No pain, no gain
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Earlier this year, I started working out with a view to improving my overall fitness. Previously, I didn't do any exercise except for the regular walks between the bus stop and my office on opposite sides of Coventry's city centre. Admittedly, I don't do anything too strenuous now, and I'm not crazy enough to take up going to a gym or anything, but I've started doing enough to break into a sweat.
Three times a day, I do push ups, sit ups and something a colleague of mine tells me is called 'planks', which is supposed to work your abdominal muscles, but from experience just seems to make my shoulders ache. It basically involves lying face down, supporting your entire body weight on your elbows and your toes, while keeping the rest of your body straight for a length of time. Forget thumb screws; I'm convinced that if you could make someone do it for long enough they'd confess to anything.
Once a day, in addition to that, I also do a few repetitions of a variety of exercises using dumbbells. This is probably the more challenging bit. It's not difficult, but I have comparable upper arm strength to that of a garter snake so it's the part of the exercise routine that burns the most.
My days are often fairly routine and I've got so into the habit of performing these regular exercises that if I don't do them I feel like I'm missing something—like I've cheated. My colleague, who loves exercise but struggles to commit to it when not in an instructor-led course, insists that I have the will-power she lacks for it, but some days I almost begrudge doing it, so I'd question that. I'd describe it more as discipline than will power.
The thing is, for all my efforts, it's sometimes hard to tell if it's actually achieving anything. I'm very slim by nature, so it's not like exercising could help me lose much weight (which isn't my intention either). But by the same token there's not much fat on me that I could reasonably convert into muscle. So, I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting out of it. What it effectively means is that I'm getting all of the pain of exercising for very little reward.
Or am I? I do feel like I have more energy. And, in the right light, I'm almost managing to convince myself that there is some form of definition to my stomach muscles now. But I'm not entirely certain that any perceived benefit to date isn't just psychological. That said, but for the occasional brief discomfort during the process, there doesn't seem to be any negative effect that would make me want to stop.
The thing is, I've now got go so into the habit of exercising that I can't imagine it being something I'll give up any time soon, even if I don't advance it beyond my meagre efforts so far. Part of me thinks that if I stick with it long enough I'll start to see some results. The other part—probably the bit that feels the worst of the burn—really hopes the first part is right.