Training with Purpose?

On Friday, I had the very unfortunate luck of catching the Mongolian Death Flu from Hell that's been felling all my clients over the last several months.  It's been a long, long time since I've been sick like this (haven't left the house, or pretty much the bed/couch, since Friday evening), and it's been miserable.  What it has afforded me the time to do, however, besides catch up on pretty much every episode of "30 Rock" and "The Office" ever made, is spend a lot of time reading Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and whatnot about training (my favorite subject, and since I haven't had the energy to lift anything heavier than the 13lb. package of Einkorn flour that arrived today-- excited about that, but that's fodder for another blog-- I am living vicariously through my fitness friends).  

 

First draft:  How To Deadlift Triple Bodyweight.  Might need to scrap this particular plan.

 

A lot of what I read made me think about some of the comments people make about my own workouts.  For those of you who don't know, I like to post my workouts on Facebook fairly often.  Many people tell me it motivates them, and honestly, seeing the numbers up there motivates me, too.   Not uncommonly, someone will respond to my posting by asking me why I did that particular workout.  I usually have a long list of reasons, which almost always includes, "Because I like to."

Here's the thing-- I'm all for training with purpose.  I have goals.  My clients have goals.  We all need road maps to get there.  But somewhere along the line, the simple joy of movement seems to get lost in the details.  So, you know what?  Sometimes I'm going to try a challenge like this:  

 

 

 or do 1,500 one-handed swings in a row.  Sometimes I'm going to try a muscle-up or a flag.  Sometimes I'm going to play on the jungle gym or my ladders like an insane 12-year-old like this:

 

 

 

Does it make me better?  Stronger?  Faster?  Well, some of these things will make me improve at some things, and others will make me improve at other things.  Some will just burn some fun calories and work some muscles I'd forgotten existed for a while, and some will just feel good.  The caveat, of course, would be doing these things in the absence of good form and ending up in pain.  But as long as you're not hurting yourself, what's wrong with having fun with movement?

So while yes, training with purpose is important to do most of the time, not everything you do for fitness needs to have a goal, in my humble little long-haired opinion.  If you love it, why not do it? Beats the heck out of sitting on the couch, watching sitcoms.  Trust me.  I know.  :-/

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comments?  Post 'em here!