So I was in the gym today and noticed two separate people reading while “working out.” One was on a stairstepper and one was on an exercise bike. I see people doing this fairly regularly in my gym, actually. I don’t know about you, but when I exercise, there’s no way I could read anything at all. That’s because I am breathing heavily, sweating, and in constant motion. In short, it’s because I’m really working out, not just going through the motions. There’s no way I could focus on lines of text and really think about what I’m reading.

The people I saw today were calm and most relaxed as they caught up on their reading while at the gym. How convenient and efficient of them. I bet neither one burned more than 100 calories. I kept wondering why they bothered to come to the gym at all if this is the sort of workout they were going to have. They should have just called it a day earlier and stayed at home on the couch.

You can read or you can work out, but you can’t do both. Pick which one you want to do and really do it. Don’t half way do both at the same time, because you’re really doing neither.