Running for a minute down the street feels like it takes 90 minutes; running in a soccer game for ninety minutes feels like a minute. My lungs collapse after running laps around a soccer field during preseason; my lungs hold up after a hard fought scrimmage on the soccer field.
Was it a difference in my mentality? My experiences? Did such a change occur when I put on my red and black uniform with my grey Adidas tie-headband and stepped onto the field?
I had always questioned why my body, my brain, could never allow me to run off the field. On every run, my legs felt heavy, my stomach swayed side-to-side due to its extra skin, my thoughts streamed through my head about my foreseen slow pace alerting me on my Apple Watch.
My father thoroughly enjoys running; early memories flood through my head of him returning from runs on a high, adrenaline and serotonin flowing through his system and its infectious nature spreading onto us.
Why didn’t I feel that rush of exhilaration? After every run, I returned with only negative thoughts in my head. I never understood how I would improve as a soccer player if I could not run in the offseason.
So, I opted for a new routine.
Apple Fitness + was a new program designed to connect to my Apple Watch, making me extrinsically motivated to ‘close my rings’. It offered strength and core training, which gave me a better soccer physique than running had ever given.
Strength training releases anger and tension in my body while also increasing my leg and abdominal muscles. Core training tightens and strengthens muscles in my torso and mainly in the center of my body.
Although sweat does not drip down my face after each workout and I do not feel winded, a greater change occurs in my muscular system than running ever had.
Each repetition, set, and body movement contributes to making me better on the field and off the field.