tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post7723743678327932442..comments2014-09-01T19:20:28.895-04:00Comments on involution: MaintenanceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post-88476878223340015072010-02-03T16:35:26.900-05:002010-02-03T16:35:26.900-05:00You're right. I was thinking of people on mai...You're right. I was thinking of people on maintenance routines as the sort of people who do a few minutes of desultory exercising while making infrequent visits. But I now see you meant something quite different.<br /><br />Another example of people who train hard and then flame out are the former high school or college athletes who go completely to seed after their playing days are over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post-19758006787305079872010-02-03T13:56:19.357-05:002010-02-03T13:56:19.357-05:00...This raises the question of whether I'm a t......This raises the question of whether I'm a trainer or a maintainer, and I think when it comes to exercise I'm a maintainer. I've been working out regularly for eleven years, during which time I've performed fairly intense exercise three to six times a week except during brief periods of illness, moving, or other major impediments and a few months in 2001 when I was finishing college and then traveling in Europe. In that time, I've occasionally tried with varying degrees of success to achieve some specific exercise-related goal - running a marathon, losing weight, doing a pullup - and I've passed through a variety of enthusiasms. But the reason I've kept working out several times a week is not that there's always some new race to run or that I really really like spin or yoga or whatever I'm into this season; it's because working out is something I do. Even when I'm not prioritizing it, I'm still at the gym three or four or five times a week, lifting and ellipting and going to classes. I feel like a slacker sometimes during these periods, but I guess maybe the lesson I should learn from my own post is that maintenance is not such a bad thing.Ericahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13596551107082738004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post-80024035926862612522010-02-03T13:47:21.158-05:002010-02-03T13:47:21.158-05:00This is the exact opposite of the impression I hav...This is the exact opposite of the impression I have. I'm not classifying maintenance as necessarily low-level; it's an attitude. I've noticed that people who are training - trying to lose weight, or bulk up, or complete a race or other event - tend to flame out after they meet their goal or when the goal starts to feel unattainable. The classic example of this (which you've also commented on) is the New Year's Resolution crowd, most of which dissipates by mid-February. But people who are not at the gym for any particular purpose or goal, simply because going to the gym is what they do, tend to (in my observation, anyway) stick to it.Ericahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13596551107082738004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post-50120308808747948222010-02-03T11:39:55.921-05:002010-02-03T11:39:55.921-05:00True "maintainers" are probably a rather...True "maintainers" are probably a rather rare breed. Most people who work out at a low maintenance level are the sort who lose interest in exercise and stop going.<br /><br />PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875403678124073123.post-76093425664022013152010-02-02T22:44:57.388-05:002010-02-02T22:44:57.388-05:00Excellent point. As we've discussed, I don'...Excellent point. As we've discussed, I don't have the self-discipline to maintain.Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07177213604240399752noreply@blogger.com