Hey you, lets go ride!

Why do I exercise? I do it because I enjoy it. It’s just fun for me. I spent a lot of years mountain biking which really turns exercise into fun. For all you calorie counting nuts, mountain biking can burn up to 581 calories an hour (for a 170 lb male). So in a day of mountain biking, typically 3-5 hours, I would burn from 1743 to 2905 calories!

This is the first time that I’ve looked to see how many calories that mountain biking burns. Know why? Because I don’t care. I just wanted to enjoy the exercise and reap the benefits. I didn’t/don’t stress over the calories/hour and junk like that. And you shouldn’t either.

Do what you enjoy, reap the benefits and enjoy your life. Don’t stress over minute calorie issues. Don’t make things harder than they need to be. Eat Paleo, workout with intensity and enjoy the rewards!

Dr. George Sheehan says it best in his book, This Running Life:

The millions who get into exercise programs will succeed or fail, therefore, inasmuch as they move beyond the details of fitness- beyond tables and charts and schedules- and into the vital creative area of play.

The truth is that play is where we live. In running and climbing and swimming, in hunting and fishing, in riding horses and playing games we become ourselves and open ourselves to experience. There we find an inward calm and peace. There, thinking and feeling have a clarity that occurs almost nowhere else. And there, we discover a wholeness, a completion and an integrity that makes us want to celebrate our being.

Exercise to lose weight. Run to lower your blood pressure. Bicycle to reduce your cholesterol. Swim to increase your cardiac function. Play tennis to help your breathing. Golf so you’ll sell more clients. Do calisthenics to clear your brain. All those things are good. But beyond all this fitness is the discovery of who you are.

Cool, huh?

Speaking of play. I’m so excited to get to play tomorrow with my fellow bootcampers in the Sven Challenge! Sun, fun, food…it’ll be EPIC!

Peace,

Dr. Chris

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