Work it out

As someone who was once really, really, really, really out of shape (I can't put enough reallys in there), then became reasonably fit, and now is in the middle of that continuum working back toward the fitter end of things, I can speak from a wide range of exercise perspectives.  I mean, aside from the "let's run a marathon this morning" perspective.  I recently Netflixed the Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD on a friend's recommendation.  Doing that for a little over a week has reminded me about some things.  

Here's a bit of insight for the fit or even "sort of" fit: the reason extremely unfit people don't like to exercise isn't because they're spectacularly lazy.  (I'm not going to argue about how the unfit become unfit; let's just take it as a particular state of affairs.)  No, it's because that exercise sucks so very much.  You either forget or you never knew.  It's easy to think, "Oh, a nice brisk walk with a few hills is a fun way to get your heart rate up."  To the spectacularly unfit, that's a little slice of hell.  I'm not sure how to describe this accurately, because even a hard workout for someone who's in shape does not feel nearly as miserable as the most basic workout did when I was starting out.  It's a totally different experience.  Maybe I'm pointing out the obvious, but it's something I didn't really get until a couple of years ago.  What do you know: people who like to work out aren't completely insane!  It's not just unmitigated torture!  

Cardio Max reminded me of this, on a much smaller scale.  The first time I did it, I could have happily collapsed at the end.  The second time it was easier, and by the fourth time, it was fun.  My heart rate and respiration rate increased, I was sweating (wait, don't ladies perspire?), my muscles complained.  But I could keep going for quite awhile if I had to.  So, a good workout doesn't by default make you want to die.  And it's nice that it didn't take very long to get back into it.  Feel free to remind me of that when I move up to the next level.