This Girl Can asked, I shared their question on our Facebook page, and you answered.
“It can be easy to feel comfortable with an exercise or activity we know, but sometimes taking it one step further or trying something you never thought you could do can make you feel like a badass!
What activities have taken you out of your comfort zone and loved them?”
There were such great replies on our Facebook page I asked readers for permission to share their stories here. Here’s some plus some replies from the blog team.
Hiking
Pole
Pole dancing is a demanding sport that requires you to place a lot of faith in your body. You trust your hands and the 6 square inches of skin you have on the pole as you extend your body as far away as you can. Spinning gives me moments of zero G that do something good for my brain. (Marilyn)
Weightlifting
Weights! Both machines and free weights. During my last PT for ankle damage, I did leg strengthening work and got interested in lifting. It made me feel powerful, strong, solid and stable. After a few coaching sessions, I didn’t connect with a gym. Remembering this feeling, maybe it’s time to find a lifting class. (Catherine)
Snowshoeing
Started during the pandemic, going out for an hour or two with friends to public golf courses and provincial parks. You can walk ON the snow in them! I don’t like being cold, but after I invested in these funky green foam ones I actually look forward to bundling up and getting outside in them each winter. (Elan)
Triathlon
I started triathlon kind of reluctantly after experiencing a slew of running injuries. I fell in love. I made the most amazing friends and realized I’m stronger than I ever thought- I also reached running PRs in every distance since starting training like a triathlete! As someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, I’m passionate about fighting the negative aspects of sport and have founded Athletes Against Diet Culture, a community that believes athletes come in all shapes and sizes and emphasizes sport for enjoyment not changing your body. (Kate Mroz-Weinstein)
Running and tubing
This question makes me want to write “an ode to my comfort zone” because most things I do, I choose because they work for me and I think that is a good thing. Running, in the first place, was out of my comfort zone, 20 years ago, as the kid who avoided gym class and could barely run across the street. But it’s become very much in my comfort zone.
Parts of all sports I do are not in my comfort zone (anything involving coordination, for example) but I try little things all the time just because I am regularly part of a group class where there are opportunities for such things.
Several years ago, I went with a group tubing on the Grand River. It’s a lazy river but it was still out of my comfort zone. Took me forever to get in the tube and get comfortable. But once I did, I really enjoyed it and ended up seeking out the “faster” parts. (Nicole)
Triathlon
Doing triathlon made me feel as if I was capable of something that had previously seemed impossible for me. The Olympic distance especially. I still look back on it with incredulity. (Tracy)
Winter Biking
Riding my fat bike in the snow is the thing that I do that’s outside my comfort zone and makes me feel like a badass. Partly doing any physical activity in Canadian winter, in the snow and ice, makes you feel like a badass. Fat biking takes it up one more notch when you’re riding in the woods. It feels like a wild wonderful wintertime adventure and it makes me smile. (Sam)
All of them
All of them! I’m not a natural athlete and everything I do scares me a little sometimes. Overcoming that fear is powerful. (Diane)
How about you? What’s outside your comfort zone and makes you feel like a badass?
