The worst part is, after a short while, you actually cross this sort of threshold where you enjoy it and begin to look forward to it, and then you start to notice it is helping your mental as well as your physical health.
Just atrocious. It’s almost like we were evolved for this.
This has never happened to me. I still hate it and I run at least 18 miles a week for going on twenty years. I feel like shit if I don’t run, but I still hate the actual activity.
Have you tried an activity you actually enjoy? I know that sounds a bit curt, but I gave up jogging for mountain biking and hiking, and now it is substantially easier to convince myself to get out and get started because I actually enjoy what I’m doing!
That shouldn’t have been as revelatory for me as it was, but the current paradigm is that jogging, gym time, or other monotonous activities are what we should be doing, and that really just sucks the joy out of physical activity.
I have extremely limited amounts of time to do anything. My wife is ill and I’m her full time care giver. So I really only have running as an option. I wake up early when she is still sleeping and go. I prefer running to biking.
I am sorry to hear about your wife, and I hope for the best for you both.
it’s crazy to me that there are people out there that are able to do things they don’t enjoy doing by their own willpower just because it’s good for them and I can’t even get myself to do the things I enjoy doing.
I’m about to go on my 6 mile mile run and it is five thirty in the morning here.
I think the key for me is to just make the connection that the pain of not running (for me, the discomfort of my breathing being slightly worse when I’m really out of shape and just general feeling of shittiness) is worse than the activity itself. I also add treats to my run when I’m getting back into the habit. Fun size candy bars and the like. I also reserve my favorite podcasts for my run. I’m about to listen to behind the bastards which is always a good time.
Man, seeing a ton of people all experiencing great returns on their hard work just makes me feel even worse for never experiencing any of it beyond the weight loss itself. For literal years. No good feelings, no endorphins, even some of my joints felt worse simply because they were being used more.
And now the exact same thing two days in a row!
Its great. I’m fine. This is fine. I’m not jealous or spiteful at all. Have fun working out for me I guess.
Just take drugs. Problem solved!
I do both, I’m playing both sides so I always come out on top
Yeah… this shit’s killing me. If walking improves your “chronic pain” you were just lazy and out of shape 🤣
It didn’t help ME with chronic pain, but it does help my wife with her fibromyalgia.
I’d wager if you are up in weight, and chronic pain is in any of your weight supporting areas (hips, knees, ankles, lower back, etc) then chances are your pain could be weight related.
My parents are 100% weight related issues, and when I was trying to lose weight in 2013-2015 I tried to get them to do light stuff with me. Walk around the trees behind the house a few times. A couple light calisthenics. Ride some shitty cheap bikes around the park.
Since then their knees, hips, and ankles are their biggest complaints.
One of the many reasons I value living in a walkable city. I don’t have to go out of my way to walk. It’s just a part of daily life.
A few years ago I went from 265 lbs to 195. I was amazed at how much better I felt overall.
Unfortunately, I have a relationship with sweets that is very similar to Charlie Sheen’s relationship with cocaine. I haven’t gained all that weight back but I have gained back some of it.
Getting the motivation and self control to eat right is incredibly hard work.
Damn I’m feeling you. I’m in the fall process (solidly down 15kg/33lb, approaching 20kg/44lb) with about 10-15kg to go. When my belly stops flapping I’m good I think. But I fear the rebound… Currently lots of my evening snacking have disappeared because of evening gym classes, so late home and even later dinner. So I don’t have time anymore to get snacky. Or if I do it’s almost bedtime anyway so I’ll just go to bed instead.
But once I’ve hit my goal and don’t need to hit gym that hard anymore… That frightens me. A little bit at least. Made some good connections there and got a routine going so i can probably keep it up.
Yeah I hated the process of becoming one of the exercise people, but it really is the lowest effort to increase in happiness activity I’ve added to my life
If you hate exercising, there are other ways to get it “for free” that don’t involve tediously lifting and dropping weights over and over, etc. For example, play ball games with friends. Take up climbing (indoor or outdoor!). Rekindle your love of cycling around town on a bike. Paintball with friends. Take up a martial art. Pretty much anything that has movement as a side effect, rather than it being the ‘main event’.
Running on a treadmill is fucking awful to me, I hate it so much. But running as a consequence of playing a sport or moving around a boxing ring or whatever, that’s different. I don’t hate running per se, but on its own? I’d rather take the L and die years earlier than I should. Seriously. Gyms and gym equipment make me want to fling myself under a passing bus.
I don’t really like cycling, but I’ve found I dislike driving more, so replacing car trips w/ bike trips has worked really well. I get exercise, save money, I get better parking spots, and I’m not stuck in a stupid car. Oh, and I’m quite competitive, so I like to see how quickly I can get from A to B, so my heartrate stays high.
I also have gymnastic rings in my garage for my upper body. I’m not a fan of that either, but it at least feels cooler than lifting weights. So I’ll alternate between doing errands on my bike and using the gymnastic rings.
The idea that I could be doing less activity than walking 3 miles a week and not understanding how bad I’m feeling because of it… Is extremely depressing. I’m so glad I figured this out like 12 years ago!
Just the idea of not doing something that you are doing makes you depressed?
The initial comment resonated so much with me, that I feel the need to answer, even though I wasn’t even asked: YES
A few years ago I was in a really dark place. I lost 3 kg in 2 months and when I wasn’t at work, I was lying in my bed on the verge of crying, half-listening to YouTube just to scare the thoughts away.
But the thing, that finally got me out of the loop, was getting myself a houseplant, after watching a plant YouTuber for a while. And when I got home, rather than cry, I obsessively cleaned every speck of dust off the leaves, measured the soil moisture with a stick and just watched it be. And something just clicked inside me and I realized that I had found something I wanted to do; probably forever, if given the chance.
Still have the same plant; cut, repotted and propagated. And while I’m at a much better place now - physically, mentally, financially - just thinking about giving that (houseplants) up feels like going back.
Imho, anything you can do to increase overall bloodflow is beneficial to your entire system. One of the reasons caffeine makes us feel good is the increased bloodflow. If that can be increased without drugs, youre one up on the masses. Enjoy it dont hate it
… lol.
To the people who dont feel better after excercise, maybe you just haven’t found a sport or excercise that you like?
For me it is biking but yours could be different.
I dislike exercising, I often have to “parent” myself into starting, I have to fight the urge to stop several times during a session, and I almost always feel worse immediately after. Sore, tired, sweaty, or various other uncomfortableness, and I haven’t found a recovery activity that erases that temporary badness.
But, my life when I’m not exercising has gotten better, and it’s at least partially due to the exercise.
Well, maybe try something else. For example:
- swimming - can’t be sweaty of you’re surrounded by water
- cycling - do errands on your bike; you’ll still be tired and sweaty, but at least you also got groceries
- hiking - see nature and get the exercise for free
Counter-example: tried to exercise, ended up doing more harm than good. Walking always made me barely able to move for a couple of days and continued trying, even once every few days, still hurt me, got worse, and I think it’s responsible for how I am now (severe sciatic nerve damage).
Fuck exercise.
