They say you should always be trying new to things to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. The problem with this is…I really like my comfort zone – it’s very safe and not scary. This leads me to believe that I’m the exact type of person the advice of “try new things” is for…because I don’t want to.
Despite my being a creature of habit, there are a number of fitness adventures I’ve been wanting to try for the past few years. Since my favorite fit activity – running – went to crap 1.5 years ago when I developed IT Band Syndrome, I’ve been trying to shift my focus of how I workout (dwelling on the problem is not motivating for me). My main issues with trying new fitness classes is my extreme dislike of doing it alone. I’m always scared of having no idea what I’m doing and severely embarrassing myself. Since I don’t like to take myself too seriously, having a friend to learn with and joke with is amazing. It completely changes my attitude and causes me to be way more open to trying new activities.
In the past, Matt and I have done a variety of fit adventures because we like to be active and explore life together (AWWWWWWW). We’ve done stand up paddle boarding (SUP), indoor rock climbing and bouldering, boxing, and a variety of races together. He’s fo’ sho my favorite workout buddy. 🙂 There are several classes he doesn’t want to do that I really want to try, though, which is why it’s always nice to have other workout buddies on deck to help expand my fit horizons (this is how I ended up trying bikram (hot) yoga a couple years ago; spoiler alert: I didn’t die).
Thanks to a group of coworkers and friends, I’ve actually tried way more activities within the past month because we all joined forces to try to get healthier. It was EXACTLY what this girl needed. In addition to hiking a number of new trails (hiking feels so good for the soul), I’ve also gone kayaking in the bay (something I haven’t done in years), went to a barre class (the #1 class I’ve wanted to try), survived a yoga class (vinyasa), and even went to a few pilates classes.
I have plans set in motion to do more yoga and pilates – as well as hiking and stand up paddle boarding – so I am quite proud of myself. Doing all of these things is really showing me what I enjoy. It’s almost taking on a snowball effect because I want to keep trying new things now.
I will say, though, that I really don’t like feeling the need to have a buddy with me as a safety net. I’ve noticed throughout my trying new fitness adventures that I feel more brave after every single one. They’re never as bad as I think, and most instructors can be really helpful about making sure you use correct form (something I’m terrible at). So, even though it’s not in my nature to go off and try a bunch of new things by myself, I’m noticing myself becoming more independent.
Aside from exploring new areas of fitness, my favorite part of going on new-to-me adventures is the way it’s helping me feel more comfortable outside of what I know. There are still so many areas of fitness I want to try – like spin (again; I tried it and wrote about it in this post a year ago), aerial yoga, some sort of bootcamp, and surfing. Part of me also thinks I should go on adventures that I’m not dying to try, such as snorkeling or maybe a dance class? Who knows. Regardless of what I do next, or who I do it with, I’m happy I’m finally starting to try new fitness things and enjoy the journey – that’s how it should be!
What is an area of fitness you’ve always wanted to try?
Do you go to any fitness classes on a regular basis? What’s your favorite?
