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Physical activity is undeniably important to managing mood and chronic pain for me. Something that isn't discussed whenever this topic comes up, though, is how

• giraffe_lady 3y ago
  I think really very few people truly enjoy exercise for its own sake, and so you depend on having the discipline and habits to enjoy it for its benefits which is harder. Or you can find an activity that you enjoy but that is also exercise. But then you need someone or maybe a team to do it with and a lot of them are seasonal like cycling, tennis etc. I've noticed that both indoor rock climbing and bjj have gotten really popular in cities in the last decade and I think this is basically why. Active indoor activities that are enjoyable for a lot of people.
  • hinkley 3y ago
    I have activities I enjoy that are themselves exercise to one degree or another, but they’re more enjoyable if I also exercise.
  • scheveningen 3y ago
    sorry to be an evangelist, but coming out of lurking to say that cycling is no longer seasonal, thanks to indoor/online platforms such as Zwift. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMGbZFEZOM8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMGbZFEZOM8 you can ride with a club/friends at any time of day, any season of the year, anywhere in the world. still not a perfect solution, since startup costs are required, but if you've got a bike and can swing a smart trainer, it's pretty awesome.
    • giraffe_lady 3y ago
      I guess. Pedaling is my least favorite part of cycling but maybe I'm an outlier.
  • westcoast49 3y ago
    I enjoy running, even when I do it alone. I run at a moderate pace, and it's more like a meditation and a timeout than anything else. I've heard a lot of runners saying the same. I don't think solitary exercise needs to be a chore.
  • testfoobar 3y ago
    > I think really very few people truly enjoy exercise for its own sake This is objectively not true for me and nearly all of my friends who lift/run/swim/bike/etc. Physical activity feels good [see OP].
    • joncrocks 3y ago
      Some of exercise is type 2 fun - https://sketchplanations.com/the-fun-scale https://sketchplanations.com/the-fun-scale And/or you feel better having done it.
    • matwood 3y ago
      Same, but we are likely in bubbles. I love exercise, and many people I know are the same. But, I know a large number of people from the gym and things like BJJ.
    • giraffe_lady 3y ago
      Yeah I think that is a self-selecting group a little bit. My cyclist friends love exercise for its own sake. My judo friends mostly accept it for what it enables them to do. My board game friends tolerate it, at most.
  • munificent 3y ago
    I think the things that people self describe as "exercise" are rarely joyful. The name itself implies that the intent is the result and not the act itself. But if you ask people if they like walking around a cute downtown full of little shops, or surfing, or exploring a valley looking for wildflowers, or going to a nightclub and dancing, gardening, etc., then you'll discover a world of activities that are physical and also enjoyable.
  • tstrimple 3y ago
    > "I think really very few people truly enjoy exercise for its own sake" I don't know how true this is. When folks talk about things like a "runners high", an activity that even at my most fit was abject misery, I have to wonder just how differently we're experiencing these things. When I was lifting heavy, I also suffered from some pretty serious delayed onset muscle soreness. I know for a fact folks have varied experiences and tolerances for that. Some people's muscles recover much more quickly from heavy exercise, reducing the overall unpleasantness associated with exercise. With all of the variables and testimony from folks I've worked out with, I have to assume a decent amount of people who exercise regularly actually enjoy the exercise itself. For me it never became more than a means to an end. It's something I know is good for mind and body, but my mind and body consistently rebel against it.
    • smeej 3y ago
      Thank you for this. It helped bring something into focus in my mind that I'd been struggling with. I keep kicking myself for not being more willing to exercise, but I've also recently discovered that my body severely overreacts to stress, even what should be eu-stress, not dis-stress. For example, massage therapy aggravates my muscles and leaves my body more tense and less resilient. I finally started making progress on healing some physical anomalies only after I stopped the recommended massage therapy. It's made me realize maybe I'll have better luck with "strolling" than "going for a walk," or making up interpretive dances to smooth music than "dancing" to up-tempo beats. Perhaps I just need much more movement, but a lot less intensity than most people.
  • deleted 3y ago
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  • bratbag 3y ago
    I didn't at the start. After 9 months of sticking to it, I found myself enjoying it while doing it. I had to use a personal trainer to get to that point though, due to how much I hated it initially.
  • nutate 3y ago
    This was the big turning point for me, and I'm in my forties. Thinking that I couldn't enjoy exercise was mainly because my 'form' was so bad it literally hurt. Luckily you can get better at things, and once you do, or you reach that point where it feels good, then the discipline isn't really needed any more than folks need discipline to play their grueling video games.
• delusional 3y ago
  The gym never worked for me. Like you I just can't get myself to go someplace to exercise, it seems like an insurmountable job. What really helped me 13 years ago was doing something I could do easily. I want to stress that exercise doesn't have to be a fixed gym routine. It doesn't have to be a planned out walk where you time and benchmark your progress. It can just be a stroll around your neighborhood, I like walking around and mapping with StreetComplete. Sometimes I'll even bring my laptop and do some micromapping with josm. Personally I find that I get way too competitive if I track my workouts. I bike for an hour around 3-4 times per week. I don't know which days I do it, I don't know how fast I go. I just go and ride wherever i feel like, take whatever turns I feel like. Usually my rides end up about an hour long before I get bored, but sometimes (especially in the summer months) they turn into 4 hours. You'll find that your body changes drastically. Most people (me included) has this idea that the body will adapt relatively quickly. Maybe a couple of months. I've found that my body kept getting stronger and more efficient well into the 5th year of doing exercise. You'll be surprised at how much your body can actually do, and how much of that training carries over, even when you let it slip for a couple of weeks (or you break your ankle and have to pause for 2 months). Then of course there's the fantastic extra benefit that any additional activity you may find interesting gets much easier once you're body is already tuned. I recently picked up skate boarding, something I wanted to do as a kid but never had the physical ability to participate in.
  • KptMarchewa 3y ago
    >StreetComplete Wow, thanks for this! I'll definitely use it.
    • js2 3y ago
      Fantastic looking Android app. Note to sad iPhone users like me. If we want an iOS version, one of us programmer types need to roll up their sleeves and write it: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/1892
      • yoasif_ 3y ago
• lambda 3y ago
  I have been couch-potatoing more than I should recently, so when I had some time off but was alone at home, I decided to use that time to try and get back in the habit of getting regular exercise. I must have pushed myself a bit too hard, because I ended up with flu-like symptoms for a week afterwards, which completely broke the intent of getting started on forming the habit again.
  • deleted 3y ago
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  • jeffjobs4000 3y ago
    Sorry you went through this. If you want to make another attempt, I've found that the older I get, the slower ramp up time I need getting back into exercise. Do far less than you're body is able to during the workout when you start. To the point where it feels like you're not stressing yourself at all. Then make a plan to slowly ramp up from that point over 6-10 weeks depending on the shape you're in and age. After that, you can start pushing your body closer to it's limits during any given workout. Also, it will just suck the first 3-4 weeks before you start enjoying it.
• Almondsetat 3y ago
  It is discussed, and that's why anti-depressants exist: to give a kickstart to your lifestyle and then let it take it from there
• testfoobar 3y ago
  My solution was accountability to another person: a trainer. Pay a trainer for once/twice/thrice weekly sessions. It is easier to skip a workout when no one else knows. I found it simply easier to just go rather than to make an excuse for the trainer. It was worth the cost for me.
  • bratbag 3y ago
    This is exactly what I did. After a decade of nothing else working, this is what stuck.
  • jstarfish 3y ago
    Or get a dog. It's a trainer that will punish you by shitting on your carpet if you don't keep moving. You won't have time to be depressed. (Just don't get a Husky. They're furry humans-- high-maintenance and not very affectionate, and will get depressed and act out when left alone all day.)
• MisterBastahrd 3y ago
  I like physical activity. My brain greatly dislikes 'purposeless' physical activity. For example, I can stock an entire store, no problem. I will gleefully put the right thing into the right spot. That accomplishes something. Take a quarter of that physical energy and put it into a jog or walk? Hate it. Yes, I am technically accomplishing something, but try and tell my bored-to-tears lizard brain that.
  • boesboes 3y ago
    I found bouldering/sport climbing to be able to tickle my it needs to be useful sense. It gives me focus on a task: get up this problem. YMMV of course :)
  • philipkglass 3y ago
    That same issue was a barrier for me when I wanted to establish an exercise routine. The thing that really helped was turning "a walk to nowhere" into "a walk to the grocery store." I started daily shopping with a backpack to carry what I buy. Fortunately (?) I don't live in an especially dense area. A round trip to the grocery store is 4 miles. At the same time I started spending noticeably less on gasoline. I'm a remote worker and once I started doing most of my shopping on foot I found that I was only refilling on gas every 2 months.
    • tasuki 3y ago
      > I started daily shopping with a backpack to carry what I buy. I do the same, slightly shorter distance. There's even an exercise that people put rocks into their backpacks and walk around, they call it rucking I think. I could never do that, but bringing the groceries, sure! Time spent in the car is wasted, time spent walking for groceries is well spent. Moving back to my hometown of 400k people, I found I don't even need a bike: I can get almost anywhere in an hour's walk!
  • doublepg23 3y ago
    I love taking photos while on walks and listening to podcasts.
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• jrm4 3y ago
  I cannot stress enough -- in this regard "Anything worth doing is worth doing POORLY." aka, ANYTHING is better than nothing. I feel like that's the biggest barrier for a lot of people. One push-up is far better than zero. Walking outside to your mailbox and back is better than none at all. Signing up for a gym and going once every two weeks, for about 15 min, is WAY better than not at all. Etc. I promise, really believing this makes things a LOT better.
• jrm4 3y ago
  Also -- WALKING. Walking is huge. This is definitely in response to "my brain hates it, etc" type stuff. My gut is that this is pretty much never true for "walking." We were "designed" to do it, lots of it. Not walking is not even our "default" state I imagine.
• WalterBright 3y ago
  I had to force myself to run regularly. But after a year of this, suddenly I realized I was looking forward to running. Now, it's one of the best parts of my day. I couldn't run for a couple months because I sprained both ankles, and I sure missed it. Lifting, though, I just don't enjoy it.
• xk_id 3y ago
  This is correct and normal, your aerobic base needs to increase to a decent level, before you can undertake regular exercise and reap its benefits. And it is a painful process, but not a very long one. Six months is perhaps unusual, but it probably depends on your overall health. When I transitioned from being sedentary to daily jogging, I quickly quadroupled the duration I could run uninterrupted in only 4 weeks (from 5 min to 20+ min).