I want to do it all! (Frustrated)

  • Fitness is a huge part of my life. I feel very passionate about it. But I feel a lot of anxiety all the time that I'm not doing enough and that I'm not getting to enjoy all the things I want to enjoy. Currently I take dance classes twice a week, I squeeze in a Zumba class when I can, I walk daily, I do tai chi and stretch daily and once in a while I'll pick up some weights. Occasionally I play tennis.

    There's so much more to do. I want to do yoga, I want to run, I want to keep dancing, I want to learn a martial art, I want to lift weights, I want to play tennis regularly. I'm finding it impossible to enjoy what I'm doing when I can't fit in everything I want to do.

    How do other fitness fanatics find the right balance of activities so that you are fulfilled?
  • I think it is awesome that you WANT to fit more exercise into your life! I wish I was like that..... So unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you, but wanted to post to tell you I admire you!
  • I feel the same way. I want to try a bunch of different things and as I get stronger I want to try even more. I try to switch up my routine every 30 days. So that I can try new things every month. It works to an extent. The problem usually comes when I make out my schedule for the next month and get so excited that I don't finish out the current month.
  • I find that there is a balance and that you can't do everything. Well, you can do everything but you will become good at nothing because like with diets (or IE in your speak) consistency is everything when it comes to exercise.

    I stick to doing three things I most like: weight training, running and boxing. And that just about fills all my free exercise time. I never mix and match (i.e. I never run and weight train in one session, again because running after weight training would make for an awful run or vice versa).

    I would like to do more, like yoga, but then I would have to do less of the three things I really like and would become less good at them. Probably a lot less good.

    So no yoga for me.
  • I think it's awesome that you're so excited about so many things! Of course you are doing enough, you are doing an awful lot!

    Don't overwhelm yourself. You can't do them all at once but you can pick a few things and cycle through them until you've checked everything off your list. It's normal to get tired with something so that should leave you with a lot of choices when one thing gets stagnant.

    I tend to do things kind of seasonally. We usually do a lot of hiking, so my winters are spent focusing more on weight training and various cardio exercises that help keep me in shape for hiking. Then come the warmer months, a lot of my activity just comes from doing the things I enjoy outside (hiking, canoeing, biking, etc.) without much of a routine to it.

    But the difference is this year I'm really enjoying running plus we haven't had so much time to go on hikes. On top of that, my bf really wants me to get into rock climbing. I don't have time to do everything so I told him maybe I'd slow down on the running this winter and join him for rock climbing then. By then I have a feeling I'll be ready for a change.
  • I like to do things seasonally as well. I just wish I could do more. I also bought a bike last year and barely have time for it.

    And I love kick boxing, I used to do it long ago and have really let go of it but who has time for everything?