I’m a huge fan of craft coffee and beer.
I start every day with a few cups of hot black coffee from a local roaster. On the weekends, I sometimes I enjoy a beer or two. My favorite styles are quite heavy: IPAs, double IPAs, stouts, and Belgians.
My boyfriend loves fancy gins and bourbons, which he usually drinks straight with just a twist of citrus.
Coffee, beer, and liquor are all acquired tastes. Children don’t like these things, and most adults don’t even like them on the first try.
It takes repeated exposure and experimentation to discover what we like and develop a palate that can appreciate complex flavors.
I didn’t start drinking coffee or beer until I was in college (sorry mom.) Even then, it took some time for me to transition from sugary coffee drinks or the cheap beer of college house parties to the craft coffees and beers I like now.
My boyfriend had a similar experience with gin and bourbon. Over many years, he has experimented with different types and learned more about what he likes and doesn’t like. Now that he can identify subtle differences that would have once escaped him, his experience is a lot richer and more fulfilling.
Fitness can also be an acquired taste.
It’s true that some people have always been athletic or loved to work out. For the rest of us, however, our first experiences with exercise were not so enjoyable:
- You may have always been clumsy or unathletic (this was me as a kid.)
- Perhaps you never felt like you belonged on a sports team or with the fit people at the gym (also me.)
- Maybe all of your past attempts to get in shape ended badly, thus reinforcing the story that working out just isn’t for you.
My message for you today is that, if you’re willing to try again and be open minded, you can almost certainly find some form of exercise that works for you.
A few examples from my own journey:
- I hated playing team sports. I had a lot more fun and made faster progress when I started competing against myself in the weight room.
- I hated running and therefore wrote off all cardio. Years later, I realized I really love riding my bike and that I actually enjoy doing a lot of cardio.
- Recently, I’ve started rock climbing on a regular basis. I really sucked at first and could have easily given up. Instead, I kept showing up and my enjoyment has increased along with my skills.
Much like you won’t like every food or beverage item that’s an acquired taste (I’m not going to be drinking my boyfriend’s fancy gins anytime soon), you won’t necessarily love every style of exercise.
I also would not expect anything to feel like love at first sight. You need to give an activity enough tries to get out of the awkward initial stages to see if it’s truly a good fit for you.
Think back to your other acquired tastes: it’s unlikely that you were sold on the first try. Instead, you probably enjoyed yourself in an unexpected way that piqued your curiosity. You can follow those same signs when you’re trying out different styles of exercise.
To summarize:
- Even if you haven’t been successful in the past, there are absolutely styles of exercise that will be a good fit for you. There are simply too many ways to move your body for this not to be the case.
- You may need to try lots of different stuff to see what sticks.
- It’s likely that whatever you do decide to stick with will still be an acquired taste to some extend. Keep showing up, look for ways to get a little better all the time, and don’t forget to make it fun.
Struggling to adopt a consistent exercise routine despite repeated attempts and good intentions? This is one of the biggest struggles I hear from new clients.
That’s why I created my 4C System to help you become a more consistent exerciser. I teach this simple, practical system in a free five-day email course. You can sign up to get the course using the box below.