I've never been big on the “fitness scene,” and I think it's largely because I'm turned off by the amount of accoutrements that it requires. Whatever happened to a natural workout?
I like cute fitness attire as much as the next person, but there's something wrong when heavy machinery, chemical supplements and specially-ordered accessories are viewed as a prerequisite to a healthy life.
For me, getting out and experiencing the world is the natural workout I crave.
Let's take steps, for once, without counting them.
I don't claim to be any sort of health expert, but I've become extremely familiar with my own body after having three kids in a row and watching myself go up-down-up-down-up-and-down-again on the scale as I pass life on to other people and refocus on my own. Without a doubt, I'm confident that the diet and exercise plan that works best for me is the unstructured one. My hay bale-tossing, farm-working, out-in-the-universe natural workout inspires me to keep going.
“Is that even a real yoga pose?” Nate asks me.
No idea.
“Are you supposed to be doing this in jeans?”
Probably not.
My running skills are just as bizarre as my yoga efforts, gangly and awkward like a child. I don't care, though. I feel free out on the trail and that's what I'm after. A heady release of endorphins surges through my body and I embrace feelings of happiness and strength.
Training your body to crave that feeling is all that matters in fitness; finding your own way to move on a regular basis and rejecting the way other people say you're “supposed” to be doing things.
As long as you're working up a sweat, encouraging proper posture and not causing injuries, you're doing it right.
What steps do you take to embrace the “natural” in a natural workout?