This week I decided to get involved with the FXYouCan, the university’s campaign inspired by ‘This Girl Can’ aimed to encourage students to get out and be active. Having not been very active during essay writing weeks, and with a selction of taster sessions and free classes on offer, I decided to give them a go. Whilst these nuggets of wisdom were largely realised during FXYouCan week, they translate well into my general outlook of exercise and learning new things.
1 . Exercise does not have to be painful!
Remember when we were kids and we just ran, twirled and jumped through life? Remember all the cuts and scrapes from rolling down hills and falling out trees? When did excercise and moving your body become so assocciated with pain and poor body image? Fitness and health are portrayed often very poorly in the media, because funnily enough most people don’t like the sound of “no pain no gain” or “burning fat off”. Exercise is not a punishment and never should be. Exercise is endorphin releasing and mind clearing. It does not have to involve exhausting yourself to fit an unattainable standard of beauty. At the start of the week I went on a walk with the Expedition society out and around Falmouth and it reminded me that moving your body is actually a privillege.
2. Trying new things is great!
In the spirit of trying new things, my friend dragged me to a Body Combat class later in the week. I was excited at first, because I had visions of becoming the next Black Widow, leaping over bad guys and demonstrating my badass martial arts skills. The reality was I became the next Beige Slug. Far from leaping over bad guys I discovered I have the upper body strength of a wet sock and practically dislocated my hip attempting a roundhouse kick. However, my friend loved it and decided she was going back again. The point I’m making is I’m glad I tried it, now I know Body Combat is something I enjoy about as much as Donald Trump’s autobiography and I can try something else with less opportunity for severe embarressment. If in doubt, remember the immortal words of Cinderella Story: “Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game”.
3. Nobody is looking at you!
I will happily admit gyms scare me. I was a consistent gym goer in first year and even then there was something very intimidating about walking into a room full of people who look like off duty models, running without breaking a sweat and lifting heavy weights with apparent ease. When I mentioned this fear to my housemate she replied with something it is very important to remember – they are too busy looking at themselves to look at you. Do your own thing, stop worrying if people are judging you and focus on consistency. We are all in the same boat.
4. It’s never too late…
You might be thinking that getting out there and doing some fun activities sounds pretty good, but you haven’t exercised since secondary school and even then the most you did was jog behind the athletic lot around a muddy rugby pitch until the PE teacher decided to call it a day. Well, you and me both sister. But here’s the thing, you can start whenever you want. You decide what you try out and when you do it. Don’t let anyone shame you into not trying out a sport or setting yourself a challenge just because you ran the opposite way in a relay race that one time – just me? We all start somewhere.
5. Take it easy on yourself.
It’s easy to get disheartened when you see pictures of models and superstars all over social media hitting the gym and drinking greem smoothies, so much that the comparisons become scary. Remember that it is their job to look that way, they have resources the average student doesn’t. By all means hit the gym and drink green smoothies, and by all means get active – but don’t jeopardise your mental health by using exercise as a punishment to change your body into an unattainable figure. Get active because you can, because it’s fun and because whether you exercise or not, you are still a badass with a good ass.