In my last two years of high school, I was an exercise junky. I became quite reliant on the endorphins that I would receive from working out. When wrestling or soccer season would end, there would be a chance that I'd fall into a deep depression for a couple of weeks as my body adjusted. These free creative writing prompts can help you to tell your exercise stories whether positive or negative. I've had lots of great parts of my life influenced by the positivity of exercise, but you can't ignore that exercise must occur in moderation (read: not six hours a day) to be most effective. If you wish to share your experiences, there is a space to fill out the prompts below. Enjoy!
Free Creative Writing Prompts: Exercise
1. What is the most exercise you've ever done in one sitting? Talk about the situation that led up to this much exercise (whether intentional or unplanned). How did you feel afterward?
2. What role does exercise play in your life? Do you use it to feel better about yourself or look better? Do you avoid it at every cost? Write about a day in which you have to drastically change your amount of exercise and how if affects you.
3. Write a story about your experiences in high school gym class. Try to write from as many different points of view as possible. The overweight kid, the hotter than thou cheerleader, the perfect athlete and nice guy, the pothead, etc. Have fun with this one and all the archetypes you can pull from.
4. Craft a tale about your experiences in a gym that you felt completely out of place in. What kind of people did you see working out in there? What kind of vibe did you get from it? Detail working out there for a week and your experiences there.
5. Imagine that you have been somehow transported into the body of an extremely muscular body builder. How do people look at you as you go walking down the street? How do people look at you and interact with you when you exercise at the gym or out running? How is this different from your current life?
6. Imagine that you have been somehow transported into the body of an extremely out of shape person. How do people look at you as you go walking down the street. How do people look at you and interact with you when you exercise at the gym or while jogging? How does this differ from your life right now?
7. Have you ever been a calorie counter? Do you keep your eyes glued to the exercise machines that you use to find out exactly how many calories you ahve burned during your workouts? How do the "amount of calories burned" affect your exercising?
8. Have you ever had a workout and exercise buddy or group? Talk about your experiences with this group or duo and how you helped each other out? If you have never been a part of such a pair or a group, talk about working out with an ideal workout partner and how you think it might go.
9. Do you have a chronic exerciser in your life? If so, write a story about the role exercise plays in this person's day to day life. If not, create a character that uses exercise to deal with all the stress in his or her life
10. Talk about the time that you felt you were the most in shape in your entire lifetime. What things were you able to do that you aren't able to now? What would you do to get back into that kind of condition?
One of the defining moments of high school for me was a 1st place freshman finish at a 5k called The Big Red Race. It would never have happened if it wasn't for soccer. Soccer might not have happened if I wasn't in the lunch room at the right time and place to go to a late physical to find more boys for the freshman soccer team. Exercise may have become a big part of my life largely by being there and I am grateful for it. Hopefully, these free creative writing prompts about exercise can help you share similar stories as well. Happy writing!
Bonus Prompt - Write a story about trying to implement your ideal exercise plan as if you had unlimited resources, unlimited motivation, and no obligations throughout the day. How would you develop physically after 3 months with this plan? 6 months? A year?
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