Against Puking

Jul 9, 2011

I’m notorious for pushing things too far. Be it running, hiking, biking, lifting weights, or using the elliptical machine at the gym, I go too hard too fast. Take running, for example, I much prefer sprinting to jogging. Jogging is so boring. It’s painful. And slow. But, sprinting? Oh sprinting … fast, powerful, distance, movement, joy. Who doesn’t love sprinting? Or the gym. Why do the elliptical slow and steady when you can push it hard? Isn’t that the point of working out? To push yourself to your limits? To see how far and how fast you can go? No pain no gain, right? Right.

The problem is, when I push it too hard too fast, I puke. Every time. This leads to some unpleasant, and potentially awkward, moments. I, for one, do not find puking an enjoyable past time. The taste alone is enough to make me go to great lengths to avoid it. And, when you have to do it on a hiking trail when other people are passing by … awkward. When you routinely have to ask your personal trainer to give you a minute so you can go puke in the bathroom … embarrassing.

I like it hard and fast (we’re talking about exercise here, don’t be dirty), but I don’t like puking. I’ll grant you that the purged feeling that comes after is wonderful. Puke once and I’m good, I can keep going and do even more. And I like that I’ve pushed myself to the edge (and fallen over). It makes me feel like I’ve done all that I can – a good workout. That’s what working out is all about, right?

It’s taken me awhile, but finally, in my 30th year, I’ve come to wonder if perhaps that is not the point of working out. Maybe the point isn’t to push yourself until you puke. Maybe the point is to move your body. Maybe the point is to take a break from all that mental and emotional working we do all day long and work our bodies instead. Maybe the point is to get stronger so we can do everything we want to do in life. Maybe the point is to be healthy so we can live long joyful and faithful lives. Maybe the point is simply to remember the joy of what is to be an embodied creature created in the image of God.

Recently I was reading the book Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath. In the book, they recount a 2007 study done by Alia Crumb and Ellen Langer that studied the exercise habits of hotel maids. The researchers told one group of maids that their work was exercise. A second group of maids was told about the benefits of exercising but not that their work was already considered exercise. Four weeks later the maids who had been told they were already exercising had lost an average of 1.8 pounds. The other maids hadn’t lost any weight. The Heath brothers argue that this happened because when the maids were told that they were already exercisers they began to do a little bit more – an extra trip up and down the stairs, etc. And these little things? They add up.

The Heath brothers use the study to illustrate one of the ways we can encourage change in ourselves and others, but the study sticks with me because it reminds me that even the little things count when it comes to exercising. Anything is better than nothing. I don’t have to puke to workout. Talking a walk with the dog counts. Going a little slower on the elliptical machine counts. And maybe, when I don’t make myself puke, I’ll look forward to working out a little more (instead of dreading the potentially awkward and embarrassing moments) and I’ll go a little more. And that can only be good.

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