Playful workout design – when you feel overwhelmed by your discipline

Over decades of martial arts and dance training, I learned two things. One is the mantra that mastery requires recurring come backs to the foundation of your discipline. Over and over again. Another is the feeling of crawling burnout and missing joy after a few years of training, especially if you compete.

I have a solution that makes it easier to return to the basics and, simultaneously, to build up the motivation and joy of workouts. The solution is to train like a kid, not like an adult. This summarization is slightly aggravated, but it touches the core of a problem. Sports shouldn’t be stressful and optimized for an adult’s body only; the mind plays a crucial role, too. Is it only my opinion? No, it isn’t. Researchers from [1] have published a paper analyzing the performance of athletes who have incorporated unstructured play into their workouts. It looks promising, as the article shows that playful design positively affects athletes’ performance in individual sports! That’s why authors recommend using Playful Sport Design in training sessions of adult athletes.

Playing instead of drilling has many positive effects, but one critical requirement is that it must be a bottom-up approach. This means that it should be self-induced, not forced by a coach! And what playing gives us as adults? (The list below comes from [2, 3])

  • discharge surplus of energy
  • alleviate stress
  • sparks feelings of excitement and enjoyment
  • enhances flexible thinking and problem-solving skills
  • increases motivation
  • strengthens social bonds

We know what and why, but the last question is how? How should I design my playful workout? I can give you some examples:

  • Running: Change your running speed based on the objects you pass or the tempo of music; think about something other than TIME.
  • Martial arts: copycat other styles (for fun, try not to be precise).
  • Dancing: When you train your basic moves, do something else too. For example, play with your dog (yes, it’s me and my pug in a movie below).

Other things worth considering are social media challenges and playing with your kids and friends.

Summary

In my opinion, this kind of training makes us better prepared for mental challenges. It enhances the central nervous system’s response to unexpected things that might happen during competition or your regular training routine. It makes a nice addition to regular workouts, where we focus on a body (and nervous system response, but in rather controlled environment).

Playful workouts shouldn’t dominate your schedule, but I’ve found them helpful when I’m tired and need to reset the cycle. Maybe you should treat them the same way?

Bibliography

[1] Verwijmeren, S., de Vries, J. D., & Bakker, A. B. (2024). Playful sport design: A game changer? Journal of Applied Sport Psychology36(1), 45–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2023.2185698

[2] Deterding, S. (2016). Make-believe in gameful and playful design. In P. Turner & J. Tuomas (Eds.), Digital make-believe (pp. 101–124). Springer. 

[3] Van Vleet, M., & Feeney, B. C. (2015). Play behavior and playfulness in adulthood. Social and Personality Psychology Compass9(11), 630–643. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12205 

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