I am ready to exercise.
Almost....
The music is wrong.
This song belongs to the journey to the gym. That one is clearly for the final five minutes. The next one appears to require an emotional recovery I had not included in today’s programme.
We need something with energy.
But the correct energy.
A surprisingly complicated request for somebody who was supposed to start moving eight minutes ago.
A very professional preparation
There are many ways to feel involved in a workout before doing any of it.
Choosing the playlist is one.1
Adjusting the phone so the exercise demonstration remains visible is another. The phone then falls over, which introduces a short engineering project.
The mat needs moving.
The water is somewhere else.
One earphone has decided to participate independently.
By this point, the preparation has acquired departments.
Music. Equipment. Technical support.
Actual movement is waiting for clearance.
I find this funny because each individual adjustment sounds sensible.
Of course I want to hear the music. Of course I need enough room. Of course watching the demonstration is useful.
But there is a point at which I have created excellent conditions for a session that still has not begun.
The song can change while I am moving
I like the small pleasures around exercise.
Good music. Comfortable clothes. A space where I can put things down without negotiating with the furniture.
They make the experience more enjoyable.
I would simply prefer them to join the workout rather than become a separate event before it.
The first song does not have to represent my entire athletic identity.
It needs to last long enough for me to begin.
After that, I can skip it.
This is an extremely modest solution to a situation I was preparing to solve with twenty-seven carefully selected tracks.
There will be no album review
The funny thing is that once I am involved in the exercise, the playlist often becomes less important.
The song I rejected earlier may be playing. I might not even notice.
My attention has finally found something else to do.
Then the session ends, and a particularly good track begins.
Naturally.
Where was that one when I needed it?
And after the music stops, there is another sporting activity waiting: the laundry.
Silvia
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