Why you should give up believing that workouts should be fun

THE focus these days seems to be on how to make your workouts a fun and pleasant experience. The harsh, but simple truth is: Fitness isn’t fun. Being fit is.

It might look good, but is your workout effective?

THE media, marketers and instructors these days seem to focus primarily on how to make your workouts a fun and pleasant experience. But based on my 25 years of personally working out and staying abreast of industry trends, I’d like to state the harsh, but simple truth: Fitness isn’t fun. Being fit is.

To achieve success in anything in life, including your health, you need to set goals and realistic expectations. Life teaches us that, usually, the harder we work, the more accomplished we will be. Only the lucky few have vocations that are fun, stimulating and highly profitable while also on the right path toward furthering your ultimate career ambitions. The hard truth is, if you expect fun from your workout, you should not expect the body or athletic results you desire. That being said, if you approach your training with the expectation of hard work, the fun you will have with your healthy body is priceless. Think about it this way — one hour a day dedicated to hard work is an investment in countless years of vibrant life!

By dedicating hard work and time to challenging weight training and, yes, sometimes monotonous cardio sessions, you will reap the rewards of being strong, fit and healthy. I have been working out hard for 25 years, which is, on average, approximately 7,500 workouts, and have never had “fun” in the midst of any of my strenuous workouts! Oh, but it has allowed me to have so much fun outside of those not-so-fun moments — playing volleyball on the beach, rollerblading, exploring the streets in amazing cities around the world, playing tag with my niece and nephew, training my clients and so on. Now, at nearly 50 years old, I can see the benefit of those years of hard work, as my body is healthy and strong and I am able to enjoy life without aches and pains.

Push yourself.

Classes such as Zumba and other dance or movement-related classes might be a ball, but ask yourself if you feel aerobically taxed or see any physical changes in your body. Sometimes, the most challenging part of these classes is just keeping up with the overzealous instructor. Just ask my clients how much fun they have during their workouts! But don’t forget to ask them how they feel after.

Simply put, the harder we train in the gym, the more fun we have outside the gym. The combination of intense, consistent weight training and cardiovascular sessions, paired with mindful eating, is crucial to a fun, happy, long and healthy life.

Now let’s focus on food. Our society is under the impression that each time we sit down to eat a meal, we should enjoy a tasty and emotionally satisfying experience. Apply the same approach to your diet as you do to the gym. The average fit person should consume approximately five meals per day. That equates to 35 meals a week or 1,820 meals a year. Choose one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner every week to indulge a little. That way, you’ll still be eating 32 healthy meals a week and will avoid that ever-so-popular “cheat day” where your calorie-induced coma will sabotage your healthy goals.

Overindulgence leads to psychological procrastination and returns your mindset to the “start over“ phase. For myself, a week’s worth of my “un-fun” training in the gym entitles me to a little deliciousness sometimes. Make the decision to have a plain grilled chicken breast, egg whites with dry wheat toast, steamed veggies, plain water with meals, and fruit and raw nuts for a snack. Just think of how delicious that Sunday brunch or that pasta dinner with your family will taste after a clean week of healthy eating and training.

Train hard!

The key is to align your approach to health and fitness with your ultimate goals. This will enable you to set realistic expectations for how hard to work out, how clean to eat and what to expect in terms of results.

If you expect to have fun, go ahead and have it. If you expect delicious gourmet meals all the time, go ahead and eat them. If you expect to be your healthiest and perform at your highest potential in the gym and outside of it, prepare to work for it.

This story originally appeared on AskMen