These are the most annoying yet motivating quotes during sports lessons

I can't call myself a Sporty Spice yet, but I'm well on my way. At least, I'm trying to train at least twice a week, which is quite often, right? Or should the hardcore Sporty Spices be laughing hard at this? Those so-called happiness hormones aren't fully released yet, but I'm doing my best. Spinning, pilates, and HIIT; I enjoy attending those three classes. I don't do free sports anymore, as I really need someone to talk me through those 45 minutes.

At the same time, I also get terribly annoyed by those trainers, because of their ever-present cheerfulness and eternal motivation. It undoubtedly has something to do with jealousy on my part: the idea that they become so incredibly happy from exercising and I don't, or that they train ten times a week with ease and I don't. But I am also very grateful to them for helping me get fit.

Yet I find the following motivational statements very hard to deal with while exercising. Despite the fact that the trainers speak plain Dutch nine out of ten times, we are often encouraged in a very international way. Sometimes it even provokes aggression, but maybe that is exactly the intention.

1. ‘Mind over body’

Or something else along the lines of ‘it's all about the mind’. I absolutely do not experience that when I'm drenched in sweat and feel nothing but my body. At such moments, the mind is hard to find.

2. ‘Close your eyes and focus on yourself. Don’t focus on your neighbour, you should not compare yourself to anyone else.’

This last part is exactly what I do. Of course, I want to know what level my neighbor is at on the stairs. Is he/she at ten? Then I set mine to twelve. I'm really too competitive to not keep an eye on the person next to me throughout the whole workout.

3. ‘Forget everything that is happening in your life right now. You are here in this class at this moment and you can be very proud of that.’

Very rarely, when I'm hungover (and thus unstable) in a spinning class and hear these motivational texts, I suddenly burst into tears. Yes, really, this has happened to me multiple times.

4. ‘You are not here for me but for yourself.’

This is something the teachers used to say to you in school. But just like back then in class, you believe very little of it during that sports lesson. You're there, of course, because otherwise, you have to pay for that missed lesson, so actually, you're mostly there for your instructor.

5. ‘Give your neighbour a high five.’

Sorry, but isn't that just really gross? Yet they keep suggesting this during those group classes. Completely soaked in sweat, you then have to give your complete stranger neighbor a high five. Brrrr.

6. ‘Every minute counts, you are not here to drink.’

No, this is indeed not motivating, but rather super demotivating. It was only said to me once, when I (apparently) drank too much water during a HIIT class. Secretly, I was also stretching my time a bit between the rounds.

7. ‘A new moon stands for a new beginning.’

I've heard this saying just a bit too often during yoga and pilates classes. I just can't imagine that there was actually a new moon all those times, and I also don't believe I've ever been able to draw strength from such a new moon. But hey, who am I?

8. ’Shake off all negativity.’

I wish it were that easy. In combination with a deep forced sigh, I always try to strive for it. Unfortunately, it never quite works out, and a little later, I walk out the door just as stressed.

9. ‘It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light.’

We end with this gem, which is written very large on the wall in the spinning studio, but is also often shouted during the class. The power of repetition, we say.