Jonny Numb

Over 10 years and 4 addresses ago, I had a stationary bike that I used daily, pedaling my butt off for anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes at a time. That may not seem like a lot, but for my historically unmotivated self, it may as well have been climbing Mt. Everest.

Consistent repetition of this routine prompted a remark from one of my then-coworkers: “If you get any skinnier, you won’t exist.”

Wait…I think that’s something Jennifer Jason Leigh said to Christian Bale in The Machinist. Never mind.

When I started dating my partner in 2010, she was a runner who also went to the gym on a fairly regular basis. One of the first routines we adopted as a couple was finding 1-2 weeknights to exercise (whether by going to the gym or walking/jogging along one of the many arteries of The Rail Trail).

I wound up falling in love with spin bikes and pedaling like a loon while listening to whatever fast and angry music on my iPod felt the most propulsive for that particular day.

For many reasons, our gym membership and days of intense workouts fell by the wayside as the years went by. And most people will agree that going out and doing something – whether it be a movie or a concert – is much easier – and usually more pleasurable – when you can share in the activity with someone else.

And while I’ve never had a problem going to movies or concerts by myself, I could never muster the motivation or courage to drive to a gym and work out by myself. I can’t help but imagine myself as “that guy” who’s so completely out of his element next to the all sculpted bodies around him that it begs the question, “why bother?”

So I fell out of practice for a while, growing increasingly displeased with my own weight gain (was it the introduction of antidepressants into my daily routine, or just stress-eating more in the post-COVID landscape? Probably more than a bit of both), cringing whenever nurse would ask me to kick off my shoes and “step on the scale.”

2023 started rough for me – I spent New Year’s Eve wired and awake, unable to fall asleep until after 3am. I woke up several hours later with a mental list of things that were causing me dissatisfaction and discontent, some of which I felt powerless to change.

Good news, though: some of these things have either been rectified, or are in the process of being rectified, including an near-daily exercise routine.

“Getting started is the hardest part,” may be a cliche, but it’s true. Mustering the motivation to want to do something can be a Sisyphean task unto itself, let alone investing the time and effort to make it an actual routine.

But how do you motivate yourself when:

A) You have an irrational fear of going to the gym;

B) You don’t have the confidence (or form-fitting spandex) to jog around the neighborhood; or

C) Are just paranoid about the world at large and hate the burning, judgmental gazes of the general population?

There are a lot of options on YouTube. That said, some are more preoccupied with slick production values and showing off chiseled abs than dumbing things down for the slack-jawed exercise novice in the crowd.

My partner introduced me to Fitness Type, which focuses on low-impact workouts. This has become my go-to exercise channel.

Led by the always-smiling Marischa, the videos follow a consistent format: an introduction to each exercise, and a countdown clock in the lower right-hand corner of the frame. Her manner is very positive – if you don’t have a partner to do the exercises with, Marischa always encourages you to push yourself (albeit in a non-bullying manner).

The videos range from 10 to 40 minutes. Being in a partial telework situation with an hour lunch, having a variety of time options helps.

As Marischa is fond of saying, “choose your option!” Her channel contains an astounding 8 years’ worth of videos that focus on many different types of exercises, and at a wide range of skill levels. I typically alternate a day of dumbbell exercises with a day of cardio.

As mentioned before, I try to avoid the scale as much as possible – but I do feel that having this convenient (and free) option is helping my psychological outlook and probably – in a baby-steps kind of way – my physical state, as well.

And maybe one day I’ll look as good as Linnea Quigley…but I won’t hold my breath on that.