One of my besties is nuts about pickleball. I asked her to review a few chapters of my book. After reading about the six needs, she said, “Pickleball helps fill my needs, which is probably why I love it so much. It’s great exercise (physiological). I have a lot of friends who play (social), and it’s a supportive community (safety). It’s challenging (growth), yet I’m gratified to see the progress I make (esteem). And the gains I’ve made help me feel like I can accomplish anything (autonomy).”

My friend has hit on the wonderful appeal of finding the right fitness community. Depending on where you live, you may have lots of options: dance, paddle sports, golf, CrossFit, soccer, softball, kickball, disc golf, curling, running clubs, rowing, rock climbing, and the list goes on. If you live in any sizable metro area, the harder question will be:

Where Do I Start?

The first step I suggest is to narrow down your list of options. Think about what kind of activities you enjoyed when you were a kid. Were you a climber, a jumper, a thrower, a runner, a fighter, a dancer, a gymnast? What are your strengths? Are you physically strong, more agile, or maybe you have a towering intellect? What are your schedule constraints? Are you able to set aside a fixed amount of time once or twice a week or do you need more flexibility? What are your financial constraints?

Next Steps

Once you have an idea of what type of activities you might want to try, the next step is to look around for a community that fits your skill level and personality. One colleague cheerfully told me of his terrible golf game. He had found a group of players as unskilled as he was. They regularly held golf tournaments; players with too low a handicap were ineligible to compete. His is just one example of an unconventional group finding support as they grow together.

You might ask friends and family if they have any recommendations, especially if you are keen to kill two birds with one stone and turn your fitness experience into quality time with a good friend. Meetup.com is used by some groups to advertise their presence to new members. You can also check with your online groups: local Facebook groups, NextDoor, local Reddit groups, etc.

Try one out. If you decide it’s not for you, I encourage you to keep looking! Your fitness community is out there waiting for your uniqueness to elevate it.

If you’ve already found your community, please tell us about it in the comments.

Note:

• One of my dreams is to build a website that helps people find their local fitness community. Just by researching this post, I learned that my city has kickball and dodgeball leagues, a curling league, and a disc golf league. I’d love to be able to visit one site and have all options available with filters to help me find the right fit, whether I am looking in this city or if I’m about to move to another. I’ll probably never get around to building that website, but I’d love to see someone else do it!