The music-less

The music-less. 

(remind me to share a little story about why this blog post title makes me giggle…you’ll have to wait until the end of the post for that, though – so stick around!) 

But back to the music-less.
That’s me.

I’m always talking about how I feel such the “odd (wo)man out” when it comes to runner’s – I’m one of few (it seems) that much prefers running music-less.

For the most part that stems from the fact that I *love* to run with my husband (my favorite running coach, rundate buddy and fellow half marathoner in less than 2 weeks!!). We use the time to catch up on our day; or – we run silently, at one with our thoughts, breathing through the hills, taking in the fresh air. Running free. And music-less. 

But something I realized last night during barre n9ne fusion was that I think another reason I love to run music-less is because it helps me to stay zoned in versus zoned out. During class, as I’ve said before, I’ve been really focused on staying present during each session. Focusing on my movements, ensuring that my form is solid (a never-ending work-in-progress in this style of workout, especially), staying “there.”

This is something I’ve been focused on throughout this year – building that mental strength and endurance that has ultimately resulted in an increase in confidence and trust in my body that it can, in fact, do many things I never thought possible (hello 26.2 in 2012?!) before.

But back to the music-less. 

I think even in structured classes like barre n9ne (as well as in other group fitness classes), the music can be hugely beneficial – a great motivator, a way to pump up the energy in the room, or to calm it down during the cool-down. But I think it can also cause that zone out factor, where form suffers and you’re no longer in the moment, focusing on pushing harder, working harder. And that’s where I think music can deter your efforts, without really meaning to.  Why spend all that time and energy working out, sweating like a fiend in each class if you aren’t really “in” it, if you’re not fully present and staying “there”  throughout?  To me, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you zone out for the vast majority of your workouts. At least I know I’d be doing myself one if I allowed the music to transport me away from the work. 

Hence, the music-less. 

But now I’m curious – do you guys see my point about the music-less? Do you see that zone out vs. zone in factor happening in your workouts? Do you try to stay present when you workout or do you use your workouts as an escape? I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious – and because I think we all approach our workouts differently, and there is no “right” or “wrong” way, really. Not for the most part, anyway. This is my long, rambly way of saying – talk to me! 🙂

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And if you made it to the end of this rambly blog post (that I’d fully intended to be short, initially, sorry about that!!), here’s my little giggle story on the “music-less” title. When I came up with the title of this post, the first thing it reminded me of was this little cartoon my sis and our college roommates were obsessed with back in college. It was probably one of the first instances of a “viral” video (wow, does that make me sound old or what??) – and it was called the Muffin Films which were these random, but really funny, short cartoons. One of them was called “The Muffin-less.” You can check it out here if you like: http://muffinfilms.com/harold.html

Random? Yes. Kinda hilarious. I think so. 😉

(and I’m pretty sure my sis is giggling away reading this, I’m sure she immediately thought of this the second she saw the blog post title, hehe)