Exercise as Punishment

*image from the Wall Street Journal

I’m going to share a story from my past to better explain the title of this blog.

To preface first - My number one rule as a strength coach, a trainer, as a person, and as a part time therapist (comes with the title of personal trainer) is exercise will never and should never be used as punishment.

I was a freshman in college, playing on the baseball team.  That is never something I thought I would ever do.  Baseball was my entire life and all I focused on (after I quit soccer, Mom was pissed.)  But the thought of playing baseball in college never seemed possible.  Albeit I played at a small D3 school, mentality is everything.  Point being, college baseball was the most important thing in the world to me.  School was too, but for details on that, just ask.

We had regular strength and conditioning sessions, and some of them were 5am sessions.  Needless to say I lived for 5am times.  Huge morning person over here!  To spare details, we had one session that turned out to be one of the hardest workouts of my life, and probably my team's lives.

One 5am morning we were all waiting in the hallway for the fitness center to open, but the doors remained locked.  A few minutes past our start time and the strength coach walked downstairs.  

“Everybody upstairs now!”

We start talking amongst ourselves.  “Wait, is this because we skipped training last Friday?”  For elaboration, we gave a few weeks notice that the team would not be at the 5am lift.  It was tradition amongst the team to have dinner together before the start of the season.  It just so happened that it fell on a Thursday night.

“I said now.”

Having not accepted our cancellation, the strength coach met the team upstairs in the basketball gym for a different type of workout.  After giving the captain a weighted vest, you know, because of extreme ownership, we all were asked to run.  We sprinted, we shuffled, we crab walked, and we ran, we sprinted again, and again, and again.  This was turning out to not be what anyone expected.

Now, again, I was a freshman in college.  There are some details I may be missing, as such being there are two sides to every story.  But at that time, exercise was being used as a punishment tool.  I was no stranger to conditioning.  I was an exercise science major who played multiple sports my entire life.  I barely made it through the workout without passing out or throwing up.  My excitement for college baseball quickly dwindled.  I did not quit baseball after that workout.  No one was going to take that away from me, but me.

Exercise was used as a punishment tool.  To drive home a message, and to make the team pay for an alleged mistake.  That story has shaped my training mentality to this day.  Having the ability to exercise is a freedom, a choice, and a gift.  No matter what the circumstance, being able to move your body and have a structured workout is something you can do for yourself to be better.  You are taking time out of your schedule and regular day life to do something for you.  The mentality of “you're late, so you are going to do push ups for every minute you are late” is unnecessary.

Sure.  I grew up with some hard-ass coaching, and hard-ass parenting.  It shaped who I was as an athlete, a person, and a trainer.  Proper coaching and communication can be just as effective and have an impactful message, rather than forcing someone to do sprints or push ups because something bad happened.

Exercise is an earned right and ability.  No one should take that alleged joy from you.  I know most people aren’t happy to exercise in the moment, but the following days and immediately after there seems to be much more positive effects and impacts on physical and emotional well-being.  Training should be enjoyable and not something feared.  Trainers should encourage training for yourself and for lifelong achievements.  Not to promote fear of running late, dropping a ball during warm-ups, or for taking a little time for team bonding.

Basically I am saying, if you are afraid of your trainer, (in general, not at SomaVT. I think we are all pretty friendly, unless we haven’t eaten.) that is not a good relationship.  Fear of disappointment though is different, haha.  

If you are interested in working with one of our experienced and well-fueled coaches, please reach out to schedule a consultation.