As one who habitually works out, I am constantly asked.
“Isn’t it boring?”
“Where do you get the willpower from?”
I try to explain that I enjoy it for its own sake. But the response is usually a sort of patronizing amazement, as if I were a specimen of some rare and curious species.
Extroverts working out on their own are easily spotted:
-Their hearts are never in it. When jogging they plod along leaning sloppily forward into their sluggish steps. The person in question might very well be young and athletic, but their mental self-defeat is complete.
-Their face has a sour, bored, “I’d rather be doing anything else” kind of look.
-Their head is plastered with all the latest electronic devices to provide some form of distraction. Without the sound of the human voice at all times, they would simply go insane.
-At least one wire coming from the head flops awkwardly around slowing them down more still and screwing up their form.
How do I explain to such a person:
-How on a long run I get lost in the corresponding rythyms of my breath and heartbeat?
-The sheer joy of being in the outdoors?
-How I become completely absorbed in the rush I get while doing a max clean and press or squat?
-That it’s a socially sanctioned means of spending time alone, even when the sun is still up?
I sometimes say truthfully it’s just a part of my routine I wouldn’t want to do without, that it makes me feel fantastic, that it untangles my thoughts.
“Wo-ow, you’re so dedicated.” an extrovert glibly responds.
In that moment the wide gap in understanding becomes obvious:
-For the extrovert, exercise is merely penance for that cheesecake last night. Working out is just one of many unenjoyable activities required to maintain Surface social appearances.
-For the introvert exercise is an enjoyable activity of recharge and renewal on a spiritual level. Working out is a celebration of the individual’s mastery over the bodily domain. It is about getting away from social expectations.
When extroverts exercise seriously, it is for the sake of competition and social status. There are some very fit extroverts in high school and college, but their physical activity comes abruptly to an end when it loses its usefulness as a social tool in adult life.
The introvert often lives their young life in hiding and only emerges to discover their own physical potential well into their twenties or even later. Exercise is internally motivated, a personal exploration, a spiritual self realization.
Because motivation comes from within, introverts who exercise tend to exercise through all of life, decades after the extrovert has given it up with the exception of an occasional painful weekend jog or a short-lived new years resolution gym membership.
Hi, I’m studying extroverts and exercise at ISU as part of a master’s thesis… I didn’t notice any citations on your piece. Would you be able to share those with me? I’m curious to see some empirical data supporting your claims. Thanks!!
“-Their head is plastered with all the latest electronic devices to provide some form of distraction. Without the sound of the human voice at all times, they would simply go insane.”
I like this blog, but you make a lot of sweeping generalizations from your own experience, or seem to.
Listening to music is something I see as more introverted than anything else; a way to drown out the social nonsense around oneself. That said, I’m only using myself as an example here.
What can one say without generalizing? That’s precisely why no one really takes politically correct terminology seriously.
In this case, I’m talking about someone who’s out on a jog, already away from all the social nonsense and instead of getting in the flow and listening to the elements, they cover themselves up with several hundred bucks worth of technology to save them from the social void. A jog is pure punishment for a true extrovert, but it would be even worse to show up at the next cocktail party with a beer gut. I simply can’t imagine a Subtle person out in the open with a tangle of wires hanging off them, a Jacob Marley of jogging. It’s gotten better over time I admit. It was truly comical to see people running with gigantic walkman headphones back in the early nineties.
Both extroverts and introverts listen to music. They just listen to different music for vastly different reasons.
“In this case, I’m talking about someone who’s out on a jog, already away from all the social nonsense”
Even this is assumptive and context-ignorant. One could well be sharing an exercise space with others and not want to be disturbed.
“A jog is pure punishment for a true extrovert, but it would be even worse to show up at the next cocktail party with a beer gut.”
I really don’t think that this statement holds much water as a generalization. In fact there seems to be a stronger correlation with athleticism/love of physical exertion and extroversion.
Anyone, whether intro or extro, who is stepping into such a realm for the first time, will most likely feel reluctant and apprehensive. Also not every introvert is a nature-loving type. Music helps grease the creaky gears in both respects.
“One could well be sharing an exercise space with others and not want to be disturbed.”
In which case a true introvert shuts out the presence of others and focuses on the workout at hand. An introvert can go to the gym without any problem. We are versatile. It is less easy for an extrovert to go out jogging alone somewhere.
Extroverts are fine with physical exertion so long as there is a social context for it. Most of the time, they are dependent on clubs, training partners, personal trainers to provide the motivation. The social interaction is just as important as the workout, if not more so.
An introvert is going to be best at athletic activities that are relativity low in publicity and prestige yet high in endurance. These are sports that require self motivation, an ability to focus within, and the patience to enjoy an activity that actually removes one from social interaction.
Yes, I am aware that only a subsection of extroverts and introverts exercise. It takes a lot of effort to get into the rhythm and routine no matter who you are. That’s why the article compares patterns of physical activity in introverts and extroverts who exercise.
You seem to share my observation that introverts in general seem less physical, more kinetically shy in nature. This is why I note that introverts who exercise often didn’t come out of their shells until well after the extrovert athlete’s heyday.
Finally, with the possible exception of trains/planes/subways, I find in general introverts are much less prone to using their music players in public, let alone while out jogging. It seems invariably the brightly dressed attention getter who has the music turned on so loud that one can hear a tinny clashing and bass from the earbuds on the other side of a room.
I would consider myself an introvert and I would agree with the motivating factor that drive extroverts to exercise are usually some social standard they are trying to uphold themselves too. I enjoy working out on my own and didn’t start until I was 24 going on 25 (current age). But there is something to working out with a community of like minded people such as “Crossfit”. Alot of them are extroverts who love to go to social events which I never attend. But when you are sweating together it makes those differences disappear because they all want you to do your best.
But I do look at exercising as somewhat of an inner spiritual experience and continuously look for ways to motivate myself, usually coming from music lyrics, poetry or some form of literature.
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Every single time I see extraverts whining about us mean and rude introverts saying such mean and rude things, I imagine a man in a $3000 business suit running out of his stretch limo towards a group of hobos screaming, “STOP OPPRESSING ME!!”
Or I just think back to the many times I was judged for not smiling all the time or being quiet in public and fired/not hired for not being a “team player” and during the hell of adolescence and…
Ha! ‘Team player!’ I just love that one. You may have just given me an idea for a post.
You’ve pretty much touched on why I’ve adopted a less than apologetic tone on this site.
Thank You for this article. And for the first comment. you dont need research claims to support shit. its what he feels. I feel the same but im not an exercise kind of person. introverted i am but I prefer to not exercise, i feel it takes up to much to. Im an eater, that clams my thoughts an feelings and over-stimuli. I do realized that the same extroverts that exercise or that start exercising only do it to look good or because they see other people doing it. i hate exercise because it actually makes me irritated. when i do exercise it is internally motivated. My father died from a heart attack and he and both his parents had high blood pressure and diabetes.