Rec Leagues
Why You Should Ditch The Gym
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"I hate how it takes the inherent variety, beauty and pleasure of movement and distills it to a single brainless and repetitious motion."
I hate the gym. I hate the smell of it -- the metal and the rubber and the sweat. I hate the sound of it -- the augmented hissing of the rows of treadmills and the grunts and the clanging of iron. I hate how it looks -- rows upon rows of fat-removing machines and strange metal weightlifting sculptures that no future archaeologist will ever be able to decipher the meaning of. I hate the individualized, internalized competition -- you vs. the mirror and you vs. the digital readouts. Most of all, I hate how it takes the inherent variety, beauty and pleasure of movement and distills it to a single brainless and repetitious motion.
I never go to gyms. I run outside sometimes, which is invariably better than running on a treadmill. But mostly I participate in amateur sports leagues to stay fit. I am addicted to recreational sport in the most positive way possible.
I will participate in any sport, regardless of my skill level. I’m a passable soccer player. I’m an atrocious hockey player. In college, I played in both a soccer league and a hockey league. I had more fun falling all over the ice than I did playing soccer, a sport I’ve played competitively my entire life. Nobody dressed me down for mishitting the puck or skating like an idiot. They were eager to help me improve. Rec leagues are not filled with professionals or amateurs. They are filled with enthusiasts. Enthusiasts don’t chastise your lack of knowledge or skill; they help you develop it, and quite happily at that.
The beauty of recreational sports lies in the fact that they're done for recreation. I’m there because I enjoy it, and so is everyone else. When I have a city league squash match after work, I look forward to it all day. The physical benefits are a bonus.
Gyms, however, feel like internment camps full of people at the mercy of the Guilt Commission of the Mind's New Year’s resolution. A psychological jailer methodically enforces physical punishment at the weight rack. Fifteen reps. Left arm. Right arm. Switch body part. Fifteen reps. Left leg. Right leg. Fifteen-minute cardio on the elliptical. Right foot. Left foot. "Here," says the jailer, turning on the hockey game. "You may watch some footage of men playing a game they love while achieving a fitness level you will never realize."
Though these professional athletes do benefit from gym work, their physicality is a result of the dynamic movements inherent in any sport. A social hockey or flag-football league provides a full-body workout that is impossible to match with weights and machines. Your body's ability to sprint, dodge, duck, throw, catch and jump works out your muscles in a totally organic way. Coordination improves. Balance improves. Muscularity improves, and the brain rewards you with heavy doses of endorphins. Next Page >>
