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I'm new to this sub but I agree with the philosophy of this group. I've been an avid gym-goer for the last decade (I'm 25M) but have recently become board with repetitive exercise. I'm thinking of doing physical activities like climbing, running, swimming, and later on vegetable gardening and martial arts to stay in shape as opposed to conventional exercise. I keep worrying I'm going to miss something jeopardize my health or not be as fit as I could, but I believe that doing these activities all balance out and can be done as long as I live. I just want to be healthy all around, but my anxiety and fear of missing out keeps coming up.
Update: Thank you for the wisdom. Overall, what I'm taking away is that 1) I cannot control my health but I can make choices that aim in the direction of wellness 2) I am motivated by purposeful activity so sports and activities are more alluring 3) incorporate stress and anxiety reduction as this affects my health as well. Going forward, my aim is to focus on doing activities I enjoy like climbing, running, swimming, and wrestling and supplement it with yoga. This to me is how I simplify exercise and live aligned with my values.
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One of the things I learned is that, in large part our health* isn't up to us. Maybe a third (if not more) is genetics. Another third is environment, which we don't have control over until we are at least adults. Most adults spend their lives in the same place they grew up. Moving takes resources-- financial, cultural and social-- that most folks just do not have. The air quality, the cleanliness of the water, the access to nutrition, all of this is geography and the first 20 or so years of it you have absolutely no control over. After that, it varies based on socioeconomic factors.
So, we have at the most 33% that is up to us. So, if you are thinking you can avoid negative health events by exercising, I am going to encourage you to rethink that.
Most folks believe that they have more agency in this than they really do because folks who are trying to sell us stuff have been saying that since we were born. Eat this diet (that I am going to sell you for the low price of....) and avoid these problems. Buy this book or this tech or this exercise equipment or join this gym. Cook this way, with this tool that I am going to sell you, and you will be strong and healthy. That doesn't make it true.
Exercise because you love yourself, because you love your body, and because you enjoy the movement. Exercise because it will help you enjoy life. Don't worry about the rest of it. What is going to happen is going to happen.
*The exception to that would be if you do extremely negative things to your body, drugs etc, you can create health problems. But folks who are making those kinds of choices are often suffering from mental health conditions that aren't being treated. They didn't choose the mental health conditions. Also, because most heavy users began as teenagers or younger, long before they understood the ramifications of those decisions, they began adulthood addicted. By the time they were old enough to truly understand how bad a choice it is, they were already addicted. You could definitely make the case that a good chunk of this isn't up to them either.