Jerry Trubman, Vail Boot Camp
In my previous life before I began doing fitness full-time I, like many of you, had a desk job in the corporate world. I was in middle management for a large electronics chain. When we used to have our manager meetings our bosses would often use the terminology, “work smarter, not harder.” This seemed somewhat ironic at the time since that statement was usually followed up with us having to take on something new that involved working harder i.e. more hours (for the same pay, but I digress).
Not to say that working smarter doesn’t have its perks. It’s great when we find ways to be more efficient with our time. However, “smarter” can also mean being more mindful of the things we’re doing when we’re doing them. Looking around most big gyms you find rows and rows of cario equipment with TVs going, iPods blaring, and magazine pages turning. This is not mindful, this is finding a way to block out the physical activity taking place and replacing it with the same mundane lifestyle habits that exist everywhere else in life. These are the same people that tell me how much they “hate” going to the gym. Well of course you do! If “going to the gym” meant walking on the same treadmill everyday and watching Seinfeld re-runs I’d hate it too! Our bodies were built to move. If you have a sedentary job and dislike exercise I would challenge you to find something physical that you really enjoy and start doing it. And if your gym routine is boring, it may be time to find something new. The quality of your exercise isn’t always about how many reps you got, it can also be about how much fun you had.
