Don’t Practice for A Number

Today’s article is inspired by Murakami’s book about running,  What I Talk About When I Talk About Running . It is potentially my favourite book about training and physical practice as it adds so much analysis into why we practice and why we repeat what seem to be nonsensical tasks over and over again. For anyone looking to move on a regular basis I couldn’t recommend this book enough.

“Anything that has true value cannot be expressed through numbers.”

Becoming a Lifelong Mover

Not just moving for numbers or goals is such an important point if you are looking to become a lifelong mover. It is far too easy to get sucked up into numbers, how much you can lift, how fast can you run. This attachment is great when things are running smoothly and everything is getting better, but when things stop running smoothly and you stop progressing you need to see the importance of moving outside the numbers you can achieve. Your physical practice needs to have something deeper than just a number, a blunt ambition that you are looking to achieve it needs to have meaning, to create a feeling tone throughout your life in general. If I can run a marathon I can face other challenges that life throws at me, if I can lift heavy objects on a regular basis the same applies. Your practice needs to be important to you outside of just pure attainment.

Goal Achievement

Once you have been doing physical training for an extended period of time you will start to realise the emptiness that there is in goal achievement. You build, build and build and you achieve your goal. Once it is achieved there will be a moment of elation and then another goal will be set. This moment of elation is a beautiful moment, where you realise your work was successful, but compared to how much time has gone into the work required it is less than 1%. This repetitive cycle of goal achievement and goal setting should just be seen as a part of your physical practice. If your focus is only on the goal itself, once that goal is achieved your practice often stops altogether. This is a really sad aspect of goal achievement, it highlights that someone may never have really enjoyed the practice that was required to achieve the goal.

Finding Joy in Movement

This isn’t to say that every time you move your body, you will be filled with feelings of elation, but moving will no longer feel like a chore (most of the time), like it’s something you have to do but something you want to do. You will be able to find a deep sense of joy in movement because it means something to you beyond achievement. Numbers and goals are a great way to orientate your practice, they are by no means a negative aspect of a practice but they should never be the sole reason to practice.

Your Practice Will Grow and Change With You

As you change and grow as a person, move in different social circles, have different life experiences your ideal physical practice will likely change. At twenty my ideal session was heavy deadlifts with intense rap music, at thirty my favourite part of my practice is my long run at a slow endurance pace with no music. I am sure this will continue to evolve over time as my sensibilities change, the important part is that I move my body through space on a regular basis in a way that provides me both health but also a sense of enjoyment and these moments make up the majority of my movement practice.