate your goal. Is what you are doing truly worth sacrificing all feelings of joy and levity?

In the fitness space, I often feel like I have to be serious in order to be taken seriously. I also often feel pressure as a personal trainer to optimize the time people give me. After all, people pay a lot of money to spend time with me, and I don't want to waste that precious time on frivolities or activities that are not going to support the goal they've laid out for themselves.

But in these waning days of summer, I just spent the last hour drawing dragons and doing "dragon rider training" with my 7-year-old, and I have to say, it was the most fun I've had doing a "workout" in a long time.

We can pretend this is where we trained today.

I will say that my strength and mobility training, my physical therapy, my running and HIIT sessions, showing up for my workouts consistently, made this hour possible. A year ago, I could barely bend over without pain, much less practice balance beam and play swords, so I'm grateful for all those dull, repetitive workouts I did in the past. But what was the point of it all if I didn't use that conditioning to play one of my own personal sports: motherhood.

You can dig in and be serious about your training, and that can be empowering and invigorating. But bringing fun into your training can keep you coming back for more. Sometimes as adults fun just looks like learning a new skill.

So what do I mean when I say fun? Any activity that is engaging and enjoyable. Novelty plays a big part, as it forces your brain to stay present and engaged, since you don't know what will happen next.

Fun is good for your health because it:

• Reinforces desirable habits. It's easier to brush your teeth if you have a good flavor toothpaste. You could brush your teeth with dirt-flavored toothpaste, but wouldn't that make it a little harder to pick up your toothbrush every day? Likewise, you could grind through the same workout with movements you hate, but wouldn't it be easier to do something you found enjoyable? If you want to build the habit of exercising regularly, you need to reduce friction, and the reward of fun makes it easier to come back to your activity next time.

• Increases the longevity of your brain. Fun often comes from not being able to predict what will happen next, from having to stay present and engaged with the activity in front of you. This increases your ability to learn, respond to new stimuli, and generally live a mentally healthy life. Learning new skills for fun reduces your risk of things like dementia and cognitive decline associated with age (source).

• Increases overall health. When you are mentally healthy, it is 10, 20, maybe 1000 times easier to be physically health, so it is easy to believe that fun would positively impact mental health. But fun (or "enjoyable leisure activities," as one study called it) is associated with better overall health as well. Measurements like cortisol, waist circumference, and blood pressure were in healthier ranges for all those who participated in activities for enjoyment.

Here are some ideas to bring fun into your training:

1. Learn a new skill. Nothing engages your brain like trying to find a way to make your body do something. Don't know where the start? Try a kettlebell swing, handstand, splits. Try a dance move or choreography.

   

   If this elephant can learn to paint, you can learn to swing a kettlebell!

2. Try a new piece of equipment. Never tried out that weird thing in your gym? Today is the day! Search using a picture, find a tutorial, or just try to figure it out on your own. Don't worry too much about what others are thinking. I can guarantee you that you won't be the person who has done the craziest thing in the gym.

   

   Does your gym have a hula hoop?

3. Try a class. The community of a class can make a workout feel very different, and more fun! Classes often have music, maybe something you don't usually listen to, and will introduce new skills or equipment by default.

   

   Not sure what they're doing, but I bet it creates new neural pathways, increases balance and coordination, and increases neuroplasticity!

4. Make it social. Do a workout with a friend. Talk to a new person at the gym each time. Set up your workouts to take place before you go to meet a friend for coffee. Human interaction can make even the most mundane workout feel more engaging.

   

   Probably better not to hug if you're trying to stay in that zone 2 cardio state.

5. Bring in a prop. This sort of falls under trying new equipment, but this can be simpler. Try a few small objects to juggle, a balloon to use for balance and coordination work, a scooter board to... well, to have fun with!

   

   These hoops look fun! Ladder drills can be a great way to shake up your usual routine.

6. Engage your imagination. As with our "dragon rider training," the workout you are doing could be very simple, but you could imagine a fantastical purpose. Perhaps you are lifting weights to get stronger like a character from a movie or video game. Maybe you bring balance beam work in so you can be prepared to creep across rooftops, or the spiny back of your dragon. Take up a little martial arts practice so you can be ready to fight off the bad guys. Try some climbing work so you can save the prince(ss).

Basically, it's still a workout if it's fun. It's still a workout if you are not steering directly and full speed at your goal. If your goal is to live longer or just be healthier generally, fun is a key component in mental health.

When human beings stop having fun, it is never a good thing. Fun alleviates stress, and helps make good habits more sustainable. We don't often have time do the usual activities that many of us consider fun in our daily lives. It takes a lot of work and time to go to an amusement park, arcade, bowling, movies, and easier fun like books, video games, crafting, or similar hobbies lead to more sitting, less movement. So why not bring the fun to the workouts that you need to do to stay active and healthy?

As a trainer, the most successful people I see in fitness are those who live balanced lives of activity. They change it up, work on different things in different seasons, but they have it built in. Fitness instructors are some of the healthiest people I know, and it is because they combined fitness with other passions (dance, teaching, community building) and are challenged to keep their activity somewhat novel and engaging. In other words, they have to make it fun to keep people coming back.

If having a little more fun in your workouts sounds like something you want in a trainer, reach out! I'm taking a few new clients on for the fall, and would love if someone had the goal of "have more fun" among their priorities.