Far from the simple work-reward construct, every exercise session has the potential to be a complex web of stimulus and adaptation when approached with knowledge, experience, and passion. The best example of that is the constant need to improve one often overlooked aspect of fitness: skill. Skill contributes to fitness through efficiency; the maximization of capacity requires that you first perform the work in the most efficient manner possible. A fitness skill, or any skill, always requires experience. Depending on the sophistication of the challenge, sometimes a lot of experience. So skill is just a fancy word for the result of practice.

In spite of the fact that the only movements that deserve to be called exercise are functional an mimic nature, few of them feel natural the first time you do them. That is a symptom of a lack of skill. Set aside some of your workout as often as possible for this thing called skill. Focus on the technique of the movements that feel the most awkward to you. Lighten up the loads and make the rep count the goal. There are many movements (olympic lifting comes to mind) that won't feel natural for the first 500 reps. Then, and only then, will you truly appreciate the value of technique.