The Art Of Exercise

    "The art of medicine was to be properly learned only from its practice and exercise."

Thomas Sydenham

 Today I got the most wonderful opportunity to lead my very own workout in a group fitness setting. Ever since I've done Insanity just over three years ago I've always wanted to do what Shaun T did for people. It wasn't the workout that I wanted to be able to deliver to people, because anyone can call out moves. I wanted to be able to deliver the positive energy he created by encouraging people to move their body. I just love the way he makes exercise a positive thing you want to do and not something that you just have to do. Shaun T truly makes teaching group fitness an art in itself. What qualities make it an "art" though? What is qualifies something as an art? For me art is something that takes imagination and creativity. Art is something that can be appreciated by the senses. Art is also something that evokes emotion. Let me tell you how I think leading a group fitness activity is an art.
     When I was creating my workout for my class, it honestly was harder than I thought. Originally I thought, "Oh I'll just throw together different moves and turn on some music."... Nope. The over achiever in me refused to make it that simple. What I did was make a playlist of songs to make sure I stay within my time limit, but every song had 4 moves that you'd repeat three times through. To go a step further, all the exercises were doable with the beat of the songs. That's just a brief explanation of how I prepared, but that's not the only creativity I needed. (Note to self... almost nothing goes exactly as planned.) Once I started the workout I immediately found out that I'm going to have cut somethings out and add somethings in to my plan. The biggest thing is being able to adapt the routine to what is needed. It's very similar to playing music on stage, just go with the flow. You can only go with the flow if you've prepared in the first place though. Also if you don't make it interesting and engaging your audience will be unmotivated and they will give up. To make this not happen you must engage your creativity and imagination.
     Obviously you can observe a workout routine with your senses. When your working out you use your sense of touch to feel the floor beneath your feet, you hear the gasps of breath, you see the others around you pushing through their discomfort, you taste blood (Haha hopefully not!), and you smell the sweat and over done layers of perfume. The things you might be sensing might not be the most pleasant in the moment, but they make you feel accomplished once the craziness has passed.
      For me the most important thing that makes exercising an art is the emotion. For me there are a range of motions that I can feel when I'm working out. I can feel excited right before, happy during the warm up, tranquil when I'm stretching, angry during the painful part of the workout, and happy once I've completed the workout. Quite honestly, I workout for the emotional aspect. It helps me know that I can push through all things in life coming out of it stronger than I was before.
     It's amazing how art surrounds us in forms that we are not aware of. I'm so grateful that Shaun T was able to show me and so many others the art of exercise. It allows us to see it in a much more positive light, knowing that this performance is making us faster, stronger, smarter, and healthier. I love the art of exercise and how it can help people shape their lives in a strong and healthy fashion. Remember to LIVE NOW, and we'll talk soon!