Struggles of a fitness professional with… fitness – Exercise preferences

I think I have already mentioned that I hate running. And I am not alone. An old teammate used to joke during our pre-season workouts shouting, and I quote, ‘running is for cowards.’ And who am I to contradict a trusted reference?

Fortunately for me, Baron Karl von Drais came up with his idea of a running machine in 1817. Or, at least, that is the first verifiable attempt at such a construction. His concerns following crop failures and starvation of horses led him to design his laufmaschine. Still, it would not have done the trick for me. So I completely get why the artifact went on to be known, derogatorily, as the dandy horse. It was basically running on top of a pedal-less bike. So, no, thank you, Mr. von Drais. By the way, for those who still do not believe that history repeats itself, the invention was later banned by city authorities due to the increasing number of accidents.
So, who else than a fellow Scot to save my day? I guess that I owe a great deal of my fitness to Mr. Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who, allegedly, built the first mechanically propelled two-wheeler in 1839. Now we are talking! No more knee-crushing, no more shin splints, no more Achilles tendinitis, no more plantar fasciitis. But most importantly, at least for me, what a relief for my mind.

I will not get too much onto the plethora of physical health benefits that regular cycling brings, shared by many other forms of exercise, running included! However, I will highlight a fundamental difference between running and cycling. The latter is a low-impact form of exercise that makes all the difference for people with shattered knees, ankles, and hips like me.
Still, I do not think that is the reason why I favor cycling over running. It was already the case when my joints were still relatively intact earlier in my career. And I do not buy the argument that cycling takes you to places. Running does too! Yes, maybe further away, but still… Then, there are the arguments around the commuting benefits of cycling. Yet, I wish to find out the reason why I can happily exert to exhaustion while cycling, while sickening images of jogging BoJo in eye-shattering shorts and smart shirts begin flooding my mind as soon as I start my run. Any other nightmarish thoughts may also apply. The truth is, I cannot wait to see my front gate and get it over with.

But not all is good with cycling. And I am not talking about ending on a wet ditch fully packed with bushy gorse, as I proudly managed myself recently. Weight-bearing exercise is a must for older people, particularly women, and cycling – or swimming- would not do the job. The reason: osteoporosis. Exercise where our feet and legs support our body weight is the answer to maintaining our bone health later in life. That is why thoughts of jogging BoJo may still play an important role. Sorry, I keep coming back to that. I must admit the trauma to my retinas will haunt me for the rest of my life. In any case, there is more to weight-bearing exercise than just running. More to come on that at some point, hopefully.

So, why do we psychologically prefer some forms of exercise over others? The answer: we do not really know. There is not a lot of meticulous research on the matter, or any other matter, for that matter 🙂 However, the little there is points to our need to have fun, which seems to be linked to our personality traits and motivational needs. For instance, those with a greater need for social interaction – footie banter, gossip updates, omg moment of the day, and any other more serious and much-needed varieties – may naturally enjoy group exercise or team sports.

The one thing research seems to be clear about is that variety in our choice is very important. So there should be room for running in my regime, I guess. Or, at least, for something that would produce similar benefits without pushing too many of my neurons into a voluntary early demise.