Olympic Inspiration?

saltysparkle
saltysparkle Posts: 145 Member
Anyone else watching bits of the Olympics? Have you seen anything that inspires you? Have you been reminded of your love for a sport or thought about taking up a new one?

I have seen and enjoyed bits of several events -- I've mostly been letting my teen and my brother choose what they want to watch.

When I look at body type, it appears I was built to be a weight-lifter, but I have zero attraction to the activity. It's impressive as heck, but just not my style.

As a former rec-team gymnast and gymnastics fan I am incredibly sad to see 46 year old Oksana Chusovitina hang up her leotard, but the fact remains that she has been an incredible inspiration to women (and girls) who love women's gymnastics and would like to continue to be able to train as adults, and would like to see it go back to being a sport for adults, rather than some demented race-to-the-bottom in which young girls bodies are damaged and destroyed athletically and in which they are sexually victimized.

I think what strikes me the most as I watch the Olympics is that I am really missing the social component to exercise. Even though gymnastics is primarily an individual sport, I miss having a team to train with and being surrounded by people who enjoy the same thing I do. Even though you don't talk in ballet class, I miss the non-verbal camaraderie that springs eternal anyway. Even though I hate going to the gym and getting on an elliptical alone, the time used to fly by when I went with a friend. Even when it's not a competition, having company spurs me on, and I think I've got to figure out how to get that back into my fitness regimen.

Replies

  • Skyler103
    Skyler103 Posts: 121 Member
    I'm the exact opposite. Would rather not have someone else see me working out. Even when my husband comes in the room, I have a hard time talking to him because I'm so out of breath! I always watch YouTube videos while I work out. I have friends that have channels, so it's kind of like they're with me haha!
  • saltysparkle
    saltysparkle Posts: 145 Member
    @Skyler103

    Yeah, when my neighborhood started outfitting its shared workout space, it was a huge debate whether to have mirrors in there or not -- because some folks were split on whether that was encouraging or discouraging -- and also whether it was okay for people to reserve the room to work out alone. We settled on "yes" because otherwise some people would just never use it. And that seems to have been for the best! With the pandemic, it became reservation-only, one household at a time anyway, so now that's the norm!