We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong … sloth is a battlefield
One thing I have learned from writing The Reluctant Hubby posts is that I am not the only one who prefers sitting on a couch to sitting on a Spin bike at the gym. Your comments and encouragement have been appreciated and I echo the same sentiments back to those of you trying to add fitness as a regular part of your routine: Keep at it!
The fitness industry knows we’re out here, too, and wants our business, but we, the Reluctant, are a challenging bunch. All of us understand we should be exercising regularly, but when we’re reminded of this, it can easily trigger self-defense and self-consciousness. And the marketing message sold to us has to be just right. For example, there seems to be a certain sense of “Couch Potato Pride” that the Reluctant has, but the last thing we want is to be thought of as lazy. So how are we being sold to?
One new concept is BitGym, a way to bring gaming to the gym experience. Users bring their iPad or iPhone to any treadmill, elliptical, or bike, launch the BitGym app, and the game syncs with the equipment so the faster you run or pedal, the faster you, your car, or spaceship travels in the BitGym games. They’ve even added games that use the front-facing camera on the device that allows you to lean your head to the left or right to steer your car. I smell a future lawsuit from someone going for a personal high score and tumbling off a treadmill.
For those without the high tech gear, or even the desire to leave the house, may I interest you in Mr. Gym’s Couch Potato Workout? I stumbled across this while Googling and have no idea about the quality of these DVDs. However, I’ll judge this book by its cover and recommend you stay away based solely on the outdated web page design, bad synth music that auto plays when the site loads, and the Mr. Gym logo with the “G” comprised of an arm flexing its biceps. Unless of course you’re reading this post with your Netscape browser in which case you’ll feel right at home back in 1998.
Search engines aren’t that much of a help. You know the Reluctant are at a disadvantage when a humor site is the third link that comes up when you search for Easy Exercises. Thankfully a more reliable source comes in at number two: WebMD. The health site is a bountiful resource for advice and tips to follow for the less active. Go here.
Ultimately, though, we may be able to lay the blame on our parents for why we are Reluctant. No, I don’t mean the fact that they never played catch with you in the backyard after school; I speak of genetics. Researchers have found a gene that produces an enzyme when one exercises. Mice who were extremely active had the gene and could run non-stop while their fellow mice lacking the gene could barely travel the mouse equivalent of down the hall and back.
So it turns out that we, the Reluctant, are actually on a hero’s journey with nothing but obstacles in our way. We have people trying to take our hard-earned money, hack humor sites, and our own DNA all striving to keep us on the couch. And only our own perseverance and drive will keep us lacing up the sneakers on a regular basis and gettin’ our sweat on. Good luck with your own hero’s journey. Me? I’m getting measured for a cape, one size smaller than I am now.
Previously on “The Reluctant Hubby”: One Month Down, A Lifetime to Go
To imagine the past year as a thing of the past seems so difficult. I have met so many amazing people in the last year, I just want it to continue. 
Each night my daughter sings this to me before she goes to bed. And I have to admit, it’s kind of growing on me. I mean, have you really listened to what this person received from their “True Love”? 
