Is exercise really worth it?
December 11, 2011 8:59 PM Subscribe
I really dislike exercising and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to motivate myself. After reading this comment I realized part of the problem is I'm ambivalent because I'm not really convinced exercise does much for me. Help me convince myself otherwise.
Exercise has always been difficult for me. I am not naturally athletic. Picked last in gym class every time, cut from every team there were try outs for. As an adult I learned to tolerate going to the gym and yoga mostly because they weren't competitive sports where I felt a lot of pressure. Nonetheless I do not enjoy exercise. At all.
I also realized even though I've gone through various phases where I kept up a pretty consistent exercise regime. I never saw the kind of results I would want for the effort I put in. And really if I wasn't also dieting I saw almost no results. Sometimes people would say I looked more toned, but I wasn't fitting into any of my smaller jeans.
I also don't feel like I get any of the other supposed benefits from exercise. I think I might sleep marginally better, maybe? When I'm under extreme stress it can help, but not for normal day to day stress. It might marginally improve my mood, but that's an even bigger maybe. I have very little natural ability so I don't really see substantial changes in my performance after the first week or two of getting into a routine, even though I try to push myself and do intervals. I've half heartedly tried weight lifting, but my lower back is quite bad and it's very hard for me to maintain the correct form and usually end up with a sore back. I actually feel fairly crappy most of the time after exercising.
Part of the problem may be I'm not working out hard enough to see results, but I just am about to drop after 35-50 minutes of cardio. More than that is both horrifying and mind numbing.
I walk about 1.5 miles a day, but other than that I'm finding it impossible to motivate myself. I know that exercise is the supposed cure all for any and all health problems, but I just don't see it and really I don't have any health problems and just want to cut the same 10 lbs I've been losing and gaining for as long as I can remember.
How do I convince myself that exercise is actually worth it? I feel like this is a mental block I need to get over if I'm ever going to really stick with exercising.
Exercise has always been difficult for me. I am not naturally athletic. Picked last in gym class every time, cut from every team there were try outs for. As an adult I learned to tolerate going to the gym and yoga mostly because they weren't competitive sports where I felt a lot of pressure. Nonetheless I do not enjoy exercise. At all.
I also realized even though I've gone through various phases where I kept up a pretty consistent exercise regime. I never saw the kind of results I would want for the effort I put in. And really if I wasn't also dieting I saw almost no results. Sometimes people would say I looked more toned, but I wasn't fitting into any of my smaller jeans.
I also don't feel like I get any of the other supposed benefits from exercise. I think I might sleep marginally better, maybe? When I'm under extreme stress it can help, but not for normal day to day stress. It might marginally improve my mood, but that's an even bigger maybe. I have very little natural ability so I don't really see substantial changes in my performance after the first week or two of getting into a routine, even though I try to push myself and do intervals. I've half heartedly tried weight lifting, but my lower back is quite bad and it's very hard for me to maintain the correct form and usually end up with a sore back. I actually feel fairly crappy most of the time after exercising.
Part of the problem may be I'm not working out hard enough to see results, but I just am about to drop after 35-50 minutes of cardio. More than that is both horrifying and mind numbing.
I walk about 1.5 miles a day, but other than that I'm finding it impossible to motivate myself. I know that exercise is the supposed cure all for any and all health problems, but I just don't see it and really I don't have any health problems and just want to cut the same 10 lbs I've been losing and gaining for as long as I can remember.
How do I convince myself that exercise is actually worth it? I feel like this is a mental block I need to get over if I'm ever going to really stick with exercising.
In my experience exercise doesn't make you drop weight unless you are exercising hard out 4 hours a day. It does make weight loss easier if you are also monitoring food intake - I reckon about 80% food, 20% exercise. So you have to focus on the other benefits of exercise. It doesn't sound like you see any real lifestyle benefits from the exercise you have been doing either.
What worked for me was (1) spending so much money on en exercise program up front that I was horrified at myself and HAD to exercise; and (2) finding a fitness goal or interest that existed beyond weight loss or general health benefits. At various stages this led me to kickboxing, Bikram Yoga, running, Crossfit, hard out strength training and rock climbing. Weight loss will always be easier controlled through managing your food intake. For exercise, you need to find something that interests or motivates you for its own sake.
And start slow. S-L-O-W. If you feel that crappy after exercising you are pushing yourself too hard.
What makes it worth it is the feeling of accomplishment when you do something you never thought you could do. And it happens way faster than you think it will :)
posted by yogalemon at 9:16 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
What worked for me was (1) spending so much money on en exercise program up front that I was horrified at myself and HAD to exercise; and (2) finding a fitness goal or interest that existed beyond weight loss or general health benefits. At various stages this led me to kickboxing, Bikram Yoga, running, Crossfit, hard out strength training and rock climbing. Weight loss will always be easier controlled through managing your food intake. For exercise, you need to find something that interests or motivates you for its own sake.
And start slow. S-L-O-W. If you feel that crappy after exercising you are pushing yourself too hard.
What makes it worth it is the feeling of accomplishment when you do something you never thought you could do. And it happens way faster than you think it will :)
posted by yogalemon at 9:16 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
When you're consistent, how often per week are you going? You pretty much have to build up, starting no more than every other day, or you're not going to be able to maintain the mental toughness (or, like me, you just figure the first couple weeks, every goddamn day, will have nothing to show except a willpower trick.)
As for fitting into your skinny jeans, you realize that at first, you may gain a little, yes? When I get into a workout kick, the first couple weeks I have to wear my fat clothes and not look at myself because I somehow look worse. After two weeks to a month of steady working out, *that's* when things start to happen.
posted by notsnot at 9:16 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
As for fitting into your skinny jeans, you realize that at first, you may gain a little, yes? When I get into a workout kick, the first couple weeks I have to wear my fat clothes and not look at myself because I somehow look worse. After two weeks to a month of steady working out, *that's* when things start to happen.
posted by notsnot at 9:16 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I could totally have written this. And, yes, people keep telling me how I'll feel sooo much better if I exercise and my mental health will be soooo improved and my sleep will get sooooo much more sound and all that, and I just find that I have a couple less hours in my week to do things I actually enjoy. I told my husband the other week that while I'm on the stationary bike the only thing going through my head is "At least now I know what it will be like when I die and go to hell." Once I started going to the gym and confirmed that, yes, I feel just as crappy after a few weeks of going regularly, people just started expanding their estimates of the time after which exercise would start making me feel better. Thanks, guys. Good to know that if I put up with this crap for 8 months it'll suddenly become enjoyable?
I don't have any advice for you but I just want to tell you that you aren't alone.
posted by troublesome at 9:22 PM on December 11, 2011 [18 favorites]
I don't have any advice for you but I just want to tell you that you aren't alone.
posted by troublesome at 9:22 PM on December 11, 2011 [18 favorites]
Seconding that 23 and a half hours post!
Also, are you sure you're just not bored with your exercise? From your past questions, it seems like you've dabbled in Couch to 5k, some weightlifting, and power yoga. It seems like walking 1.5 miles a day. I know you say you're not a natural athlete and scared of team sports, but maybe joining an all-skills team sport in your area might help. All-skills teams tend to be a lot less competitive and more encouraging in terms of learning the sport and just exercising. If not a sports team then classes! Chances are, there's another newbie who's as clueless as you are. Given that your fitness level isn't all that bad, I'd suggest boxing/kickboxing, and not the cardio/tae-bo kind. Most good coaches are willing to work with you a bit during the class to make sure you have correct form and are comfortable with what you're doing.
If it's possible, you should also consider hiring a personal trainer to help with the weightlifting. I find that when I start lifting a lot, I start to shed fat like crazy. If you can't afford a personal trainer, then sucker that athletic friend you have into helping you. Don't worry about weight gain when you start lifting regularly and rather heavily. You'll actually fit into those smaller jeans, get toned, and lose the flab. Chocolate milk after lifting is also your friend.
Daily Mile is also a good social networking site that links up runners in your area. Friends on there also will help with the encouragement part of running.
posted by astapasta24 at 9:24 PM on December 11, 2011
Also, are you sure you're just not bored with your exercise? From your past questions, it seems like you've dabbled in Couch to 5k, some weightlifting, and power yoga. It seems like walking 1.5 miles a day. I know you say you're not a natural athlete and scared of team sports, but maybe joining an all-skills team sport in your area might help. All-skills teams tend to be a lot less competitive and more encouraging in terms of learning the sport and just exercising. If not a sports team then classes! Chances are, there's another newbie who's as clueless as you are. Given that your fitness level isn't all that bad, I'd suggest boxing/kickboxing, and not the cardio/tae-bo kind. Most good coaches are willing to work with you a bit during the class to make sure you have correct form and are comfortable with what you're doing.
If it's possible, you should also consider hiring a personal trainer to help with the weightlifting. I find that when I start lifting a lot, I start to shed fat like crazy. If you can't afford a personal trainer, then sucker that athletic friend you have into helping you. Don't worry about weight gain when you start lifting regularly and rather heavily. You'll actually fit into those smaller jeans, get toned, and lose the flab. Chocolate milk after lifting is also your friend.
Daily Mile is also a good social networking site that links up runners in your area. Friends on there also will help with the encouragement part of running.
posted by astapasta24 at 9:24 PM on December 11, 2011
What kind of exercise are you doing and how often do you go? Do you exercise hard? How do you feel when are done?
Exercise is so much more than a way to lose weight. Personally, it has changed my life. I work out exercise vigorously 4-5 times per week (zumba, tae bo mostly) and at other times I go for walks.
Here is how my life changed after exercising regularly:
-pain from a slipped disc almost gone (used to be excruciating)
-much more energy every day
-lowered stress
-headaches almost non-existent
-improved digestion (I used to get stomachaches)
-euphoric feeling after exercising
-improved singing voice (true!)
-MUCH more toned
-weight loss
-body moves more easily
-sleep better
Basically, I feel about 10x better every day then before, and this is my main motivation. I also look a lot better, but I am not focused on the weight I lost and I don't know how much I did lose.
I suggest you find exercise that you are passionate about and exercise as hard as you can. Expand out from the machines at the gym- try classes at the gym, dance lessons, martial arts, swimming.
posted by bearette at 9:27 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
Exercise is so much more than a way to lose weight. Personally, it has changed my life. I work out exercise vigorously 4-5 times per week (zumba, tae bo mostly) and at other times I go for walks.
Here is how my life changed after exercising regularly:
-pain from a slipped disc almost gone (used to be excruciating)
-much more energy every day
-lowered stress
-headaches almost non-existent
-improved digestion (I used to get stomachaches)
-euphoric feeling after exercising
-improved singing voice (true!)
-MUCH more toned
-weight loss
-body moves more easily
-sleep better
Basically, I feel about 10x better every day then before, and this is my main motivation. I also look a lot better, but I am not focused on the weight I lost and I don't know how much I did lose.
I suggest you find exercise that you are passionate about and exercise as hard as you can. Expand out from the machines at the gym- try classes at the gym, dance lessons, martial arts, swimming.
posted by bearette at 9:27 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: What makes it worth it is the feeling of accomplishment when you do something you never thought you could do. And it happens way faster than you think it will.
Here's the thing. This has never really happened for me. Even after months of working out I've never had more than mild improvements. I did Pilates 3 times a week for six months and was still one of the worst in my class. And really in the scheme of exercises, yoga and pilates are where I show the most natural ability.
And wow I would LOVE to see improvements after only two weeks. Sign me up. See that I could see dragging myself to the gym for.
posted by whoaali at 9:28 PM on December 11, 2011
Here's the thing. This has never really happened for me. Even after months of working out I've never had more than mild improvements. I did Pilates 3 times a week for six months and was still one of the worst in my class. And really in the scheme of exercises, yoga and pilates are where I show the most natural ability.
And wow I would LOVE to see improvements after only two weeks. Sign me up. See that I could see dragging myself to the gym for.
posted by whoaali at 9:28 PM on December 11, 2011
Response by poster: Also, I saw the 23 1/2 video and intellectually I totally know exercise = not dying young and better quality of life, but the long list of benefits that bearette gives have been almost non existent.
Euphoria? Seriously?!?
posted by whoaali at 9:35 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
Euphoria? Seriously?!?
posted by whoaali at 9:35 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
For me, three times a week isn't really enough to see dramatic results. Also, I have to make sure I am really challenging myself each time. So, 4-6 times a week of challenging, vigorous exercise for 45 minutes- 1 hour is what does it for me.
posted by bearette at 9:36 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by bearette at 9:36 PM on December 11, 2011
Euphoria? Seriously?!?
absolutely. I am sure I'm not the only one- ever hear of the runner's high? It also applies to swimming, and aerobic exercise.
posted by bearette at 9:38 PM on December 11, 2011 [9 favorites]
absolutely. I am sure I'm not the only one- ever hear of the runner's high? It also applies to swimming, and aerobic exercise.
posted by bearette at 9:38 PM on December 11, 2011 [9 favorites]
Just as a data point, I never felt the rush of exercise (maybe not quite euphoria, but close) until I tried the 30 day shred workout. I realized I'd never pushed myself hard enough to get to that. That was also the first time I noticed exercising giving me more energy. It never had before. So maybe find a class that pushes you really hard and see if you can feel like that. (Or borrow the video from your nearby library -- if you don't feel anything afterwards after a week or two of trying it, you probably won't.)
I agree that exercise for it's own sake is probably not enough, since you're not feeling any of the benefits. So if you can find anything that's just fun, like dancing, juggling, roller skating, swimming, etc, that's where you can keep doing it. Good job on the walking, though. That'll help keep you at a baseline of fit where it'll be easier to try and get better at other things. (I've never been very athletic either and walking really helped me too.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 9:42 PM on December 11, 2011
I agree that exercise for it's own sake is probably not enough, since you're not feeling any of the benefits. So if you can find anything that's just fun, like dancing, juggling, roller skating, swimming, etc, that's where you can keep doing it. Good job on the walking, though. That'll help keep you at a baseline of fit where it'll be easier to try and get better at other things. (I've never been very athletic either and walking really helped me too.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 9:42 PM on December 11, 2011
Response by poster: I thought runners high was more of a burst of energy and generally feeling better, not full on euphoria. I've never experienced it though so hardly an expert.
posted by whoaali at 9:46 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by whoaali at 9:46 PM on December 11, 2011
I am like you, I can't motivate myself to exercise. The biggest difference between you and me is that I enjoyed playing netball -- and played for twenty years off and on. I found that playing in a team kept me motivated to turn up every week, and playing for a good team upped my game so games became more intense. Then I had two bad sprains and now I can't get the impetus to start playing again - I know one of my old teams would welcome me back - so I essentially have no fitness regime at all.
Last year on impulse I signed up for a women's bike road race. It was in February and I signed up in December so I made myself go out and "train" -- ie ride for an hour and see how far I could go. I went down over time from alternating short and long rides every night to every second night to twice a week...but twice a week was still pretty good. (Then we had a big earthquake and the race was postponed till May and I couldn't go.)
tl;dr version: sign yourself up for an event that you will need to prepare for...cycling requires little in the way of coordination as long as you have access to a decent bike. Or sign up for an intensive pilates/yoga retreat so you have to work fairly hard to prepare. Having a goal and deadline in mind might help.
posted by tracicle at 9:50 PM on December 11, 2011
Last year on impulse I signed up for a women's bike road race. It was in February and I signed up in December so I made myself go out and "train" -- ie ride for an hour and see how far I could go. I went down over time from alternating short and long rides every night to every second night to twice a week...but twice a week was still pretty good. (Then we had a big earthquake and the race was postponed till May and I couldn't go.)
tl;dr version: sign yourself up for an event that you will need to prepare for...cycling requires little in the way of coordination as long as you have access to a decent bike. Or sign up for an intensive pilates/yoga retreat so you have to work fairly hard to prepare. Having a goal and deadline in mind might help.
posted by tracicle at 9:50 PM on December 11, 2011
Oh, and the other bonus thing about biking: I would bike away from home for half an hour...then you have to ride back or you're stranded. You don't give yourself a choice if you deliberately send yourself towards the back of beyond.
posted by tracicle at 9:51 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by tracicle at 9:51 PM on December 11, 2011
If you are exercising because you expect it to work like medicine and cure something, you are looking at it wrong.
Your exercise should something you _like_ to do. IMHO, this is essential.
A few suggestions:
I don't recommend "working out" in a gym. It's boring and your risk of injury is high. Worst, it's not very social.
Try different things like bike riding, swimming, skating, dance, golf, tennis, etc. and maybe you'll bump into something you actually like. For me, it was cycling that hooked me and helped change my lifestyle.
Find people to exercise with. Even if it's a walk with friends that you talk to each other the whole time, you are getting the exercise you need. There are groups that do indoor cycling or yoga together as a social event. Use the motivational power of your friends to keep at it.
Set a reward. Choose something you want and set a goal you must achieve before you get it. The goal could be a 5k/10k walk run, or going to class a certain number of times, or simply getting in 30-45 minutes of exercise a certain number of days in a row.
Get a coach. Not personal trainer, a coach that will help you with exercise, diet, aches and pains, etc. Being accountable someone helps motivate and also gives you someone to talk to about what you are feeling.
Lastly, if you really want to see changes, it's not just exercise alone that will do it. My wife calls it the "trifecta of health". Exercising, eating good food, and getting enough sleep. Just exercising while continuing to eat a lot of processed/fast food and getting the minimum sleep to get by will do nothing.
Personally, a fit lifestyle has changed my life. My wife led the way. I feel better, am less stressed, happier, and enjoy many of the things bearette mentions. When I'm feeling out of sorts, nothing makes me feel better quicker than heading out for a bike ride for a couple hours. I do triathlons, regularly ride 100km, run half marathons, and most of our vacations involve cycling around new areas and seeing the countryside. We do winery tours by bike and have a wonderful time we'd never know without embracing exercise as a lifestyle change, not medicine.
Good luck.
P.S. To me the runner's high isn't as much euphoria, like snorting coke is. It's more like doing a run or ride that you know is taxing your body, but you feel like you could do it indefinitely without effort. Your body says, "I'm built to do this and it feels good."
posted by Argyle at 9:52 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
Your exercise should something you _like_ to do. IMHO, this is essential.
A few suggestions:
I don't recommend "working out" in a gym. It's boring and your risk of injury is high. Worst, it's not very social.
Try different things like bike riding, swimming, skating, dance, golf, tennis, etc. and maybe you'll bump into something you actually like. For me, it was cycling that hooked me and helped change my lifestyle.
Find people to exercise with. Even if it's a walk with friends that you talk to each other the whole time, you are getting the exercise you need. There are groups that do indoor cycling or yoga together as a social event. Use the motivational power of your friends to keep at it.
Set a reward. Choose something you want and set a goal you must achieve before you get it. The goal could be a 5k/10k walk run, or going to class a certain number of times, or simply getting in 30-45 minutes of exercise a certain number of days in a row.
Get a coach. Not personal trainer, a coach that will help you with exercise, diet, aches and pains, etc. Being accountable someone helps motivate and also gives you someone to talk to about what you are feeling.
Lastly, if you really want to see changes, it's not just exercise alone that will do it. My wife calls it the "trifecta of health". Exercising, eating good food, and getting enough sleep. Just exercising while continuing to eat a lot of processed/fast food and getting the minimum sleep to get by will do nothing.
Personally, a fit lifestyle has changed my life. My wife led the way. I feel better, am less stressed, happier, and enjoy many of the things bearette mentions. When I'm feeling out of sorts, nothing makes me feel better quicker than heading out for a bike ride for a couple hours. I do triathlons, regularly ride 100km, run half marathons, and most of our vacations involve cycling around new areas and seeing the countryside. We do winery tours by bike and have a wonderful time we'd never know without embracing exercise as a lifestyle change, not medicine.
Good luck.
P.S. To me the runner's high isn't as much euphoria, like snorting coke is. It's more like doing a run or ride that you know is taxing your body, but you feel like you could do it indefinitely without effort. Your body says, "I'm built to do this and it feels good."
posted by Argyle at 9:52 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
I used to hate going to the gym so now I don't, I go downstairs to the basement. It took getting rid of stuff to free up the space and a bit of $$$$ but now I can ride my elliptical almost every night for 35 minutes (with an action movie playing on my laptop sitting on top of 3 stacked boxes). Then I do some floor exercises or some work with dumbbells on a weight bench.
I know this won't work for everyone (space, money) but just today I bought pants one size smaller for work (due to the exercise and dieting with MyFitnessPal app on my phone since April). The old pants were getting a bit ridiculous.
posted by forthright at 10:05 PM on December 11, 2011
I know this won't work for everyone (space, money) but just today I bought pants one size smaller for work (due to the exercise and dieting with MyFitnessPal app on my phone since April). The old pants were getting a bit ridiculous.
posted by forthright at 10:05 PM on December 11, 2011
I'm right there with you. I know people say there are benefits to exercise, but the year that I went to the gym regularly and kept records of what I did and tried to create a system for it was pretty much a massive waste of my time and money. I usually left feeling emotionally drained and no better than when I went in, and finally decided that there was no reason to pay ten thousand yen a month to hate myself when I could just do it for free at home.
On the other hand, when I moved to Osaka, I spent a month or two doing regular walks around my new neighborhood. I'd go out for an hour and try to take a different route each time, which was great. But the moment - the very instant I covered as much ground as I could cover in an hour and seen what I could see, walking became one more g-ddamn thing to do every day and I stopped.
I don't think you can exercise and get any serious benefit from it without enjoying what you're doing. You either find something you enjoy that is physically active, or enduring something so long that you convince yourself you enjoy it.
posted by MShades at 10:06 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, when I moved to Osaka, I spent a month or two doing regular walks around my new neighborhood. I'd go out for an hour and try to take a different route each time, which was great. But the moment - the very instant I covered as much ground as I could cover in an hour and seen what I could see, walking became one more g-ddamn thing to do every day and I stopped.
I don't think you can exercise and get any serious benefit from it without enjoying what you're doing. You either find something you enjoy that is physically active, or enduring something so long that you convince yourself you enjoy it.
posted by MShades at 10:06 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think you're being too hard on yourself, and maybe you should reframe the issue so it's about keeping your sedentary time at a minimum, rather than being a success or failure at exercise.
If you like walking enough to put up with it, extend it to half an hour, and go a bit faster so your heart rate is raised, and you're doing what the American Heart Association recommends. AHA has some recommendations about sneaking in physical activity, too.
Any kind of moving, especially if you're bearing your own weight the whole time, counts. It doesn't have to be running or lifting weights or whatever.
posted by gingerest at 10:14 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
If you like walking enough to put up with it, extend it to half an hour, and go a bit faster so your heart rate is raised, and you're doing what the American Heart Association recommends. AHA has some recommendations about sneaking in physical activity, too.
Any kind of moving, especially if you're bearing your own weight the whole time, counts. It doesn't have to be running or lifting weights or whatever.
posted by gingerest at 10:14 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
Well, I see a couple of possibilities:
(1) You are not pushing yourself hard enough.
Not a judgement. A lot of people at the gym don't push themselves hard enough. If you don't push yourself though you won't see results, and exercise will be very boring.
(2) You are pursuing ineffectual exercise programs.
This can be a cause of #1--if "cardio" is "slog on treadmill for 30 minutes" it is not very inspiring to push oneself. If you have poor form when lifting and a sore back, it means whatever you're on is having you lifting too much, too soon. Helping beginners reach better form is a matter of using light enough weights and achieving good flexibility. What kind of programs have you been on? Machines only? Have you tried stuff with dumbbells or free weights, like you'll find on Stumptuous?
(3) You would do better in a team setting, doing a sport or physical activity you enjoy
This is most people. The best way to get started on exercise is to find something you like doing and do it, and not care if you suck at it. Rock climbing? Dodgeball? Hiking? Try something that has always sounded cool to you and do that, even if you are sure you can't.
Also: "I have no natural ability" is not a good reason. Even people who have no natural ability can still make progress beyond what they ever thought they could. I should know, I'm a good example. I'm a lifelong nerd and terrible at athletics of any sort. (I also had a back that was sore all the time, for what it's worth, and it's not any more)
I started Olympic weightlifting a little over three years ago. When I say I have no natural ability, it's not just me saying that, virtually every person who has ever coached me has expressed surprise at exactly how bad I am at learning physical movements and how long it took me to "get" stuff.
But I kept at it. And I'm not the best, but I've still made incredible improvements from where I was. I've been told my technique in some complicated movements has finally become quite good. It gets easier and easier to learn new movements every day. I've picked 350# off the floor, put 200# over my head, and done other athletic stuff that if you suggested were possible to me (or anyone who knew me) we would've laughed in your face. I certainly don't think some of my coaches expected this much.
So please, please, do not let hangups about "natural ability" get in the way of the effort you put into your workouts or let you despair about your ability to progress. It is possible--it just requires proper programming and hard work.
posted by Anonymous at 10:21 PM on December 11, 2011
(1) You are not pushing yourself hard enough.
Not a judgement. A lot of people at the gym don't push themselves hard enough. If you don't push yourself though you won't see results, and exercise will be very boring.
(2) You are pursuing ineffectual exercise programs.
This can be a cause of #1--if "cardio" is "slog on treadmill for 30 minutes" it is not very inspiring to push oneself. If you have poor form when lifting and a sore back, it means whatever you're on is having you lifting too much, too soon. Helping beginners reach better form is a matter of using light enough weights and achieving good flexibility. What kind of programs have you been on? Machines only? Have you tried stuff with dumbbells or free weights, like you'll find on Stumptuous?
(3) You would do better in a team setting, doing a sport or physical activity you enjoy
This is most people. The best way to get started on exercise is to find something you like doing and do it, and not care if you suck at it. Rock climbing? Dodgeball? Hiking? Try something that has always sounded cool to you and do that, even if you are sure you can't.
Also: "I have no natural ability" is not a good reason. Even people who have no natural ability can still make progress beyond what they ever thought they could. I should know, I'm a good example. I'm a lifelong nerd and terrible at athletics of any sort. (I also had a back that was sore all the time, for what it's worth, and it's not any more)
I started Olympic weightlifting a little over three years ago. When I say I have no natural ability, it's not just me saying that, virtually every person who has ever coached me has expressed surprise at exactly how bad I am at learning physical movements and how long it took me to "get" stuff.
But I kept at it. And I'm not the best, but I've still made incredible improvements from where I was. I've been told my technique in some complicated movements has finally become quite good. It gets easier and easier to learn new movements every day. I've picked 350# off the floor, put 200# over my head, and done other athletic stuff that if you suggested were possible to me (or anyone who knew me) we would've laughed in your face. I certainly don't think some of my coaches expected this much.
So please, please, do not let hangups about "natural ability" get in the way of the effort you put into your workouts or let you despair about your ability to progress. It is possible--it just requires proper programming and hard work.
posted by Anonymous at 10:21 PM on December 11, 2011
A couple points:
And really if I wasn't also dieting I saw almost no results.
I don't know what "dieting" means to you, but exercise alone doesn't cause many people to lose weight. What you eat is going to make a much bigger difference. So if one of your goals is to lose weight, changing your diet is going to have to be part of the answer.
Part of the problem may be I'm not working out hard enough to see results, but I just am about to drop after 35-50 minutes of cardio. More than that is both horrifying and mind numbing.
You don't really say (or I missed) what kind of exercise you usually do. All exercise isn't created equal. Doing 45 minutes on the elliptical at low intensity might not get you that exercise rush, even if you're totally worn out at the end. Most experts seem to suggest that high intensity exercise over shorter periods is much more effective, and anecdotally I find that kind of exercise much more enjoyable. Sprint intervals instead of long jogs, for example.
posted by auto-correct at 10:28 PM on December 11, 2011
And really if I wasn't also dieting I saw almost no results.
I don't know what "dieting" means to you, but exercise alone doesn't cause many people to lose weight. What you eat is going to make a much bigger difference. So if one of your goals is to lose weight, changing your diet is going to have to be part of the answer.
Part of the problem may be I'm not working out hard enough to see results, but I just am about to drop after 35-50 minutes of cardio. More than that is both horrifying and mind numbing.
You don't really say (or I missed) what kind of exercise you usually do. All exercise isn't created equal. Doing 45 minutes on the elliptical at low intensity might not get you that exercise rush, even if you're totally worn out at the end. Most experts seem to suggest that high intensity exercise over shorter periods is much more effective, and anecdotally I find that kind of exercise much more enjoyable. Sprint intervals instead of long jogs, for example.
posted by auto-correct at 10:28 PM on December 11, 2011
I despise going to the gym; I do NOT have the body of a praying mantis....BUT I was getting numbness in my hands, which regular cardio helps.
posted by brujita at 10:39 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by brujita at 10:39 PM on December 11, 2011
Look into CrossFit, it makes exercising fun. It's varied and you're always trying to beat your own record so it gives you something to work for. It changed my entire attitude towards exercise.
I might join a sports team if you can. Then the benefits of exercise are immediately visible when you're playing said sport. You can "show off" how conditioned you are or how much you're improving.
posted by MeatFilter at 10:42 PM on December 11, 2011
I might join a sports team if you can. Then the benefits of exercise are immediately visible when you're playing said sport. You can "show off" how conditioned you are or how much you're improving.
posted by MeatFilter at 10:42 PM on December 11, 2011
I think without being active I'd have killed myself by now. That's been enough for me.
posted by alex_skazat at 10:56 PM on December 11, 2011
posted by alex_skazat at 10:56 PM on December 11, 2011
Response by poster: I guess I should clarify that "high intensity" is virtually impossible for me. I just can't keep it up for any length of time. I've tried and I'm absolutely falling apart and miserable a couple minutes in. Intervals only slightly prolong things. I despise running. I mean with a passion. Some of my worst childhood memories was the agonizing pain of being forced to run in gym class. It was a daily torture.
Same with team sports. I simply don't improve. I swam 2 hours a day, five day a week for three months, and my time on the first day was identical, down to the second, as my last time. I finished last in every race I ever swam. Team sports are also very hard emotionally as I'm constantly letting the team down. It's horribly demoralizing. Even so called friendly leagues are really at least somewhat competitive. And I'm the worst one on the team by far. It's just awful. I'd take the boredom of the gym anyday.
It may simply be I'm not capable of exercising to the extent where I get any of the benefits and this half way stuff is just a waste of time. The things people describe just don't resonate with my experience exercising at all.
posted by whoaali at 11:04 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Same with team sports. I simply don't improve. I swam 2 hours a day, five day a week for three months, and my time on the first day was identical, down to the second, as my last time. I finished last in every race I ever swam. Team sports are also very hard emotionally as I'm constantly letting the team down. It's horribly demoralizing. Even so called friendly leagues are really at least somewhat competitive. And I'm the worst one on the team by far. It's just awful. I'd take the boredom of the gym anyday.
It may simply be I'm not capable of exercising to the extent where I get any of the benefits and this half way stuff is just a waste of time. The things people describe just don't resonate with my experience exercising at all.
posted by whoaali at 11:04 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
It may simply be I'm not capable of exercising to the extent where I get any of the benefits and this half way stuff is just a waste of time. The things people describe just don't resonate with my experience exercising at all.
Have you tried spinning classes?
posted by iviken at 11:09 PM on December 11, 2011
Have you tried spinning classes?
posted by iviken at 11:09 PM on December 11, 2011
I look at it like this:
If I spend 30 minutes 3 times a week exercising that's only 78 hours a year. Lets say I do that for the next 40 years, which, for me, would provide until I'm 80. That total 130 days of live I spent exercising.
For me the question is: Will that time investment pay off? Will I live at least 130 days longer? And will I be happier (healthier, more mobile, more able, etc) as I live them?
The answer to both is almost certainly YES. I'm by far most likely to live a few years longer and those years will be more active, healthy and enjoyable. (Assuming I die of natural causes.)
But god I hat doing it when I'm doing it. I distract myself with music, and when I can, books.
posted by Ookseer at 11:18 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
If I spend 30 minutes 3 times a week exercising that's only 78 hours a year. Lets say I do that for the next 40 years, which, for me, would provide until I'm 80. That total 130 days of live I spent exercising.
For me the question is: Will that time investment pay off? Will I live at least 130 days longer? And will I be happier (healthier, more mobile, more able, etc) as I live them?
The answer to both is almost certainly YES. I'm by far most likely to live a few years longer and those years will be more active, healthy and enjoyable. (Assuming I die of natural causes.)
But god I hat doing it when I'm doing it. I distract myself with music, and when I can, books.
posted by Ookseer at 11:18 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
Hmmm. I am sorry to hear that. I hope I didn't sound like some kind of evangelist with exercising, but it's really helped me a ton and if it can help other people I'd like them to know.
How do you feel when not exercising regularly? If you normally feel fine, and are healthy, maybe you don't need a regular exercise habit. I know I respond well to mine but maybe there are specific issues I have that are really helped with exercise.
By the way, I am slow at team sports as well and tend to stay away from them. I have just managed to find exercise I really enjoy.
Another suggestion- and hope you don't take offense- but could it be some kind of mental block? It sounds like your confidence regarding athletics is not high, so maybe when you exercise you feel bad and its making it hard to see progress.
posted by bearette at 11:20 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
How do you feel when not exercising regularly? If you normally feel fine, and are healthy, maybe you don't need a regular exercise habit. I know I respond well to mine but maybe there are specific issues I have that are really helped with exercise.
By the way, I am slow at team sports as well and tend to stay away from them. I have just managed to find exercise I really enjoy.
Another suggestion- and hope you don't take offense- but could it be some kind of mental block? It sounds like your confidence regarding athletics is not high, so maybe when you exercise you feel bad and its making it hard to see progress.
posted by bearette at 11:20 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Nobody is mentioning this possibility - you may be a non-responder to exercise. Not everyone responds to exercise - that's just reality. And it's surprisingly common - something like one in six. There are non-responders who don't improve whether we're talking about cardio, or muscle, or even something as basic as a physiological response of exercise to insulin:
"Metabolic "responders" and "non-responders" to muscular exercise in diabetes.
Ionescu-Tîrgovişte C, Mincu I, Mihalache N, Ionescu C, Apetrei E.
Abstract
The metabolic effects of muscular exercise (bicycle ergometer, 75 watts, 15 min) were studied in 16 healthy controls and 49 diabetics distributed into three groups. The first two groups included insulin-dependent diabetics three hours after administration of insulin (group A, 24 cases) or 12--18 hours after the last insulin dose (group B, 18 cases). Group C included 7 non insulin-dependent diabetics. According to the glycemia response, the patients were listed as: high responders (greater than 20% below the initial values), low responders (10-20% fall) and non-responders (increase or less than 10% decrease). The data obtained show that, in most cases, in the presence of insulin, exercise has a hypoglycemic effect and, in its absence, a hyperglycemic one. To a lesser extent, the fall in glycemia may be attributed to an apparently insulin-independent mechanism. Exercise can only be indicated (in high-responders) or contraindicated (in non-responders) after a routine tolerance test.
PMID: 6997975 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"
More in layman's terms:
http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2011/03/non-responders-why-science-conforms-to.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560630/Exercise-wont-shift-the-fat-for-one-in-six.html
There are scientific papers written about the phenomenon, books etc.
I have not investigated this in any depth, but it is not clear for me, whether being a non-responder also means one does not get any health benefits from exercise. It is possible that non-responders don't improve with exercise in the sense that they can do more of the exercise, get better lung capacity and oxygen use, build muscle or endurance etc., etc., etc. - but perhaps they get other physiological benefits.
I certainly do not wish to diagnose you (and IAMNAD) as a non-responder, nor do I wish to discourage you from exercising. I think you should try everything suggested by posters above, and not simply conclude that you are non-responder (if that is even a valid thing).
However, it may also be beneficial if you consulted with a qualified Exercise Physiologist who could perform a few tests and guide you toward a program that's likely going to be more productive than the kind of old wives tales and groping in the dark that happens when you don't have objective data.
posted by VikingSword at 11:21 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
"Metabolic "responders" and "non-responders" to muscular exercise in diabetes.
Ionescu-Tîrgovişte C, Mincu I, Mihalache N, Ionescu C, Apetrei E.
Abstract
The metabolic effects of muscular exercise (bicycle ergometer, 75 watts, 15 min) were studied in 16 healthy controls and 49 diabetics distributed into three groups. The first two groups included insulin-dependent diabetics three hours after administration of insulin (group A, 24 cases) or 12--18 hours after the last insulin dose (group B, 18 cases). Group C included 7 non insulin-dependent diabetics. According to the glycemia response, the patients were listed as: high responders (greater than 20% below the initial values), low responders (10-20% fall) and non-responders (increase or less than 10% decrease). The data obtained show that, in most cases, in the presence of insulin, exercise has a hypoglycemic effect and, in its absence, a hyperglycemic one. To a lesser extent, the fall in glycemia may be attributed to an apparently insulin-independent mechanism. Exercise can only be indicated (in high-responders) or contraindicated (in non-responders) after a routine tolerance test.
PMID: 6997975 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"
More in layman's terms:
http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2011/03/non-responders-why-science-conforms-to.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560630/Exercise-wont-shift-the-fat-for-one-in-six.html
There are scientific papers written about the phenomenon, books etc.
I have not investigated this in any depth, but it is not clear for me, whether being a non-responder also means one does not get any health benefits from exercise. It is possible that non-responders don't improve with exercise in the sense that they can do more of the exercise, get better lung capacity and oxygen use, build muscle or endurance etc., etc., etc. - but perhaps they get other physiological benefits.
I certainly do not wish to diagnose you (and IAMNAD) as a non-responder, nor do I wish to discourage you from exercising. I think you should try everything suggested by posters above, and not simply conclude that you are non-responder (if that is even a valid thing).
However, it may also be beneficial if you consulted with a qualified Exercise Physiologist who could perform a few tests and guide you toward a program that's likely going to be more productive than the kind of old wives tales and groping in the dark that happens when you don't have objective data.
posted by VikingSword at 11:21 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
I guess I should clarify that "high intensity" is virtually impossible for me. I just can't keep it up for any length of time. I've tried and I'm absolutely falling apart and miserable a couple minutes in. Intervals only slightly prolong things.
High-intensity stuff never feels good if you're not used to high-intensity stuff. You do it, and then you get used to pushing yourself, and then as you improve it starts feeling better.
If you aren't able to push yourself at all, then that explains why you see no improvement in any of your exercise regimens.
posted by Anonymous at 11:43 PM on December 11, 2011
High-intensity stuff never feels good if you're not used to high-intensity stuff. You do it, and then you get used to pushing yourself, and then as you improve it starts feeling better.
If you aren't able to push yourself at all, then that explains why you see no improvement in any of your exercise regimens.
posted by Anonymous at 11:43 PM on December 11, 2011
You sound like me. I despise running and team sports.
Have you tried martial arts (grappling martial arts was better for me than kicking and aikido is NON competitive)? Have you tried hiking? What about nordic walking? Swimming? Water aerobics?
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 12:06 AM on December 12, 2011
Have you tried martial arts (grappling martial arts was better for me than kicking and aikido is NON competitive)? Have you tried hiking? What about nordic walking? Swimming? Water aerobics?
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 12:06 AM on December 12, 2011
All these recommendations for classes, team sports etc sound kind of complicated and overwhelming.
I like to work out alone, and I have been able to get good results - weight loss, energy, overall sense of well-being, focus, and even euphoria - from going to a gym and primarily using the elliptical machine.
Sometimes I don't feel like going to the gym, but I figure that exercise is almost always better than no exercise, so I try to go even if I don't feel like it.
The euphoria comes (for me) a little while after a high-intensity cardio workout. I had to work up to that. But now I find that if I'm tired from lack of sleep, I just need to get my heart rate up for a while and I'm fine for the rest of the day. It's kind of amazing, actually.
I bet if you work your way up slowly to being able to do 30 minutes on the elliptical in a few weeks, you'll start to feel a difference.
Then occasionally try intervals on the stationary bike: set the mode to manual, since you'll be changing the resistance level; then push as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then reduce the resistance to a very low level, then back to the high resistance. You want to do 30 seconds high, 1 minute low a total of four times. Only five minutes and you've gotten a pretty high intensity cardio workout that you will feel - in a good way - for a while. If that's too much, try alternating medium & low intensity intervals, working the medium up to high intensity slowly over a week or two.
The key is to use your heart & lungs, start slow so that you can work out consistently, and build up to higher intensity levels.
And for what it's worth, I was never in my life the "athletic type."
posted by univac at 1:31 AM on December 12, 2011
I like to work out alone, and I have been able to get good results - weight loss, energy, overall sense of well-being, focus, and even euphoria - from going to a gym and primarily using the elliptical machine.
Sometimes I don't feel like going to the gym, but I figure that exercise is almost always better than no exercise, so I try to go even if I don't feel like it.
The euphoria comes (for me) a little while after a high-intensity cardio workout. I had to work up to that. But now I find that if I'm tired from lack of sleep, I just need to get my heart rate up for a while and I'm fine for the rest of the day. It's kind of amazing, actually.
I bet if you work your way up slowly to being able to do 30 minutes on the elliptical in a few weeks, you'll start to feel a difference.
Then occasionally try intervals on the stationary bike: set the mode to manual, since you'll be changing the resistance level; then push as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then reduce the resistance to a very low level, then back to the high resistance. You want to do 30 seconds high, 1 minute low a total of four times. Only five minutes and you've gotten a pretty high intensity cardio workout that you will feel - in a good way - for a while. If that's too much, try alternating medium & low intensity intervals, working the medium up to high intensity slowly over a week or two.
The key is to use your heart & lungs, start slow so that you can work out consistently, and build up to higher intensity levels.
And for what it's worth, I was never in my life the "athletic type."
posted by univac at 1:31 AM on December 12, 2011
If you're walking 1.5 miles per day, you're already doing about 30 minutes per day (based on an average walking speed of 3 miles per hour) which is approximately the peak in terms of 'return on investment' healthwise. If your only goal is to cut 10lbs, you'd be better tackling that through diet (depending on your current diet that may be easy or hard - if you drink alcohol regularly or non-diet sodas or fruit juice or snack between meals there are easy cut backs you can make, if you diet is already super-healthy, you're into portion reduction which is harder than having a couple less glasses of wine a week). Many people find working out ineffective for weight-loss (I'm the reverse, I find my metabolism adapts to lowered calorie intake incredibly quickly unless I workout) because they naturally eat more to compensate for the exercise they've done, either as a 'reward' or just because it makes them more hungry.
When you've been trying to exercise, how hard have you been dieting? To improve physically you need adequate, nutrition, hydration and rest. Particularly with strength, its very easy to plateau when you're cutting calories and if you're not having at least a day of rest between sessions, your body can't repair itself. If your goal is just weight loss though, it shouldn't matter if you don't improve, so long as you keep doing it
posted by missmagenta at 1:34 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
When you've been trying to exercise, how hard have you been dieting? To improve physically you need adequate, nutrition, hydration and rest. Particularly with strength, its very easy to plateau when you're cutting calories and if you're not having at least a day of rest between sessions, your body can't repair itself. If your goal is just weight loss though, it shouldn't matter if you don't improve, so long as you keep doing it
posted by missmagenta at 1:34 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pilates and yoga are great, I am sure, but if I had to do those with regularity I would lose my interest in exercise too. Have you considered starting something where you are apt to actually see results, like crossfit coupled with a beginners' boxing class? Hard to question your progress there: if you can survive 3 rounds (even at a lighter intensity than a "real" round), you step it up. In six months, you'll be amazed.
posted by ellF at 4:16 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by ellF at 4:16 AM on December 12, 2011
I was the kid who got picked last for every team, too. I used to sit outside the gym and cry because I dreaded going in. And for most of my life, I was convinced I was literally physically incapable of running.
Somewhere along the way I turned into one of those dorks who always packs their running shoes when going on vacation and would rather spend a Friday evening at the gym than at a bar.
Most of what got me from there to here was just keeping at it, even when I really wanted to quit. That's probably really discouraging, I know. Or maybe it's motivating, in a roundabout way. But for me, it sucked and sucked and sucked and then it started to feel pretty good. There wasn't any hack that made it click, no sudden paradigm shift.
I can offer you a couple things that helped me out some, though:
Start slow and manage your expectations. However, make sure you are always working towards improving something. If you've been punching the same numbers in on the elliptical or treadmill for several weeks, you need to level up. There should always be a genuine challenge in your workout, even if it's only for a minute at a time.
Related to the above, it's helped me to have one horribly ass-kicking workout a week, one that's relatively relaxing, and the rest somewhere in the middle. Doing a really sucky workout makes the mildly sucky ones seem better in comparison. And the sucky workout will improve your performance for the non-sucky ones too.
Have a workout partner who will hold you accountable and see through your excuses. I'm not sure I could have kept at it if I didn't have someone to motivate me. If you can't find a partner, consider hiring a personal trainer.
You may also want to hire the trainer so s/he can point out ways in which your workout can be more efficient or effective. Maybe you're lifting too heavy and your form is suffering, or maybe you can condense half an hour of brisk walking into ten minutes of jogging, or something like that. I imagine trainers are a lot like therapists in that you have to find the right one for you.
And finally, if at all possible, take the weight loss/appearance goals out of the gym, even if they really are your goals. If you start viewing exercise as something you do for its own sake, if you start thinking along the lines of "I will try to go .5 mph faster" rather than "I will burn 400 calories," it's way more motivating in the long run, the goals feel more immediate and achievable, and you're less likely to feel self-conscious or frustrated.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:04 AM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
Somewhere along the way I turned into one of those dorks who always packs their running shoes when going on vacation and would rather spend a Friday evening at the gym than at a bar.
Most of what got me from there to here was just keeping at it, even when I really wanted to quit. That's probably really discouraging, I know. Or maybe it's motivating, in a roundabout way. But for me, it sucked and sucked and sucked and then it started to feel pretty good. There wasn't any hack that made it click, no sudden paradigm shift.
I can offer you a couple things that helped me out some, though:
Start slow and manage your expectations. However, make sure you are always working towards improving something. If you've been punching the same numbers in on the elliptical or treadmill for several weeks, you need to level up. There should always be a genuine challenge in your workout, even if it's only for a minute at a time.
Related to the above, it's helped me to have one horribly ass-kicking workout a week, one that's relatively relaxing, and the rest somewhere in the middle. Doing a really sucky workout makes the mildly sucky ones seem better in comparison. And the sucky workout will improve your performance for the non-sucky ones too.
Have a workout partner who will hold you accountable and see through your excuses. I'm not sure I could have kept at it if I didn't have someone to motivate me. If you can't find a partner, consider hiring a personal trainer.
You may also want to hire the trainer so s/he can point out ways in which your workout can be more efficient or effective. Maybe you're lifting too heavy and your form is suffering, or maybe you can condense half an hour of brisk walking into ten minutes of jogging, or something like that. I imagine trainers are a lot like therapists in that you have to find the right one for you.
And finally, if at all possible, take the weight loss/appearance goals out of the gym, even if they really are your goals. If you start viewing exercise as something you do for its own sake, if you start thinking along the lines of "I will try to go .5 mph faster" rather than "I will burn 400 calories," it's way more motivating in the long run, the goals feel more immediate and achievable, and you're less likely to feel self-conscious or frustrated.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:04 AM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: I do see results with dieting and exercise, but I also see results with dieting and no exercise. And dieting is easier for when I'm not exercising because I don't get as hungry, so it just is kind of a wash.
I totally agree it shouldn't matter whether I see progress, but without progress or any kind of decent results after months of doing something I hate (and this has made me realize how much I truly do hate it) it's hard to really believe on an emotional level that it will ever pay off.
I'm not a total couch potato, I regularly did 35-50 minutes between the elliptical on moderate intensity and walking on the highest incline at about a 3 on the treadmill. Which is exactly what my default exercise plan has been for years. Recently I haven't been able to force more than once a week. Before I was going 3 or 4. It's the most tolerable exercise program I've ever had. I do regularly try to increase the time and intensity, but I tend to plateau. In the last year or so I've been doing intervals, but same deal.
I feel like I've tried so many sports I'm kind of burnt out on it, but I haven't tried martial arts so maybe that's an idea. Spinning tends to absolutely kick even my most fit friends asses, so that one scares me a bit. Everyone has been telling me for years to find something I love and I never do. I've tried team sports, swimming, running, yoga, Pilates, exercise videos, weight lifting, classes. I certainly hate some far more than others. The only ones I've been able to stick with at all were yoga, Pilates and the gym.
Viking Sword that's really interesting. I'm guessing in on the low responder end. I wonder if the long term health benefits still apply to low responders.
To answer Bearette's question, I feel just fine when I'm not exercising. Actually the extra hour of relaxation is really nice.
posted by whoaali at 5:24 AM on December 12, 2011
I totally agree it shouldn't matter whether I see progress, but without progress or any kind of decent results after months of doing something I hate (and this has made me realize how much I truly do hate it) it's hard to really believe on an emotional level that it will ever pay off.
I'm not a total couch potato, I regularly did 35-50 minutes between the elliptical on moderate intensity and walking on the highest incline at about a 3 on the treadmill. Which is exactly what my default exercise plan has been for years. Recently I haven't been able to force more than once a week. Before I was going 3 or 4. It's the most tolerable exercise program I've ever had. I do regularly try to increase the time and intensity, but I tend to plateau. In the last year or so I've been doing intervals, but same deal.
I feel like I've tried so many sports I'm kind of burnt out on it, but I haven't tried martial arts so maybe that's an idea. Spinning tends to absolutely kick even my most fit friends asses, so that one scares me a bit. Everyone has been telling me for years to find something I love and I never do. I've tried team sports, swimming, running, yoga, Pilates, exercise videos, weight lifting, classes. I certainly hate some far more than others. The only ones I've been able to stick with at all were yoga, Pilates and the gym.
Viking Sword that's really interesting. I'm guessing in on the low responder end. I wonder if the long term health benefits still apply to low responders.
To answer Bearette's question, I feel just fine when I'm not exercising. Actually the extra hour of relaxation is really nice.
posted by whoaali at 5:24 AM on December 12, 2011
While I agree with the general wisdom that high intensity exercise is beneficial, I'm wondering if the problem isn't that you're over-doing it when you do hit the gym. I was injured last summer and couldn't exercise for awhile. When I got back (some weight training, cardio and yoga), I would push myself to my limits, would feel drained after, and dread going back to the gym. The whole thing felt like torture.
Last month, I changed the way I approached exercise. Instead of aiming for "intense", I tried to aim for "feels good". My body responded really well to the lower intensity work outs and I am getting some benefits (better sleep, a feeling of well-being which counters stress, more energy, liking my body better even though I haven't lost weight). Now I enjoy exercise again and am starting to look forward to my workouts.
So, could that be the problem? Could you be starting out at a level that is too intense for you?
posted by Milau at 5:34 AM on December 12, 2011
Last month, I changed the way I approached exercise. Instead of aiming for "intense", I tried to aim for "feels good". My body responded really well to the lower intensity work outs and I am getting some benefits (better sleep, a feeling of well-being which counters stress, more energy, liking my body better even though I haven't lost weight). Now I enjoy exercise again and am starting to look forward to my workouts.
So, could that be the problem? Could you be starting out at a level that is too intense for you?
posted by Milau at 5:34 AM on December 12, 2011
I just want to let you know you're not alone. I find most forms of exercise incredibly boring and empty. I never get that runner's high, I can't ever get in the zone (which would make a huge difference to me), I just spend most exercise sessions counting the seconds, wishing it was over and I could do something interesting. I have a tricky back, terrible knees, and I think my shoulder joints are starting to go and I am very scared of injury.
I'll never join a team, ever. I know I don't like running, weightlifting, cycling, hiking, cardio machines (ugh, the worst), having to use the locker room at a gym, crossfit seems so testosteroney and confusing, and I don't want to do any classes where I have to partner with anyone or be singled out as the most unsatisfactory performer in the class (thanks a lot, most recent "beginner" yoga class.) I feel just the same when I don't exercise as when I do, except I don't have to spend an hour a day hating every second that passes.
And I've considered asking this same question here many times, so I'm glad you did, but I'm disappointed the answers are what I expected. "You don't push yourself enough." "You're pushing yourself too hard." "There's one magical activity out there that you'll love!" The problem being that people who enjoy exercise answer the question, and they just can't relate at all to the way some of us feel about it.
I hope you find the right answer for you! Right now I just walk the dogs and walk to work. Some day, if I have tons of extra time for all the fuss involved, I might try swimming again. I've considered punk rope too, because I like the goofiness, and I can do it alone.
posted by Squeak Attack at 6:07 AM on December 12, 2011 [6 favorites]
I'll never join a team, ever. I know I don't like running, weightlifting, cycling, hiking, cardio machines (ugh, the worst), having to use the locker room at a gym, crossfit seems so testosteroney and confusing, and I don't want to do any classes where I have to partner with anyone or be singled out as the most unsatisfactory performer in the class (thanks a lot, most recent "beginner" yoga class.) I feel just the same when I don't exercise as when I do, except I don't have to spend an hour a day hating every second that passes.
And I've considered asking this same question here many times, so I'm glad you did, but I'm disappointed the answers are what I expected. "You don't push yourself enough." "You're pushing yourself too hard." "There's one magical activity out there that you'll love!" The problem being that people who enjoy exercise answer the question, and they just can't relate at all to the way some of us feel about it.
I hope you find the right answer for you! Right now I just walk the dogs and walk to work. Some day, if I have tons of extra time for all the fuss involved, I might try swimming again. I've considered punk rope too, because I like the goofiness, and I can do it alone.
posted by Squeak Attack at 6:07 AM on December 12, 2011 [6 favorites]
Don't be too caught up with improving. If you work hard, then you are succeeding. That's one of the things I love about pure exercise, it doesn't matter if I'm doing the fewest push-ups in the class as long as I'm working the hardest in the room. It's the only time you get A for effort. The trick is to figure out how hard you need to push - people have said you might not be working hard enough, or too much. I'm not so in tune with my body, so I have pushed too hard in the past. (To nausea and dizziness - it doesn't sound like you have done this!)
I think you have to look at what you want to get out of exercising. It sounds like you've tried a bunch of stuff and haven't got much out of it. I've been told that you should do about 40 minutes of strength training a week for your muscles and bone health. I also play sports, and it has a benefit there, but ideally I would do it anyway to help with posture and to gain some basic strength.
posted by Gor-ella at 6:37 AM on December 12, 2011
I think you have to look at what you want to get out of exercising. It sounds like you've tried a bunch of stuff and haven't got much out of it. I've been told that you should do about 40 minutes of strength training a week for your muscles and bone health. I also play sports, and it has a benefit there, but ideally I would do it anyway to help with posture and to gain some basic strength.
posted by Gor-ella at 6:37 AM on December 12, 2011
Can I say, congratulations for walking every day! That's great, and it's more than a lot of people do.
I'm a big believer in the rut. There's this thing in exercise culture (and western culture in general) that you Must! Be! Improving! All! The! Time!
I've gone for months and months in my running routine where I dragged my ass out in the morning and ran 2.5 miles at the same speed every day. I was having a hard enough time keeping shit together in the rest of my life and just didn't have the energy and enthusiasm to try to run farther or faster. But, I reasoned, running the same distance at the same speed every day was better than not running, so I just kept at it, and because of that, I had a good foundation and was ready when I did feel that it was the right time to push myself.
Maybe right now isn't the right time for you to launch into a big fitness project. Based on your responses in this thread, it seems a little like the more pressure you try to put on yourself to Exercise! More! Better! the more resistance you're going to put up. So keep up your walking, and think of it as maintaining some baseline fitness so you're ready to take advantage of the next exciting exercise opportunity: a trip to Europe with lots of walking, an invitation from a friend to join an informal kickball league, a great coupon for a martial arts class, etc.
posted by BrashTech at 7:00 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'm a big believer in the rut. There's this thing in exercise culture (and western culture in general) that you Must! Be! Improving! All! The! Time!
I've gone for months and months in my running routine where I dragged my ass out in the morning and ran 2.5 miles at the same speed every day. I was having a hard enough time keeping shit together in the rest of my life and just didn't have the energy and enthusiasm to try to run farther or faster. But, I reasoned, running the same distance at the same speed every day was better than not running, so I just kept at it, and because of that, I had a good foundation and was ready when I did feel that it was the right time to push myself.
Maybe right now isn't the right time for you to launch into a big fitness project. Based on your responses in this thread, it seems a little like the more pressure you try to put on yourself to Exercise! More! Better! the more resistance you're going to put up. So keep up your walking, and think of it as maintaining some baseline fitness so you're ready to take advantage of the next exciting exercise opportunity: a trip to Europe with lots of walking, an invitation from a friend to join an informal kickball league, a great coupon for a martial arts class, etc.
posted by BrashTech at 7:00 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I've definitely worked out to the point of dizziness and nausea. I never understood why this was a good thing, but I've certainly done it. Especially during classes and trying to get into running. The thought of that intensity of exercise fills me with dread, but I've certainly done it. I usually get off the elliptical at least a little dizzy and out of sorts.
I don't really care much about improving per se, but I think that certainly makes the whole thing feel rather fultile. When I'm neither seeing results, feeling better, enjoying the exercise itself or improving past a certain point every time.
I basically just exercise because I intellectually know it's important to do and have been told by every source imaginable that it is absolutely necessary for my health, however that doesn't seem to jive with my personal experience, which are admittedly highly colored from a childhood of misery in gym class and sports and a general lack of natural ability.
posted by whoaali at 7:01 AM on December 12, 2011
I don't really care much about improving per se, but I think that certainly makes the whole thing feel rather fultile. When I'm neither seeing results, feeling better, enjoying the exercise itself or improving past a certain point every time.
I basically just exercise because I intellectually know it's important to do and have been told by every source imaginable that it is absolutely necessary for my health, however that doesn't seem to jive with my personal experience, which are admittedly highly colored from a childhood of misery in gym class and sports and a general lack of natural ability.
posted by whoaali at 7:01 AM on December 12, 2011
I feel like I've tried so many sports I'm kind of burnt out on it, but I haven't tried martial arts so maybe that's an idea.
Dude. Dude dude dude. I wrote this question almost exactly a year ago, because I was in the same boat. I HATE exercise. Hate it. I tried running, it was an exercise in sheer misery. Tried weight lifting, found it unspeakably boring. Yoga? Ugh. I had access to FREE yoga for years and never went.
Well, so then, based on some of the answers to my question, I tried muay thai. I started about 2 months ago. And OH MY GOD, I freaking LOVE it!
Here's what I've figured out- I hated exercise because, what's the endpoint of most exercise? To do more of what you're already doing. Get better at running? Great, now you have to fucking run more. Get better at yoga? Ugh, now you have to do worse, harder yoga. Get better at lifting? Gotta go lift some more. But in muay thai, it isn't like that. Get better at muay thai? LAY A DUDE OUT WITH ONE PUNCH, BITCHES.
Not that you necessarily need to do muay thai, but I think you should try something where you're learning a SKILL. You say you stuck with yoga and pilates most? I suspect it's because, with those, you're focusing on developing a skill rather than just mindlessly pushing your body to the limit. You could try dancing, or Brazilian jiu jitsu, or something.
But seriously, I know how you feel, and I never thought I could make myself love exercise. I was wrong. I'm going today, and I'm EXCITED about it. I missed a class last week and I was actually upset about it. Not in some abstract 'I missed out on my workout' sense- my instructor says I could move up to the sparring class in six months, and I don't want to fall behind. I'm excited to get better and keep learning more.
And I get the runner's high from it at least half the time, which had only happened to me once before, from lifting.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:10 AM on December 12, 2011 [7 favorites]
Dude. Dude dude dude. I wrote this question almost exactly a year ago, because I was in the same boat. I HATE exercise. Hate it. I tried running, it was an exercise in sheer misery. Tried weight lifting, found it unspeakably boring. Yoga? Ugh. I had access to FREE yoga for years and never went.
Well, so then, based on some of the answers to my question, I tried muay thai. I started about 2 months ago. And OH MY GOD, I freaking LOVE it!
Here's what I've figured out- I hated exercise because, what's the endpoint of most exercise? To do more of what you're already doing. Get better at running? Great, now you have to fucking run more. Get better at yoga? Ugh, now you have to do worse, harder yoga. Get better at lifting? Gotta go lift some more. But in muay thai, it isn't like that. Get better at muay thai? LAY A DUDE OUT WITH ONE PUNCH, BITCHES.
Not that you necessarily need to do muay thai, but I think you should try something where you're learning a SKILL. You say you stuck with yoga and pilates most? I suspect it's because, with those, you're focusing on developing a skill rather than just mindlessly pushing your body to the limit. You could try dancing, or Brazilian jiu jitsu, or something.
But seriously, I know how you feel, and I never thought I could make myself love exercise. I was wrong. I'm going today, and I'm EXCITED about it. I missed a class last week and I was actually upset about it. Not in some abstract 'I missed out on my workout' sense- my instructor says I could move up to the sparring class in six months, and I don't want to fall behind. I'm excited to get better and keep learning more.
And I get the runner's high from it at least half the time, which had only happened to me once before, from lifting.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:10 AM on December 12, 2011 [7 favorites]
Response by poster: And Squeak Attack I totally agree. I never seem to be exercising in the "right" way no matter what I do. It's always too hard or not hard enough. More weight lifting more cardio. One hour a day, well no really, two or three. You'll see results/improve in 2 weeks or 2 months or a year. The line keeps getting pushed back and changed. There is never a point when you're supposed to admit it's not working. It's always you didn't work long enough, hard enough or didn't stay at it long enough, but no one can ever tell you what enough is. Or they push the line back so far that it's totally impractical or unsustainable. I mean I'm a lawyer, I know how to work hard and work towards long term goals, even when the process is really miserable. Ive trained myself to carefully count calories and have done so pretty consistently for years, although there are certainly periods when I don't, but I always come back to despite the tedium of measuring and weighing and remembering everything I eat. I'm fine with that, but exercise is a whole different thing.
posted by whoaali at 8:06 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by whoaali at 8:06 AM on December 12, 2011
I read through all the responses here, and I'm going to offer a bit of a different perspective: you sound whiny and petulant about exercise to me. I'd proffer the suggestion that that petulance is part of what's keeping you from wanting to exercise and from getting any enjoyment at all out of it when you do. Your comments would have us believe that your lack of success has lead to your petulance, but you're pretty whiny about it. I'd guess you've felt negative about exercise for most of your life, and that that has informed your willingness to even grant that other people might be enjoying themselves. (Your dismissive comment about euphoria is a good example of this.) None of the well-meant (but rapidly dismissed) suggestions in the world will change what reads to me like a simple bad attitude.
You claim to intellectually [...] know exercise = not dying young and better quality of life, but the long list of benefits that bearette gives have been almost non existent. Put that into practice. There are many things we do or do not do because of a choice that the consequences outweigh our desire to engage in (or not engage in) the behavior. If you think the research applies to you find a way to get over your objections and operationalize it. Many days I would much rather stay home, but I realized that that desire is subordinate to my need to earn a living, so I go to work. But, I can tell you right now, if I were a trust fund baby I wouldn't drag myself in.
posted by OmieWise at 8:08 AM on December 12, 2011 [4 favorites]
You claim to intellectually [...] know exercise = not dying young and better quality of life, but the long list of benefits that bearette gives have been almost non existent. Put that into practice. There are many things we do or do not do because of a choice that the consequences outweigh our desire to engage in (or not engage in) the behavior. If you think the research applies to you find a way to get over your objections and operationalize it. Many days I would much rather stay home, but I realized that that desire is subordinate to my need to earn a living, so I go to work. But, I can tell you right now, if I were a trust fund baby I wouldn't drag myself in.
posted by OmieWise at 8:08 AM on December 12, 2011 [4 favorites]
If you're already walking 1.5 miles a day, could you walk a little further? I really dread going to the gym, and I've always hated sports and anything that makes me feel slow and unathletic and uncoordinated. But last Christmas, my sister bought me a Fitbit. It's a tiny, unobtrusive device that you wear clipped to your clothes, and it measures, among other things, how far you walk each day. The nerd in me liked that I could track what I was doing each day, and the little badges they award you for walking 5000 or 10000 or 15000 steps were oddly motivating.
I've gone from about your level of activity to taking a several-miles long walk multiple times a week. I'm not sure whether my fitness level is any better than it was. I rarely get sweaty (unless it's really hot outside) and it doesn't make me tired, and my energy level is roughly what it always was. But I feel a sense of accomplishment from getting those little online badges, and I've come to enjoy having the time with my own thoughts. Plus, I really like seeing other people's houses, and if you walk at night, you can peer in people's windows and see what they're up to and how they've decorated the place.
For maximum lack-of-hate-of-exercise, I combined that device with a cheap mp3 player, which I loaded with podcasts and audiobooks I really love. I have regularly reached my destination at the end of my walk and kept going because I wanted to find out what happened at the end of a Judge John Hodgeman episode.
You may not be one of those people who is into lifting really heavy things or running really far or whatever other nonsense other people are into. I'm not. But nearly every competent medical professional agrees that people who move a bit are better off physically than people who spend that same amount of time sitting around. My grandmother lived to be 95, and she was mobile until the very end, a fact which I credit in part to her mile-long walks every day of her life. You're already doing great with the walking; some people never get that far. If you can bear to do a little bit more, you might find that you don't hate it so terribly much.
posted by decathecting at 8:18 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've gone from about your level of activity to taking a several-miles long walk multiple times a week. I'm not sure whether my fitness level is any better than it was. I rarely get sweaty (unless it's really hot outside) and it doesn't make me tired, and my energy level is roughly what it always was. But I feel a sense of accomplishment from getting those little online badges, and I've come to enjoy having the time with my own thoughts. Plus, I really like seeing other people's houses, and if you walk at night, you can peer in people's windows and see what they're up to and how they've decorated the place.
For maximum lack-of-hate-of-exercise, I combined that device with a cheap mp3 player, which I loaded with podcasts and audiobooks I really love. I have regularly reached my destination at the end of my walk and kept going because I wanted to find out what happened at the end of a Judge John Hodgeman episode.
You may not be one of those people who is into lifting really heavy things or running really far or whatever other nonsense other people are into. I'm not. But nearly every competent medical professional agrees that people who move a bit are better off physically than people who spend that same amount of time sitting around. My grandmother lived to be 95, and she was mobile until the very end, a fact which I credit in part to her mile-long walks every day of her life. You're already doing great with the walking; some people never get that far. If you can bear to do a little bit more, you might find that you don't hate it so terribly much.
posted by decathecting at 8:18 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I agree with everybody who is telling you to find a form of exercise that you enjoy. But for you that is definitely a case of 'easier said than done' because of your traumatizing gym class experiences (believe me, I can relate) and, perhaps most of all, your total lack of improvement in the exercise that you have tried so far.
I was struck most by what you wrote about swimming: "I swam 2 hours a day, five day a week for three months, and my time on the first day was identical, down to the second, as my last time." That is remarkable, I think. I am not surprised you don't see the point! I am not an exercise wonder boy by any stretch of the imagination but if I exercised like that I would see improvement within a few weeks. Maybe not nearly as much as the person swimming next to me but a definite, unmistakable improvement.
Was noone knowledgeable coaching you in any of these exercise experiences? If I was your trainer I would try to find out why you don't progress. With some tests and the use of a heart rate monitor it should be possible to come up with a foolproof exercise plan. It might not be one you enjoy but at least you would see that it is possible to improve.
I went from hating exercise with a passion to loving, even needing it. For me it started with running but it certainly wasn't love at first sight. I'm pretty sure the rapid improvements were a big part of why I kept at it and eventually started loving it.
posted by dinkyday at 8:23 AM on December 12, 2011
I was struck most by what you wrote about swimming: "I swam 2 hours a day, five day a week for three months, and my time on the first day was identical, down to the second, as my last time." That is remarkable, I think. I am not surprised you don't see the point! I am not an exercise wonder boy by any stretch of the imagination but if I exercised like that I would see improvement within a few weeks. Maybe not nearly as much as the person swimming next to me but a definite, unmistakable improvement.
Was noone knowledgeable coaching you in any of these exercise experiences? If I was your trainer I would try to find out why you don't progress. With some tests and the use of a heart rate monitor it should be possible to come up with a foolproof exercise plan. It might not be one you enjoy but at least you would see that it is possible to improve.
I went from hating exercise with a passion to loving, even needing it. For me it started with running but it certainly wasn't love at first sight. I'm pretty sure the rapid improvements were a big part of why I kept at it and eventually started loving it.
posted by dinkyday at 8:23 AM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: I don't really know how to respond to that one. I mean you're pretty much saying my dislike of exercise is a character defect and I should just shut and do it, which is honestly what I've done most of my life. I feel like I'm being honest. I'm not the person in exercise class whining to the instructor about how hard it is or how tired I am. I suck it up an do it and hate every minute and keep doing and see no returns. I think there must be some returns, maybe I'll see them more as I age.
It's not that I don't intellectually believe that people like to exercise. I don't think people are deluding themselves or lying, it's just so far removed from my experience that it just confuses me. I mean it's like someone saying they enjoy someone constantly stepping on their feet. You can handle it, but their is nothing enjoyable or interesting about it.
I'll admit I'm pretty insulted by your comment, but I'm trying not to take it personally. I don't think the fact that I've unloaded 15 years of frustration in one go in this thread is indicative of a general bad attitude. I've tried a lot of things. I've endured a lot of aches and pains. I've even spent a lot of money on gyms and classes. You'll probably say I'm being dismissive and petulant, but I think it's really unfair to criticize someone's character because their experiences were not the same as yours. Sure there have been times I should have tried harder and stuck with it longer. I haven't been perfect or ideal, but I dont think most other people are either.
And about the swimming thing, yeah my coach was pretty surprised too. I think he was a pretty decent coach. We tried a lot of different strokes. The team as a whole did pretty well. I really hated the meets because I always came in last, but overall the coach and team were very nice. The coach refused to cut anyone who wanted to join, which was really refreshing.
posted by whoaali at 8:43 AM on December 12, 2011
It's not that I don't intellectually believe that people like to exercise. I don't think people are deluding themselves or lying, it's just so far removed from my experience that it just confuses me. I mean it's like someone saying they enjoy someone constantly stepping on their feet. You can handle it, but their is nothing enjoyable or interesting about it.
I'll admit I'm pretty insulted by your comment, but I'm trying not to take it personally. I don't think the fact that I've unloaded 15 years of frustration in one go in this thread is indicative of a general bad attitude. I've tried a lot of things. I've endured a lot of aches and pains. I've even spent a lot of money on gyms and classes. You'll probably say I'm being dismissive and petulant, but I think it's really unfair to criticize someone's character because their experiences were not the same as yours. Sure there have been times I should have tried harder and stuck with it longer. I haven't been perfect or ideal, but I dont think most other people are either.
And about the swimming thing, yeah my coach was pretty surprised too. I think he was a pretty decent coach. We tried a lot of different strokes. The team as a whole did pretty well. I really hated the meets because I always came in last, but overall the coach and team were very nice. The coach refused to cut anyone who wanted to join, which was really refreshing.
posted by whoaali at 8:43 AM on December 12, 2011
whoaali, I am the same way on the ambivalence, occasionally dislike of exercise. I don't get endorphins, don't sleep better, it is possible that I feel a bit better when I do exercise, but I've also made myself sick from forcing myself to exercise when I didn't feel well too.
I've done the thing where I've exercised 2 hours a day every day and I absolutely did make progress - unfortunately, since I was about 20 pounds overweight at the time, you couldn't really see all the muscle. :-(
Right now, I do a bare minimum of a full body workout for 20 minutes once or twice a week (maybe once every 5 days?) using the Big 5 / Body by Science training methods. Oh, and walking the dog for at least 45 minutes a day (non-negotiable). I reasoned to myself that 20 minutes a week was nothing - and was like muscle insurance. And it works for getting or staying stronger and that was my goal.
The reason why I do it, and I'm not sure how old you are - is that once I turned about 43 or so, it became very obvious to me that I was getting weaker with each passing year. I just don't want to be one of those old ladies hobbling around, breaking hips and not able to carry a 40 pound bag of dog food. Plus I knew that if I didn't address this stuff now, once I hit menopause, I was almost certainly going to pack the pounds on. I admit too that part of the incentive to exercise (on weekends hiking or x-c skiing) is that's 4-5 hours spent driving to and doing the activities is that many hours that I'm not spending being tempted by the refrigerator.
I'm hoping that in a few years, once my kids are older, I can then get into something like ballroom dancing - I don't like the thought of moving much - but I do LOVE the *idea* of being a ballroom dancer. Is there anything at all that you love the idea of doing well or at least better or just like the process of it? It's not a factor of speed or strength, it's grace - and that can be learned I think. Plus there's loads of older people that do that kind of thing and they even go on trips to competitions etc., so I know it's something that I can do and enjoy when I'm older as well.
You might want to take a look at a personality type approach to finding the right kind of exercise too.
posted by jacqjolie at 9:40 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
I've done the thing where I've exercised 2 hours a day every day and I absolutely did make progress - unfortunately, since I was about 20 pounds overweight at the time, you couldn't really see all the muscle. :-(
Right now, I do a bare minimum of a full body workout for 20 minutes once or twice a week (maybe once every 5 days?) using the Big 5 / Body by Science training methods. Oh, and walking the dog for at least 45 minutes a day (non-negotiable). I reasoned to myself that 20 minutes a week was nothing - and was like muscle insurance. And it works for getting or staying stronger and that was my goal.
The reason why I do it, and I'm not sure how old you are - is that once I turned about 43 or so, it became very obvious to me that I was getting weaker with each passing year. I just don't want to be one of those old ladies hobbling around, breaking hips and not able to carry a 40 pound bag of dog food. Plus I knew that if I didn't address this stuff now, once I hit menopause, I was almost certainly going to pack the pounds on. I admit too that part of the incentive to exercise (on weekends hiking or x-c skiing) is that's 4-5 hours spent driving to and doing the activities is that many hours that I'm not spending being tempted by the refrigerator.
I'm hoping that in a few years, once my kids are older, I can then get into something like ballroom dancing - I don't like the thought of moving much - but I do LOVE the *idea* of being a ballroom dancer. Is there anything at all that you love the idea of doing well or at least better or just like the process of it? It's not a factor of speed or strength, it's grace - and that can be learned I think. Plus there's loads of older people that do that kind of thing and they even go on trips to competitions etc., so I know it's something that I can do and enjoy when I'm older as well.
You might want to take a look at a personality type approach to finding the right kind of exercise too.
posted by jacqjolie at 9:40 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
I read through all the responses here, and I'm going to offer a bit of a different perspective: you sound whiny and petulant about exercise to me. -- I don't know, it seems to me like the same perspective as the "try harder" crowd, just ruder and as unhelpful.
I'm watching this thread with interest, I am exactly like you. Also, the one time I really enjoyed exercise years ago, it was a martial art (it had a very interesting balance of intellectual and physical work-out). So, this might be the solution.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 9:47 AM on December 12, 2011
I'm watching this thread with interest, I am exactly like you. Also, the one time I really enjoyed exercise years ago, it was a martial art (it had a very interesting balance of intellectual and physical work-out). So, this might be the solution.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 9:47 AM on December 12, 2011
I mean you're pretty much saying my dislike of exercise is a character defect and I should just shut and do it, which is honestly what I've done most of my life[...]You'll probably say I'm being dismissive and petulant, but I think it's really unfair to criticize someone's character because their experiences were not the same as yours. Sure there have been times I should have tried harder and stuck with it longer. I haven't been perfect or ideal, but I dont think most other people are either.
Well, with all due respect to your hurt feelings, which are certainly my fault for writing a harsh comment, your reading of what I said exceeds what I actually said. I didn't suggest that your dislike is a "character defect," nor did I suggest that you just haven't put in enough effort or tried hard enough. What I did say, after reading all of your dismissive responses in this thread, is that you seem to have a bad attitude about this, that is unlikely to be changed by the comments you keep dismissing. Frankly, I read the "try this other thing in this other way and you might magically like exercise!" comments as faintly patronizing. I'm actually assuming you've put in the time and effort you report, and that you hate it. I don't think you're wrong for hating it, or that it means you're doing it wrong, or that you're a bad person because of it. I take it as value-neutral, and at face value.
What I go on to say is that it does not matter. Either you decide that the reasons for doing it trump that hate, or you don't. That is up to you, and between you and your own sense of self. But, based on your many responses in this thread, I don't see you suddenly starting to like exercise based on any suggestions you read here, in part because you've got an enduring (and probably well-founded) hatred of exercise.
I'm not saying you're a bad person, I'm saying you're your own person. You have the information and you can act on it as you like.
posted by OmieWise at 9:52 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Well, with all due respect to your hurt feelings, which are certainly my fault for writing a harsh comment, your reading of what I said exceeds what I actually said. I didn't suggest that your dislike is a "character defect," nor did I suggest that you just haven't put in enough effort or tried hard enough. What I did say, after reading all of your dismissive responses in this thread, is that you seem to have a bad attitude about this, that is unlikely to be changed by the comments you keep dismissing. Frankly, I read the "try this other thing in this other way and you might magically like exercise!" comments as faintly patronizing. I'm actually assuming you've put in the time and effort you report, and that you hate it. I don't think you're wrong for hating it, or that it means you're doing it wrong, or that you're a bad person because of it. I take it as value-neutral, and at face value.
What I go on to say is that it does not matter. Either you decide that the reasons for doing it trump that hate, or you don't. That is up to you, and between you and your own sense of self. But, based on your many responses in this thread, I don't see you suddenly starting to like exercise based on any suggestions you read here, in part because you've got an enduring (and probably well-founded) hatred of exercise.
I'm not saying you're a bad person, I'm saying you're your own person. You have the information and you can act on it as you like.
posted by OmieWise at 9:52 AM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
it seems to me like the same perspective as the "try harder" crowd, just ruder and as unhelpful
It's radically different from a "try harder" prescription. It's a "do it if the 'intellectual' reasons matter more than your dislike, don't if they don't. You don't have to like it to decide to do it" prescription.
posted by OmieWise at 9:54 AM on December 12, 2011
It's radically different from a "try harder" prescription. It's a "do it if the 'intellectual' reasons matter more than your dislike, don't if they don't. You don't have to like it to decide to do it" prescription.
posted by OmieWise at 9:54 AM on December 12, 2011
35-50 minutes on a cardio machine several times a week for months is my idea of hell. Sounds like it is your idea of hell too. You were stagnating, your body got used to the exercise and you probably subconsciously compensated in your diet to make up for any calorie deficit. Voila. No results.
I used to slog it out for an hour and a half or more, lifting way too long then running for way too long and it bored the crap out of me. And I wasn't getting anything for results. My body was used to the workouts and my mind began to hate working out because I began to equate working out with boredom.
I am now on the lift heavy things do short intense bouts of cardio team. I go to the gym and my goal is to be in and out in LESS than an hour, three times a week. That one hour includes getting changed. Quick warm up, into my lifting, quick high intensity cardio (sometimes). It's hard, because working out is not supposed to be easy. If things are too easy for me, well it's simple, add more weight or kick it up a notch on the cardio. I agree with the earlier suggestions of stumptuous.com and CrossFit.com
I don't go to the gym to socialize. I don't go to the gym to sit on a bike and read a novel or watch a movie. If I can carry a conversation or read something while I am working out. I am doing it wrong.
But none of my suggestions matter. You have to want it. If it is obvious that working out in your comfort zone is not working for you, then you have to get out of your comfort zone. That means doing things that don't feel good at first. Be it running or lifting or high intensity work. It never feels good at first. Your body isn't used to it so you are of course going to hate it, but you need to get over that and push through it.
Or not.
posted by WickedPissah at 10:24 AM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
I used to slog it out for an hour and a half or more, lifting way too long then running for way too long and it bored the crap out of me. And I wasn't getting anything for results. My body was used to the workouts and my mind began to hate working out because I began to equate working out with boredom.
I am now on the lift heavy things do short intense bouts of cardio team. I go to the gym and my goal is to be in and out in LESS than an hour, three times a week. That one hour includes getting changed. Quick warm up, into my lifting, quick high intensity cardio (sometimes). It's hard, because working out is not supposed to be easy. If things are too easy for me, well it's simple, add more weight or kick it up a notch on the cardio. I agree with the earlier suggestions of stumptuous.com and CrossFit.com
I don't go to the gym to socialize. I don't go to the gym to sit on a bike and read a novel or watch a movie. If I can carry a conversation or read something while I am working out. I am doing it wrong.
But none of my suggestions matter. You have to want it. If it is obvious that working out in your comfort zone is not working for you, then you have to get out of your comfort zone. That means doing things that don't feel good at first. Be it running or lifting or high intensity work. It never feels good at first. Your body isn't used to it so you are of course going to hate it, but you need to get over that and push through it.
Or not.
posted by WickedPissah at 10:24 AM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
It's not that I don't intellectually believe that people like to exercise. I don't think people are deluding themselves or lying, it's just so far removed from my experience that it just confuses me. I mean it's like someone saying they enjoy someone constantly stepping on their feet. You can handle it, but their is nothing enjoyable or interesting about it.
Aha, and THIS is why I think you should try dancing or martial arts. It's interesting. I am a very nerdy, intellectual type person. I always thought of exercise as somehow set apart from the realm of the 'interesting'- I thought of it like this animal thing which had nothing to do with the mind. But now I'm figuring out that learning to make your body do certain things can be a legitimate and challenging mental exercise. I don't just power through a punch, for example- I have to think about my feet, legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands, putting them all in exactly the correct place. When your mind is busy with that, you aren't thinking about how you ache, you're thinking 'damn, my foot was in the wrong place and it made my punch go wide, I gotta work on that.'
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:29 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Aha, and THIS is why I think you should try dancing or martial arts. It's interesting. I am a very nerdy, intellectual type person. I always thought of exercise as somehow set apart from the realm of the 'interesting'- I thought of it like this animal thing which had nothing to do with the mind. But now I'm figuring out that learning to make your body do certain things can be a legitimate and challenging mental exercise. I don't just power through a punch, for example- I have to think about my feet, legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands, putting them all in exactly the correct place. When your mind is busy with that, you aren't thinking about how you ache, you're thinking 'damn, my foot was in the wrong place and it made my punch go wide, I gotta work on that.'
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:29 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
+1 to this: "But none of my suggestions matter. You have to want it. If it is obvious that working out in your comfort zone is not working for you, then you have to get out of your comfort zone. That means doing things that don't feel good at first. Be it running or lifting or high intensity work. It never feels good at first. Your body isn't used to it so you are of course going to hate it, but you need to get over that and push through it. "
I am naturally athletic, and when I'm at the gym, if I'm doing things right, I'm out of my comfort zone. I'm pessimistic about making it through my sets, and the time on the elliptical seems like it will never end.
When I'm riding my bike outdoors, I let myself coast when I'm just riding around town or with friends, but if I'm trying to get a workout, my heart is always pumping.
posted by benbenson at 10:33 AM on December 12, 2011
I am naturally athletic, and when I'm at the gym, if I'm doing things right, I'm out of my comfort zone. I'm pessimistic about making it through my sets, and the time on the elliptical seems like it will never end.
When I'm riding my bike outdoors, I let myself coast when I'm just riding around town or with friends, but if I'm trying to get a workout, my heart is always pumping.
posted by benbenson at 10:33 AM on December 12, 2011
Now you say "[I] just want to cut the same 10 lbs I've been losing and gaining for as long as I can remember" and I would like to point out that maybe your body's set point is to just have those 10 lbs on whether you want them or not (my mother says she found the weight she wanted to be at - 10 lbs lighter than she is - too hard to maintain, and therefore not worth what she was giving up to maintain it). Or maybe you need to drop down to your next set point (which you'll have to discover on your own) before you can regain and stabilize where you want to be. I have no idea because I don't know your body, only you can discover what your body does. But I'll just throw that out there.
Anyway. I was never athletic. I was always last-picked for teams and dreaded gym class in school. I get nothing out of using a treadmill or elliptical. I am the slowest runner ever these days - really, it's hilarious.
What motivated me to exercise was that I can't diet without exercise - exercising helps me stick to my diet, which I know is the opposite of what many people say, that exercising makes them hungrier (different strokes for different bodies, I guess!). And my other motivation is that I am pathetically out-of-shape when I don't, after having kids and the stress that's put on my body. But still, exercise is just not my natural inclination. So what I've learned about exercise is that I will do it if:
*it is a natural, convenient part of my routine. I signed my kids up for a day camp this past summer and it was a far enough walk away to be exercise, but only a three-minute drive in the van - so it made more sense to walk, it just became this Thing I Have To Do. When I was busy losing weight last year I would wake up and the first thing was exercise on the Wii, then I'd shower. Got it out of the way early. (I don't do well exercising at night regularly, I'm tired and I'd rather loll around.)
*it is something fun for me. I bought a Zumba class pass. I bought a block of classes at a dance/exercise studio downtown. I can go to either whenever I feel like it, not on a schedule. I got a Wii and I have Wii Fit Plus and a whole slew of "exercise games" for the Wii, including Dance Dance Revolution. None of these things require me to "be good at it" or "make progress" if I happen not to. They just require me to show up. The games are as challenging as I want them to be - if I really want to try for a better score I can, if I want to ignore that, I can. I don't want to feel bad about exercise. Fun is important.
*I don't have to do it alone. I prefer having company for walks because then I have someone to talk to and the minutes fly by. I love playing games with my husband on the Wii, it's together-time. I like taking a class with a friend, it becomes a social outing.
*if I do have to do it alone, it doesn't take too long. I picked up running again by doing Tabata sprints. These are high-intensity intervals that take 4 minutes: 20 seconds of running as fast as I could, 10 seconds of walking. Repeat 8 times. That's IT. Done. And "as fast as I can" is not very fast at all, but as long as I'm feeling like I can barely get through the last couple intervals, it's fast enough for me. Then I follow that with 20 minutes or so of mixed-up pace - alternating fast walk and jogging. Or I'll do a modified Callenetics routine for 10 or 15 minutes - toning moves for body and abdomen. No longer - I get bored. But that's enough to feel it in my stomach muscles. I think the next thing I want to try is kettlebells - I like the idea of doing a few swings and moves while I watch a show.
*it gives me some other benefit. Some days I just need to get the hell out of the house and away from the kids on my own for a while - exercise is A Thing I Can Go And Do, an unquestionable excuse. Or if I am angry or upset about something, exercising works out my bad feelings better than stewing about it (and likely snacking). I did hot yoga (Moksha) a few times a couple winters ago and got no weight-loss benefit from it - but it felt great mentally; my mind became blank and serene during class, and afterwards I felt calmer and lighter. Plus I was simply happy to go somewhere tropically WARM for an hour and a half (I hate winter).
I can't stress over it and it sounds like you have no reason to bother stressing over it either. Stressing over it is miserable. I'm not going to spend my limited time doing things that make me miserable that I see no benefit from! Give yourself permission to make it all count, that's what I do. Walking hard to get somewhere counts, my Wii games count, hell, if I go out dancing at a nightclub, it counts.
posted by flex at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2011
Anyway. I was never athletic. I was always last-picked for teams and dreaded gym class in school. I get nothing out of using a treadmill or elliptical. I am the slowest runner ever these days - really, it's hilarious.
What motivated me to exercise was that I can't diet without exercise - exercising helps me stick to my diet, which I know is the opposite of what many people say, that exercising makes them hungrier (different strokes for different bodies, I guess!). And my other motivation is that I am pathetically out-of-shape when I don't, after having kids and the stress that's put on my body. But still, exercise is just not my natural inclination. So what I've learned about exercise is that I will do it if:
*it is a natural, convenient part of my routine. I signed my kids up for a day camp this past summer and it was a far enough walk away to be exercise, but only a three-minute drive in the van - so it made more sense to walk, it just became this Thing I Have To Do. When I was busy losing weight last year I would wake up and the first thing was exercise on the Wii, then I'd shower. Got it out of the way early. (I don't do well exercising at night regularly, I'm tired and I'd rather loll around.)
*it is something fun for me. I bought a Zumba class pass. I bought a block of classes at a dance/exercise studio downtown. I can go to either whenever I feel like it, not on a schedule. I got a Wii and I have Wii Fit Plus and a whole slew of "exercise games" for the Wii, including Dance Dance Revolution. None of these things require me to "be good at it" or "make progress" if I happen not to. They just require me to show up. The games are as challenging as I want them to be - if I really want to try for a better score I can, if I want to ignore that, I can. I don't want to feel bad about exercise. Fun is important.
*I don't have to do it alone. I prefer having company for walks because then I have someone to talk to and the minutes fly by. I love playing games with my husband on the Wii, it's together-time. I like taking a class with a friend, it becomes a social outing.
*if I do have to do it alone, it doesn't take too long. I picked up running again by doing Tabata sprints. These are high-intensity intervals that take 4 minutes: 20 seconds of running as fast as I could, 10 seconds of walking. Repeat 8 times. That's IT. Done. And "as fast as I can" is not very fast at all, but as long as I'm feeling like I can barely get through the last couple intervals, it's fast enough for me. Then I follow that with 20 minutes or so of mixed-up pace - alternating fast walk and jogging. Or I'll do a modified Callenetics routine for 10 or 15 minutes - toning moves for body and abdomen. No longer - I get bored. But that's enough to feel it in my stomach muscles. I think the next thing I want to try is kettlebells - I like the idea of doing a few swings and moves while I watch a show.
*it gives me some other benefit. Some days I just need to get the hell out of the house and away from the kids on my own for a while - exercise is A Thing I Can Go And Do, an unquestionable excuse. Or if I am angry or upset about something, exercising works out my bad feelings better than stewing about it (and likely snacking). I did hot yoga (Moksha) a few times a couple winters ago and got no weight-loss benefit from it - but it felt great mentally; my mind became blank and serene during class, and afterwards I felt calmer and lighter. Plus I was simply happy to go somewhere tropically WARM for an hour and a half (I hate winter).
I can't stress over it and it sounds like you have no reason to bother stressing over it either. Stressing over it is miserable. I'm not going to spend my limited time doing things that make me miserable that I see no benefit from! Give yourself permission to make it all count, that's what I do. Walking hard to get somewhere counts, my Wii games count, hell, if I go out dancing at a nightclub, it counts.
posted by flex at 10:39 AM on December 12, 2011
Also I would not consider being dizzy a good thing. If you are getting dizzy from the elliptical then you might want to talk to your doctor about that. Exhausted and dizzy are very different things.
posted by WickedPissah at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by WickedPissah at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2011
I have two activity suggestions:
1. Golf. I've never played so what do I know, but: there is lots of walking outside while carrying a bag of clubs; you can play with a group of friends without being on a team; handicaps even out the scoring; getting the ball into the hole is an accomplishment (or a relief) that is external to your body.
2. Dancing. There are so many kinds of dancing! Partner dancing, line dancing, square dancing, swing dancing, Bollywood dancing (yes this is a thing), various forms of 'dancercise.' It goes with music. You can get into the beauty of the patterns created by the dancers. You can use it as a window onto another culture or time period. I highly recommend dancing.
Both of these are activities you can continue for life if you enjoy them.
And for something completely different: Do you clean your own house? Scrubbing and sweeping can be good exercise - you can take it easy or go at it hard. And at the end of it, you get a nice clean house.
posted by expialidocious at 10:46 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
1. Golf. I've never played so what do I know, but: there is lots of walking outside while carrying a bag of clubs; you can play with a group of friends without being on a team; handicaps even out the scoring; getting the ball into the hole is an accomplishment (or a relief) that is external to your body.
2. Dancing. There are so many kinds of dancing! Partner dancing, line dancing, square dancing, swing dancing, Bollywood dancing (yes this is a thing), various forms of 'dancercise.' It goes with music. You can get into the beauty of the patterns created by the dancers. You can use it as a window onto another culture or time period. I highly recommend dancing.
Both of these are activities you can continue for life if you enjoy them.
And for something completely different: Do you clean your own house? Scrubbing and sweeping can be good exercise - you can take it easy or go at it hard. And at the end of it, you get a nice clean house.
posted by expialidocious at 10:46 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
A bit of contrast to my last post. FWIW, I am a very strong responder to exercise - my running time improves rapidly, and my muscles are insanely responsive to weights (so much so, that when I and a group of friends were going to the gym together for a few months, everyone remarked on my muscle growth). When I was in high school, I had the opposite experience from you - the coaches were alway trying to have me go into their discipline of choice (one even suggested I become a boxer!). And you know what? I still hated exercise. Hated. The point being, that your past bad experiences with exercise don't necessarily account for your dislike and lack of motivation today. I'm the perfect example of that.
For years and years I would not exercise, then go through bouts of a few months of exercising. Even though I *did* see results as indicated - it never motivated me. I tell you what I did not see though - I never had a "runner's high" (even when I ran pretty hard), I never, ever had "more energy", I never slept better, felt better, was in a better mood. In other words, I progressed rapidly in my ability to do more exercise, but never felt any other benefits.
And I hated every minute of the exercising. Not so much the boredom (I don't really get bored), just the effort of it, and the feeling of futility and resentment.
And yet, for the past four years, I've been exercising quite regularly. And this year, for the first time, I'm seeing some permanent benefits. I feel better. I have fewer headaches - after a lifetime of taking ibuprofen every 3 days or so for headaches, recently I have actually gone three weeks without a headache. What's made a difference? I speculate - it's age. I'm in my mid 40's. When I was younger, I was somehow naturally in good shape - never out of breadth in daily life, never overweight, injured or weak. So exercise didn't do anything extra for me. As I declined with age, suddenly exercise is useful.
So I keep doing it. A few things that help me. I absolutely appeal to a mentality of "you have no choice". It's not an option to not exercise. Period. I don't allow myself to think I can slack off. I know this sounds unhelpful, but I'm just reporting on what worked for me. I have an exercise partner - my wife. Extremely important to me - she's the same way in that she hates exercise. But we're terrified of things like Alzheimer's and in general being helpless old people. I care about her health, and frankly I exercise more to get her to do it, than for my own benefit... and she feels the same way about me. If I really feel horribly unmotivated to run on a rainy day (it's raining right now in LA!) - I think of my wife and how I want her to be in good health, and off we go. We used to hike in the mountains a few times a week, but now we've switched to jogging.
We run in the following pattern: two days run, one day break. Four miles per run. This works better for us than set days, because it allows more flexibility - we can always drop a given day and make it up on the next one (run 3 days in a row) if there is some kind of emergency schedule conflict - that way, there is no particular day that's off limits to our other obligations ("oh we can't come on Tuesday because we exercise"). What helps while running: the exact opposite of what some people suggest - I like the monotony of it. I hate change. I like running exactly the same path, in exactly the same way. The reason is so that I can concentrate not on what and how and where I'm running, but on the one thing that helps - getting lost in your own thoughts and zoning out. I think about my screenplay/DIY project/plans or some such involving thing, and before I know it, the workout is over. I'm sweating heavily, but I'm not suffering. We worked our way from 20 minutes of super slow jogging on up to 4 miles over 2 months - and we now are faster than a lot of other joggers. It can be done, despite yourself. Other things that help - I have zero expectation that things will "get better". I accept that it's a chore, and will remain a chore (though in all honesty, my conditioning has improved, so it's less of a chore). Before every run, there's still the gallows humor banter, where my wife and myself exchange disempowering thoughts about the futility of it all "and then we're dead", the pain, the misery, the hopelessness. And that way, we've already acknowledged the worst - but still power on.
For muscle exercise, I've started with Jungle Gym XT a few times a week, and I'm rapidly ramping that up. I have installed a ceiling bar for it. I like that it's at home and I don't have to go anywhere and can do it whenever I feel like it. The exercise itself still sucks though. But I do it anyway. My wife too, though at different times.
Here's how I'd approach it. If you can swing it, do go to a qualified exercise physiologist, to see what they can suggest. Regardless, I'd do this: acknowledge that it's hell and will always be hell and then you'll die. But do it anyway. Through sheer ornery contrariness. Works for me, it might work for you - it's certainly very different from the other advice you'll get. If the other stuff didn't work, going the other way might!
I hope this is helpful!
posted by VikingSword at 10:57 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
For years and years I would not exercise, then go through bouts of a few months of exercising. Even though I *did* see results as indicated - it never motivated me. I tell you what I did not see though - I never had a "runner's high" (even when I ran pretty hard), I never, ever had "more energy", I never slept better, felt better, was in a better mood. In other words, I progressed rapidly in my ability to do more exercise, but never felt any other benefits.
And I hated every minute of the exercising. Not so much the boredom (I don't really get bored), just the effort of it, and the feeling of futility and resentment.
And yet, for the past four years, I've been exercising quite regularly. And this year, for the first time, I'm seeing some permanent benefits. I feel better. I have fewer headaches - after a lifetime of taking ibuprofen every 3 days or so for headaches, recently I have actually gone three weeks without a headache. What's made a difference? I speculate - it's age. I'm in my mid 40's. When I was younger, I was somehow naturally in good shape - never out of breadth in daily life, never overweight, injured or weak. So exercise didn't do anything extra for me. As I declined with age, suddenly exercise is useful.
So I keep doing it. A few things that help me. I absolutely appeal to a mentality of "you have no choice". It's not an option to not exercise. Period. I don't allow myself to think I can slack off. I know this sounds unhelpful, but I'm just reporting on what worked for me. I have an exercise partner - my wife. Extremely important to me - she's the same way in that she hates exercise. But we're terrified of things like Alzheimer's and in general being helpless old people. I care about her health, and frankly I exercise more to get her to do it, than for my own benefit... and she feels the same way about me. If I really feel horribly unmotivated to run on a rainy day (it's raining right now in LA!) - I think of my wife and how I want her to be in good health, and off we go. We used to hike in the mountains a few times a week, but now we've switched to jogging.
We run in the following pattern: two days run, one day break. Four miles per run. This works better for us than set days, because it allows more flexibility - we can always drop a given day and make it up on the next one (run 3 days in a row) if there is some kind of emergency schedule conflict - that way, there is no particular day that's off limits to our other obligations ("oh we can't come on Tuesday because we exercise"). What helps while running: the exact opposite of what some people suggest - I like the monotony of it. I hate change. I like running exactly the same path, in exactly the same way. The reason is so that I can concentrate not on what and how and where I'm running, but on the one thing that helps - getting lost in your own thoughts and zoning out. I think about my screenplay/DIY project/plans or some such involving thing, and before I know it, the workout is over. I'm sweating heavily, but I'm not suffering. We worked our way from 20 minutes of super slow jogging on up to 4 miles over 2 months - and we now are faster than a lot of other joggers. It can be done, despite yourself. Other things that help - I have zero expectation that things will "get better". I accept that it's a chore, and will remain a chore (though in all honesty, my conditioning has improved, so it's less of a chore). Before every run, there's still the gallows humor banter, where my wife and myself exchange disempowering thoughts about the futility of it all "and then we're dead", the pain, the misery, the hopelessness. And that way, we've already acknowledged the worst - but still power on.
For muscle exercise, I've started with Jungle Gym XT a few times a week, and I'm rapidly ramping that up. I have installed a ceiling bar for it. I like that it's at home and I don't have to go anywhere and can do it whenever I feel like it. The exercise itself still sucks though. But I do it anyway. My wife too, though at different times.
Here's how I'd approach it. If you can swing it, do go to a qualified exercise physiologist, to see what they can suggest. Regardless, I'd do this: acknowledge that it's hell and will always be hell and then you'll die. But do it anyway. Through sheer ornery contrariness. Works for me, it might work for you - it's certainly very different from the other advice you'll get. If the other stuff didn't work, going the other way might!
I hope this is helpful!
posted by VikingSword at 10:57 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
You shouldn't be dizzy when you get off the elliptical for sure - and any trainer will tell you that nausea is a sure sign that you're over-exorting yourself. No wonder you don't like exercise!
It might sound counter-intuitive, but I think you should take things down a big huge notch. Next time you do cardio, elevate your heart rate to no more than 150. Only break a slight sweat. If you do weighs, put less on and focus on form. When doing yoga, focus on moving through the movements with ease. Appreciate what your body can already do for you.
posted by Milau at 11:11 AM on December 12, 2011
It might sound counter-intuitive, but I think you should take things down a big huge notch. Next time you do cardio, elevate your heart rate to no more than 150. Only break a slight sweat. If you do weighs, put less on and focus on form. When doing yoga, focus on moving through the movements with ease. Appreciate what your body can already do for you.
posted by Milau at 11:11 AM on December 12, 2011
> How do I convince myself that exercise is actually worth it?
By considering the consequences of not exercising, and deciding whether you want to live with them. It's a tradeoff: discomfort now versus discomfort (or worse) later. You'll probably decide there's some level of activity that seems worth it to you, even if it's not very strenuous.
I also detest exercising and usually feel like crap afterward, and the only way I can convince myself to exercise is to disguise it as something fun or useful. Fun is subjective, of course - I'm a klutz so I always feel clumsy and slow, I'm a total liability to any sports team, and it takes me forever to learn dance steps - but I like to explore and see new things. Hiking is obvious, but just walking around the city also provides a lot of entertainment.
Useful is doing the things you have to do anyway: running errands, commuting to work, housework etc. The trick is to find ways that require a little exertion instead of relying on modern conveniences. Walk or bike instead of driving, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.
As an aside, I'm participating in an exercise study for sedentary women and it's totally NOT motivating me (because I'm an antisocial freak on top of everything else), but one thing I'm getting is that most people are helped greatly by having a social support system. Coworkers you go walking with at lunch, friends in exercise classes, online mutual encouragement "games" like Health Month, etc. It seems to be a combination of accountability and helping the time pass more pleasantly.
Ultimately, I decided that it's not worth it FOR ME to make myself miserable with intense exercise right now, but I need to do something to slow muscle and bone loss as I age. But hell, I may not even make it to old age. So, for me, the balance that feels right is a fair amount of light exercise - because that's something I'll actually do, rather than beating myself up about needing to do more and, inevitably, not doing it anyway.
Maybe for you, the right balance is less strenuous types of exercise which you'll do without being miserable, while accepting that you may not be quite as healthy in your old age. Good luck, and feel free to MeMail if you want someone to commiserate with.
posted by Quietgal at 11:47 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
By considering the consequences of not exercising, and deciding whether you want to live with them. It's a tradeoff: discomfort now versus discomfort (or worse) later. You'll probably decide there's some level of activity that seems worth it to you, even if it's not very strenuous.
I also detest exercising and usually feel like crap afterward, and the only way I can convince myself to exercise is to disguise it as something fun or useful. Fun is subjective, of course - I'm a klutz so I always feel clumsy and slow, I'm a total liability to any sports team, and it takes me forever to learn dance steps - but I like to explore and see new things. Hiking is obvious, but just walking around the city also provides a lot of entertainment.
Useful is doing the things you have to do anyway: running errands, commuting to work, housework etc. The trick is to find ways that require a little exertion instead of relying on modern conveniences. Walk or bike instead of driving, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.
As an aside, I'm participating in an exercise study for sedentary women and it's totally NOT motivating me (because I'm an antisocial freak on top of everything else), but one thing I'm getting is that most people are helped greatly by having a social support system. Coworkers you go walking with at lunch, friends in exercise classes, online mutual encouragement "games" like Health Month, etc. It seems to be a combination of accountability and helping the time pass more pleasantly.
Ultimately, I decided that it's not worth it FOR ME to make myself miserable with intense exercise right now, but I need to do something to slow muscle and bone loss as I age. But hell, I may not even make it to old age. So, for me, the balance that feels right is a fair amount of light exercise - because that's something I'll actually do, rather than beating myself up about needing to do more and, inevitably, not doing it anyway.
Maybe for you, the right balance is less strenuous types of exercise which you'll do without being miserable, while accepting that you may not be quite as healthy in your old age. Good luck, and feel free to MeMail if you want someone to commiserate with.
posted by Quietgal at 11:47 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty anti-exercise. I totally recommend biking if you live in a city where that's safe. Get a bike with a rack and saddlebags. Ride it to the corner store for milk, to do any errands that are under a half hour ride away (at first--then go for longer rides if you like). It's great to not need a car or public transit to get around, it's healthy, feels useful rather than pointless, and gives you time in the outdoors rather than feeling like you live in a bubble of home-car-office-car-home. And over time (not all at once--it's taken me over a year!), you'll be able to bike up the hills you used to go around or walk up. Some evening, you'll be biking home from a concert at 1am and feel like you could bike forever, like you're flying.
Exercise shouldn't be a magic pill that makes your life better. Nothing can live up to that. Exercise should be something that you would love and keep doing even if doing it somehow made you fatter! I've been fat all my life and am still fat, but now I have awesome muscles in my legs and never have to ride the bus unless the weather is beyond abysmal. So it seems pretty worth it to me.
There are so many forms of dance, martial arts, etc, if biking isn't your thing. Of all the reasons you listed to potentially enjoy exercise--"seeing results, feeling better, enjoying the exercise itself or improving past a certain point every time"--enjoying the exercise itself is the thing that you're most likely to find if you try enough (different, wacky, weird, and hopefully eventually fun) things.
posted by rivenwanderer at 12:33 PM on December 12, 2011
Exercise shouldn't be a magic pill that makes your life better. Nothing can live up to that. Exercise should be something that you would love and keep doing even if doing it somehow made you fatter! I've been fat all my life and am still fat, but now I have awesome muscles in my legs and never have to ride the bus unless the weather is beyond abysmal. So it seems pretty worth it to me.
There are so many forms of dance, martial arts, etc, if biking isn't your thing. Of all the reasons you listed to potentially enjoy exercise--"seeing results, feeling better, enjoying the exercise itself or improving past a certain point every time"--enjoying the exercise itself is the thing that you're most likely to find if you try enough (different, wacky, weird, and hopefully eventually fun) things.
posted by rivenwanderer at 12:33 PM on December 12, 2011
I think what OmieWise is saying (and forgive me if I'm misconveying) is that with a certain mindframe there's just no way you're going to find a way of exercise that works for you. This is not intended as a value judgement, just as an observation, but it seems like you are using this space to vent rather than to actually seek input. If you're looking for someone to tell you it's ok not to exercise: it's ok not to exercise. You can do whatever you want. It seems like you have a lot of frustration about this issue, and I almost wonder if it would be useful to talk to (wait for it) a therapist, or at least a sympathetic friend, about it.
On a more direct answer-y note, are you making sure to breathe when you exercise? If I'm not actively reminding myself to consistently take deep breaths while exercising, I pretty much breathe the bare minimum of air necessary to stay conscious. This makes a huge difference in mood. When I'm not breathing right I get into a very bad headspace; when I do breathe right I begin to approach something like the enjoyment others describe (though I have never been one to experience a true 'euphoria' or 'high' while exercising).
posted by threeants at 2:49 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
On a more direct answer-y note, are you making sure to breathe when you exercise? If I'm not actively reminding myself to consistently take deep breaths while exercising, I pretty much breathe the bare minimum of air necessary to stay conscious. This makes a huge difference in mood. When I'm not breathing right I get into a very bad headspace; when I do breathe right I begin to approach something like the enjoyment others describe (though I have never been one to experience a true 'euphoria' or 'high' while exercising).
posted by threeants at 2:49 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
From what I'm reading here, it seems to me that a huge part of the problem is attitude. You have to convince yourself that you can enjoy your exercise time.
posted by owtytrof at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by owtytrof at 2:55 PM on December 12, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I'm really not trying to be difficult, people just really don't seem to take at face value a lot of things I'm saying. I'm not discounting the fact that for n% of people, probably the vast majority of people there are all these amazing, immediately evident benefits to exercise. They have just never really existed for me, except in very, very minor ways, some of the time. And there seems to be this back and forth where I go no really that doesn't happen for me and someone comes back, no really you'll get this great benefit if you just work harder, don't work as hard, lift weights, whatever, and I go, no actually I've done that and then someone goes you have a bad attitude and being dismissive, when really I'm not trying to be dismissive, I've really tried most of things listed. Not so much the martial arts and dancing, but high intensity, low intensity, mid intensity, intervals, running, I've actually done it. I'm not dismissing it because I don't think it will work, I have actual proof the it doesn't work for me. I'm not dismissing the fact it very well may work for someone else and really that's great. It really is. I'm very envious of people who love to exercise and that it improves their lives in a very immediate, every day way. But there appears to be a lot of disbelief that someone else could do the exact same thing and not get the exact same result. From talking with friends, the physical sensations I feel when exercising are not the norm. I admit I am somewhat in disbelief that people could really get that amazing degree of enjoyment from exercise. I mean that's great, but it blows my mind.
I agree I don't have to enjoy exercising to do it. I do many things for my health I don't particularly enjoy, but I don't think twice about them. Well maybe I do, but I still make the appointment to go to the doctor, eat my vegetables, and put on sunscreen everyday. But I guess I'm convinced those things will actually make a difference. I think the question got a bit off track and went from help me convince myself that exercising is really worth the effort to it's worth the effort because you should be doing something you enjoy and I go but I really hate exercising to here is why you don't enjoy it and then we argue about why I don't enjoy it. Really the point of this question was me trying to forge my resolve because part of me really doesn't believe it is worth it. It's funny because I thought I'd be flooded with articles and science and all the rest, that would really convince me that I'll be 100lbs overweight and barely able to walk by 60 if I didn't exercise 3 - 5 times a week for an hour.
My general impression is that exercise is supposed to have these rather immediate benefits, such as stress, energy, mood, weight loss, etc, and then very long term benefits that are little less well defined, but generally boil down to high quality of life and not dying from preventable diseases. I've never really benefited from any of the these immediate benefits, which makes me question the whole premise. I realize this is a logical fallacy, but there is a little voice in my head every evening when I should be heading to the gym that it's all kind of bs. That the rules that apply to other people's bodies don't apply to mine because while everyone else improves athletically I don't. While everyone else feels great, has more energy, etc, I don't. So if none of these immediate benefits materialize, why would I expect these other things are going to materialize 20 to 30 years down the road? I have no idea if that's true, but the more I try without any results, the less I believe everything I've read or heard about exercise.
I think it's rather simplistic to call that a bad attitude. I think I've fallen off the horse and tried over and over again too many times to really have a bad attitude. I don't think I'm the type of person that can do mind over matter and convince myself that I actually enjoy being out of breath, sweaty, exhausted, bored and mildly dizzy. I'm not being sarcastic. I just don't get how people make that mental leap.
I am really glad to hear some of my fellow exercise haters out there that I'm not alone!
Oh and to answer some questions about the dizziness. I've been to the doctor and I'm fine. When I'm on the elliptical I'm usually at around 165 to 190+ and when I'm cooling down on the treadmill I'm usually in the 150s or 160s. My heart rate is almost never below 160, but I think my heart beat is a bit on the fast side normally. My resting bpm is around 78-84, which is pretty high, I think, so I have trouble going by that to determine whether I'm working out at the right intensity.
To other who have suggested walking/biking. I walk a ton. Really anytime that time and personal safety will allow, sometimes the weather scares me off, but I'll walk through most stuff, which is a huge perk of living in a big walkable city.
posted by whoaali at 6:21 PM on December 12, 2011
I agree I don't have to enjoy exercising to do it. I do many things for my health I don't particularly enjoy, but I don't think twice about them. Well maybe I do, but I still make the appointment to go to the doctor, eat my vegetables, and put on sunscreen everyday. But I guess I'm convinced those things will actually make a difference. I think the question got a bit off track and went from help me convince myself that exercising is really worth the effort to it's worth the effort because you should be doing something you enjoy and I go but I really hate exercising to here is why you don't enjoy it and then we argue about why I don't enjoy it. Really the point of this question was me trying to forge my resolve because part of me really doesn't believe it is worth it. It's funny because I thought I'd be flooded with articles and science and all the rest, that would really convince me that I'll be 100lbs overweight and barely able to walk by 60 if I didn't exercise 3 - 5 times a week for an hour.
My general impression is that exercise is supposed to have these rather immediate benefits, such as stress, energy, mood, weight loss, etc, and then very long term benefits that are little less well defined, but generally boil down to high quality of life and not dying from preventable diseases. I've never really benefited from any of the these immediate benefits, which makes me question the whole premise. I realize this is a logical fallacy, but there is a little voice in my head every evening when I should be heading to the gym that it's all kind of bs. That the rules that apply to other people's bodies don't apply to mine because while everyone else improves athletically I don't. While everyone else feels great, has more energy, etc, I don't. So if none of these immediate benefits materialize, why would I expect these other things are going to materialize 20 to 30 years down the road? I have no idea if that's true, but the more I try without any results, the less I believe everything I've read or heard about exercise.
I think it's rather simplistic to call that a bad attitude. I think I've fallen off the horse and tried over and over again too many times to really have a bad attitude. I don't think I'm the type of person that can do mind over matter and convince myself that I actually enjoy being out of breath, sweaty, exhausted, bored and mildly dizzy. I'm not being sarcastic. I just don't get how people make that mental leap.
I am really glad to hear some of my fellow exercise haters out there that I'm not alone!
Oh and to answer some questions about the dizziness. I've been to the doctor and I'm fine. When I'm on the elliptical I'm usually at around 165 to 190+ and when I'm cooling down on the treadmill I'm usually in the 150s or 160s. My heart rate is almost never below 160, but I think my heart beat is a bit on the fast side normally. My resting bpm is around 78-84, which is pretty high, I think, so I have trouble going by that to determine whether I'm working out at the right intensity.
To other who have suggested walking/biking. I walk a ton. Really anytime that time and personal safety will allow, sometimes the weather scares me off, but I'll walk through most stuff, which is a huge perk of living in a big walkable city.
posted by whoaali at 6:21 PM on December 12, 2011
I walk about 1.5 miles a day.
I walk a ton.
One of these two statements is false. 1.5 miles a day is not "a ton." Current wisdom suggest that the minimum for good health is about 10,000 steps or 5 miles a day. If you walk any time you can, you're probably walking a lot more than 1.5 miles. If you're only walking 1.5 miles, you're not walking much at all and shouldn't be relying on that as exercise. Either way, it might be worth it to figure out how much you're really walking, because then you'll know whether to count it as exercise.
Look, the bottom line is that failure to exercise will very likely not cause you to lose your ability to function as a human being. Exercise has little effect on weight absent dietary changes, and plenty of people sit on their asses all the time and live perfectly happy lives with normal lifespans. However, statistically, people who exercise are less likely to develop certain diseases and debilitating physical conditions, especially as they age. It's like anything else: you need to decide whether the effort you'll put in now is worth the statistical benefits, which you can easily google yourself. It is true that some people enjoy exercise and see life benefits from it. It is also true that some people do not enjoy it. People in both groups are statistically likely to see long term benefits. It's up to you to decide whether you want to do it.
I'm not going to touch the attitude thing, because it seems to be a really sore subject for you. Feel free to MeMail me if you want to discuss it further. Like I said, I'm someone who hates exercise, but has figured out how to deal, so I may be able to help, but I don't want to poke at it if it's going to upset you.
posted by decathecting at 7:03 PM on December 12, 2011
I walk a ton.
One of these two statements is false. 1.5 miles a day is not "a ton." Current wisdom suggest that the minimum for good health is about 10,000 steps or 5 miles a day. If you walk any time you can, you're probably walking a lot more than 1.5 miles. If you're only walking 1.5 miles, you're not walking much at all and shouldn't be relying on that as exercise. Either way, it might be worth it to figure out how much you're really walking, because then you'll know whether to count it as exercise.
Look, the bottom line is that failure to exercise will very likely not cause you to lose your ability to function as a human being. Exercise has little effect on weight absent dietary changes, and plenty of people sit on their asses all the time and live perfectly happy lives with normal lifespans. However, statistically, people who exercise are less likely to develop certain diseases and debilitating physical conditions, especially as they age. It's like anything else: you need to decide whether the effort you'll put in now is worth the statistical benefits, which you can easily google yourself. It is true that some people enjoy exercise and see life benefits from it. It is also true that some people do not enjoy it. People in both groups are statistically likely to see long term benefits. It's up to you to decide whether you want to do it.
I'm not going to touch the attitude thing, because it seems to be a really sore subject for you. Feel free to MeMail me if you want to discuss it further. Like I said, I'm someone who hates exercise, but has figured out how to deal, so I may be able to help, but I don't want to poke at it if it's going to upset you.
posted by decathecting at 7:03 PM on December 12, 2011
Response by poster: Alright, can't win. Not trying to make false statements. Probably shouldn't have used such a vague term. Rather should have said I walk quite a bit and walk a minimum of 1.5 miles day as I walk to work and I often walk more, but admittedly it is rarely 5 miles. I don't count it as adequate daily exercise, but it's something at least.
posted by whoaali at 7:23 PM on December 12, 2011
posted by whoaali at 7:23 PM on December 12, 2011
I don't get exercise for the sake of exercise.
I'm not that much of a masochist, and I'm not that motivated.
But, I do like Yoga. I especially like the yoga class I go to where we lie down under a blanket for 5 minutes at the end, and then get served a vegetarian dinner. Motivation!
I have also liked doing Judo (there's something very 'grounding' about going whomp! on a mat). And I also like rock climbing.
Yoga will give you an edge on rock climbing. It's basically a game. You try to better monkey-think your way up the wall, and if you go in a slightly different position, at the beginning of a session when you're not tired, you can usually defeat a challenge that seemed an impossible physical task last time.
And, well, even though I figured it was just my technique that was improving, I found after going for awhile, that, whee! I really was stronger!
And, I climbed that bit! That bit I couldn't before! I beat the Wall-boss! I get to level up!
It seems more fun to me.
The benefits of exercise are more easily found when you are doing something you enjoy. I know people who ride bicycles, unicycles, do hula-hooping, play team Frisbee (ultimate?), spin fire-staff or poi, do aerials (climbing up billowy material, like in the circus!), go to raves, do circus-style gymnastics, or bellydance, or badminton, or hiking, SCA (Medieval sword fighting, or medieval dancing), or swimming, or aikido, or horseriding, or building houses, or karate....
and all these things? They do them because they like them.
We have bodies. Many of the fun things that people do, involve their bodies.
Using, enjoying, exploring your body, is good for it.
Separating it out as 'exercise' seems like a way of taking all the fun out of it.
Think creatively. Explore activities that you would be interested in, that, incidentally, cheatingly, might involve exercise. The best benefits for your body are going to be from things you keep doing. Then, enjoy!
posted by Elysum at 8:13 PM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'm not that much of a masochist, and I'm not that motivated.
But, I do like Yoga. I especially like the yoga class I go to where we lie down under a blanket for 5 minutes at the end, and then get served a vegetarian dinner. Motivation!
I have also liked doing Judo (there's something very 'grounding' about going whomp! on a mat). And I also like rock climbing.
Yoga will give you an edge on rock climbing. It's basically a game. You try to better monkey-think your way up the wall, and if you go in a slightly different position, at the beginning of a session when you're not tired, you can usually defeat a challenge that seemed an impossible physical task last time.
And, well, even though I figured it was just my technique that was improving, I found after going for awhile, that, whee! I really was stronger!
And, I climbed that bit! That bit I couldn't before! I beat the Wall-boss! I get to level up!
It seems more fun to me.
The benefits of exercise are more easily found when you are doing something you enjoy. I know people who ride bicycles, unicycles, do hula-hooping, play team Frisbee (ultimate?), spin fire-staff or poi, do aerials (climbing up billowy material, like in the circus!), go to raves, do circus-style gymnastics, or bellydance, or badminton, or hiking, SCA (Medieval sword fighting, or medieval dancing), or swimming, or aikido, or horseriding, or building houses, or karate....
and all these things? They do them because they like them.
We have bodies. Many of the fun things that people do, involve their bodies.
Using, enjoying, exploring your body, is good for it.
Separating it out as 'exercise' seems like a way of taking all the fun out of it.
Think creatively. Explore activities that you would be interested in, that, incidentally, cheatingly, might involve exercise. The best benefits for your body are going to be from things you keep doing. Then, enjoy!
posted by Elysum at 8:13 PM on December 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
I would also add that eating well is, in addition to being a good thing in and of itself, a great way (at least in my experience) to stabilize mood, which in turn makes exercise more appealing. When I eat lots of protein (cheese, nuts, etc.) and green vegetables with sparing carbs with as much of that as possible being whole grains, I feel much better when I exercise.
posted by threeants at 8:40 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by threeants at 8:40 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
How do I convince myself that exercise is actually worth it? I feel like this is a mental block I need to get over if I'm ever going to really stick with exercising.
I think people are responding to this. You sound like someone who wants to get the benefits out of exercise that you hear about, and people are telling you that you can, you probably just haven't found your exercise "niche" yet. I still think this is true. If the exercise you've done is not enjoyable for you, and you want to get the benefits from exercise, you should keep looking until you find something that works (hint: it's probably not going to be on a gym machine). If you really don't care, then don't worry about it. I mean, I think it's possible to be pretty healthy by just walking frequently and having a healthy diet.
I love exercising but if all I ever did was go on an elliptical the rest of my life I'd want to shoot myself in the face. That's why I choose things like dancing and tae bo, that have variety, music, and are challenging. You can't expect to just completely fall into any type of exercise you do, love it, and immediately get results. Believe me, I've had my days of hating the gym machines (so I don't do them much anymore) and I've had my days of just not feeling good. But I've kept at it and found activities I enjoy, and if that's what you want I am sure this is some physical activitiy that exists that can bring you enjoyment. But if you want to stop trying, that's fine and your right to do so.
posted by bearette at 5:08 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think people are responding to this. You sound like someone who wants to get the benefits out of exercise that you hear about, and people are telling you that you can, you probably just haven't found your exercise "niche" yet. I still think this is true. If the exercise you've done is not enjoyable for you, and you want to get the benefits from exercise, you should keep looking until you find something that works (hint: it's probably not going to be on a gym machine). If you really don't care, then don't worry about it. I mean, I think it's possible to be pretty healthy by just walking frequently and having a healthy diet.
I love exercising but if all I ever did was go on an elliptical the rest of my life I'd want to shoot myself in the face. That's why I choose things like dancing and tae bo, that have variety, music, and are challenging. You can't expect to just completely fall into any type of exercise you do, love it, and immediately get results. Believe me, I've had my days of hating the gym machines (so I don't do them much anymore) and I've had my days of just not feeling good. But I've kept at it and found activities I enjoy, and if that's what you want I am sure this is some physical activitiy that exists that can bring you enjoyment. But if you want to stop trying, that's fine and your right to do so.
posted by bearette at 5:08 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh my god, stop! Why are you torturing yourself like this? I give you permission to stop doing things that make you miserable. If you enjoy walking and you walk for 1.5 miles a day, then you're hardly a couch potato. Keep those precious hours of relaxation for the things you love! Life is hard enough without adding pain to it needlessy. It's truly, truly OK to just not go to gyms or exercise classes. The world will keep turning. It's not like anyone really knows what's best for you. Whatever the benefits of the exercise you're forcing on yourself might be, they seem to be accompanied by a lot of stress and unhappiness as well as a loss of valuable free time that you could spend with people you love. If you really feel that you have to be active in some way, consider things which aren't so horrifying, like a hiking trip or biking around a park or something like that. But stop forcing the exercise thing. It's a societal guilt trip and guilt trips are bullshit. No human being can do every possible thing that would improve their life. No human being can eat only the healthiest organic foods, exercise daily, fill their house only with hypoallergenic items, etc. etc. etc. Pick your battles and let this one go. My heart bleeds for you. I hate exercise every bit as much as you do, and largely for the same reasons, so I mostly walk to work and say fuck it. I would rather have a few less years of life than more years but filled with miserable sweaty bullshit in a stinky plasticky room for no visible results. You're just fine as you are.
posted by prefpara at 5:19 AM on December 13, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 5:19 AM on December 13, 2011 [7 favorites]
If you already enjoy walking, why don't you just do that instead of stuff that makes you miserable? Go on your normal walks during the week, then have a nice long walk (work up to a couple of hours) on weekend mornings when the weather is nice. I'm a runner and hours of walking will still tire me out, so it's not inconsequential exercise.
Ways to build in challenges to your walking routine:
If your city has a good park system then you could probably find some hills to challenge yourself with. Or throw some weights in a bag and carry the bag to work with you. Or carry some small hand weights when you walk, gradually increasing the amount of weight that you carry. Or don't do any of those things and just enjoy your walk.
posted by _cave at 5:31 AM on December 13, 2011
Ways to build in challenges to your walking routine:
If your city has a good park system then you could probably find some hills to challenge yourself with. Or throw some weights in a bag and carry the bag to work with you. Or carry some small hand weights when you walk, gradually increasing the amount of weight that you carry. Or don't do any of those things and just enjoy your walk.
posted by _cave at 5:31 AM on December 13, 2011
To actually answer your question: exercise is worth it when you're doing something that you enjoy and that makes you test your strength or endurance. I don't feel miserable when I exercise. If I did, I wouldn't do it.
posted by _cave at 5:34 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by _cave at 5:34 AM on December 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
A couple of thoughts:
1. What are you eating around the time of exercise? Could you be experiencing something of a an exercise low?
2. It may be counter-intuitive, but don't share your goals.
I set "silly" goals for myself and I do not time myself in exercise that I do. I also try to vary what I do each week, e.g. walking, swimming, running, biking, soccer. My goals are more along the lines of getting myself to complete a particular hill on my run and still feel okay, or to do 10 push-ups at the end of my run (15 the next time). In swimming my current goal is to get comfortable breathing on both sides. My mini-goals may be technique-focused, or ease-focused (finish a run without gasping). When I run, I might add an extra side-street to challenge myself. I aim to still be going strong at the end of the soccer game.
As I've been exercising my waist has finally changed a bit and I've lost a bit of weight after about a year or so of relatively sustained effort, but neither of those was a primary goal. I personally find those too far removed from what I am actually doing.
In terms of immediate benefits, my immediate benefit is keeping depression at bay. In other words, it's not a huge positive, but just knowing that I'm helping myself not fall.
posted by idb at 7:37 AM on December 13, 2011
1. What are you eating around the time of exercise? Could you be experiencing something of a an exercise low?
2. It may be counter-intuitive, but don't share your goals.
I set "silly" goals for myself and I do not time myself in exercise that I do. I also try to vary what I do each week, e.g. walking, swimming, running, biking, soccer. My goals are more along the lines of getting myself to complete a particular hill on my run and still feel okay, or to do 10 push-ups at the end of my run (15 the next time). In swimming my current goal is to get comfortable breathing on both sides. My mini-goals may be technique-focused, or ease-focused (finish a run without gasping). When I run, I might add an extra side-street to challenge myself. I aim to still be going strong at the end of the soccer game.
As I've been exercising my waist has finally changed a bit and I've lost a bit of weight after about a year or so of relatively sustained effort, but neither of those was a primary goal. I personally find those too far removed from what I am actually doing.
In terms of immediate benefits, my immediate benefit is keeping depression at bay. In other words, it's not a huge positive, but just knowing that I'm helping myself not fall.
posted by idb at 7:37 AM on December 13, 2011
"I realize this is a logical fallacy, but there is a little voice in my head every evening when I should be heading to the gym that it's all kind of bs. That the rules that apply to other people's bodies don't apply to mine because while everyone else improves athletically I don't."
"And wow I would LOVE to see improvements after only two weeks. Sign me up. See that I could see dragging myself to the gym for."
"I've half heartedly tried weight lifting, but my lower back is quite bad"
We can solve all these problems at once. Unless there is something horribly different about your physiology, and there's not, because you are a mammal and you have not given evidence that your metabolic pathways are mutated, you will adapt to muscular exercise. Here is a program that will make you progressively stronger from day one. It will also strengthen your back.
Workout A: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Rows, go the fuck home.
Workout B: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, go the fuck home.
Alternate A and B. You lift exactly three times a week, with a rest day in between and two rest days at the the end of every three workouts. Three sets of 5 each, except for deadlifts, which are one set of 5. Start with a women's bar (10kg) and increase the weight every workout by 1-2.5kg. Your first session of deadlifts can start at 30kg. Hire a good trainer to show you the correct form. If they tell you to do anything else, fire them. You are in charge. Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. Stay away from sugars and bread. Meat, eggs, veg.
That's the program. There are no assistance exercises allowed, there is no running allowed, there is no elliptical machining allowed. Do it consistently - three times a week, no more and no less - and I swear on my sainted grandmother's grave you will see improvements of all kinds.
*this is basically a retread of what I've said before, but I have never ever talked to someone who followed this program or something similar as a novice athlete / exerciser / whatever and said "oh it didn't work" because it does work, every time
posted by a_girl_irl at 3:00 PM on December 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
"And wow I would LOVE to see improvements after only two weeks. Sign me up. See that I could see dragging myself to the gym for."
"I've half heartedly tried weight lifting, but my lower back is quite bad"
We can solve all these problems at once. Unless there is something horribly different about your physiology, and there's not, because you are a mammal and you have not given evidence that your metabolic pathways are mutated, you will adapt to muscular exercise. Here is a program that will make you progressively stronger from day one. It will also strengthen your back.
Workout A: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Rows, go the fuck home.
Workout B: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, go the fuck home.
Alternate A and B. You lift exactly three times a week, with a rest day in between and two rest days at the the end of every three workouts. Three sets of 5 each, except for deadlifts, which are one set of 5. Start with a women's bar (10kg) and increase the weight every workout by 1-2.5kg. Your first session of deadlifts can start at 30kg. Hire a good trainer to show you the correct form. If they tell you to do anything else, fire them. You are in charge. Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. Stay away from sugars and bread. Meat, eggs, veg.
That's the program. There are no assistance exercises allowed, there is no running allowed, there is no elliptical machining allowed. Do it consistently - three times a week, no more and no less - and I swear on my sainted grandmother's grave you will see improvements of all kinds.
*this is basically a retread of what I've said before, but I have never ever talked to someone who followed this program or something similar as a novice athlete / exerciser / whatever and said "oh it didn't work" because it does work, every time
posted by a_girl_irl at 3:00 PM on December 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: So I thought I would update on what I ended up deciding. I thought about it a lot and realized what I really hate is cardio, not so much weight lifting and decided that if I could work out for awhile without doing any cardio, other than my normal walking, I might not hate exercising so much. So I've starting lifting weights and doing a lot of body weight exercises at home 3 days a week and it seems to be going pretty well. I am basically doing squats, some lunges, tricep dips, various crunches, plank, bicep curls, dumbell bridge, and kettlebell rows. I also throw in some other exercises sort of depending what I feel like and I downloaded a bunch of weight lifting apps with exercises on them so I can track them. I'm trying to do three sets of each, which isn't achievable for all of them, but I think that more or less covers my bases. Having only a day of rest between workouts is a little bit difficult and I feel like I would rather have two days, but from what I've read you really need three to see results, so I'm going to try and stick with three and doing fewer reps/sets if it's too much.
I decided I would do it three times a week for six weeks while on a mild diet and then see at that point whether I can see any results. I find just casually doing it throughout the evening in front of the tv and tracking it on my iphone is a lot more enjoyable than going to the gym and I always felt the weight machines at the gym weren't really set up for someone of my height anyway.
Everyone gave me a lot to think about so thanks for all the advice.
posted by whoaali at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
I decided I would do it three times a week for six weeks while on a mild diet and then see at that point whether I can see any results. I find just casually doing it throughout the evening in front of the tv and tracking it on my iphone is a lot more enjoyable than going to the gym and I always felt the weight machines at the gym weren't really set up for someone of my height anyway.
Everyone gave me a lot to think about so thanks for all the advice.
posted by whoaali at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by biddeford at 9:12 PM on December 11, 2011 [4 favorites]