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U.S. Campus Life

Shape up or ship out

By Masako Yamada


自分の健康は自分で管理しなきゃ

筆者が通う格安スポーツジムの入り口。

For many years, I've complained to my labmates about my itchy skin and stiff shoulders. They have patiently listened to my stories of visiting various therapists and trying new diets, even offering their sympathetic comments. They work under the same conditions and they see me every day, so they understand what might be helpful. "Why don't you try to relax?" "Why don't you avoid the computer for a while?" are comments that I hear often. I would nod my head and tell them "Yes, you're right. But nothing seems to be working."

Inevitably, they continue by saying, "Then why don't you try yoga (or swimming, or stretching, or exercise)?" This is when the conversation stops, because I am forced to tell them that I don't exercise at all. My labmates joke that I'm pretty much an American except for this detail.

America may be home to lots of couch potatoes, but it's also full of fitness freaks. The people around me mostly fit into the latter category. There are plenty of joggers on the streets even in the dead of winter. My friends from abroad often cannot believe that there are so many gyms in the Boston area. These gyms are filled with women doing aerobics and men lifting weights (and often vice versa). These people are not necessarily athletes. They are businesspeople, students, stay-at-home moms, doctors, musicians . . . all for whom exercise is a regular part of their lives.

I know it's utterly useless for me to brag about my highly unusual — some might say "individualistic" — insistence on not exercising. This is especially true considering that I don't hesitate to complain about my physical woes. It's hypocritical to say "I've tried everything to improve my health" without actually trying regular exercise.

Therefore, I decided to join a gym a week ago. This has shocked the people around me, partly because they know how much I dislike exercise, and partly because I actually paid for a private gym membership when I could in fact go to the Boston University gym for free.

The reason I decide to pay to go to the gym is because the private gym is much closer to my lab than the Boston University gym. It takes a 2-minute walk to get to the private gym, while it takes a 10-minute train ride to get to the university gym. I didn't want to give myself any excuses not to exercise. I didn't want to hear myself say, "It's so cold today. I don't want to wait for the train to go to the gym." Also, I knew that if I paid for the membership up-front, I'd be more likely to go, since I'd want to get my money's worth.

People say that it's good to have a workout partner, since two people can keep each other from slacking off. I don't know whether this is true. I don't have a workout partner. I think the desire to take care of oneself should come from within oneself . . . and working out alone should pose no problem in this case.

My boyfriend and a friend of his have decided to be workout partners, and I suspect that I've been more successful at sticking to my routine than they have. In principle, when one person in a team says "I can't workout today," the other should insist "No, we HAVE to go!" However, in practice, it's much easier to say "Well, if you're not going . . . I guess I won't, either."

I've been going to the gym almost every day for the past 10 days. I can't say that I see or feel any difference in my health. My eczema is still there, my shoulder is still stiff, my muscles are still flabby, my breath is still short. I'm confident, however, that I will see results in a few months. I'm not an exercise addict, but I don't feel like quitting. I'd like to get rid of my health problems, of course, but I also want to prove that I can control my own life. I'm tired of looking for external medicines and therapies and complaining that they don't work. It's time to be responsible for myself.


Shukan ST: Feb. 1, 2001

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