By: Nicole Nichols, SparkPeople Blogger
1/22/2010 5:38 AM   :  359 comments   :  15,367 Views

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I loved teaching Spinning classes at my alma mater's recreation center. The equipment was state of the art, the sound system was superb, and the students packed into my 6 p.m. classes and loved the challenge of a 60-minute ride. There was just one clock hanging in the room—off to the side and behind most of the bikes—yet there was a handful of students who would ask me to remove the clock from the wall during class. I guess they didn't want to look at it during class, but couldn't stop themselves from doing so. When you're working out and you don't absolutely love to do so, it can be downright discouraging to feel like you've put a dent into your workout goal, only to look up at the clock and see that you're not even a quarter of the way through. Ugh.

Where I teach now, there is no clock hanging in the Spinning room at all. The only clock available is lying on the floor by the instructor's bike, for his or her benefit alone.

This led me to wonder: Do you watch the clock when you exercise?

We all familiar with the idiom that a watched pot never boils; I think this applies to the clock when we're exercising. Think about the time or agonize over how much longer you have to go, and the minutes will seemingly tick backwards. Am I right? Usually, I challenge myself to go as long as I can without looking at my watch when I'm working out. Why? Because feeling like you've made a lot of progress only to find out that you're not even close doesn't make for a good workout. This holds especially true if your workout is extra challenging, boring or something you're making yourself do (versus something you WANT to do). I feel this way sometimes when I'm testing new DVDs that aren't particularly fun or I'm taking a class at the gym that isn't holding my attention. "Just ignore the clock," I tell myself over and over.

A few weeks ago, I was gearing up for my long run, which I always do on the weekends when I have more time available. I got all dressed up in my winter gear, strapped on my heart rate monitor, put on my Garmin watch and…it was dead. Oh no! I was a crossroads: To exercise without a watch (my workout buddy) or to give up on my workout for the day because I wouldn’t know how long I had been out or how fast I had gone (major motivators to me). I opted to run anyway, and like a recent winter run I did without my iPod, I could only go as fast and as long as my legs wanted to take me. I couldn't rely on my watch. I had to tune in to my body, estimate my distance, and not let the clock dictate how far I ran that day. It really made me think about how we impose time limits for the duration of our workouts. Is it because we really don't have the time to do more (like before work) or is it because we WANT to stop? How far would we all go if we covered our elliptical consoles with a magazine or ignored the clocks on our gym walls and simply listened to our own bodies and how we felt during our workouts?

I don't mean to get all new age-y on you, but from someone who always watched the clock (with dread in most cases), that watch-less run was pretty freeing, and I hope to forget the clock altogether more often (as long as I'm not facing a time constraint). I have a feeling that I'll enjoy myself more and focus on the moment—and how great it feels to move my body and develop strength and stamina—than what the face of a clock is trying to tell me.

How about you: Do you watch the clock during your workouts? Does it make the time go by faster or slower? Are you willing to try a time-free exercise session?