Help me find an exercise I enjoy!

@IncorrigibleTitmouse You said you enjoyed Pilates? My sister runs online classes for beginners and the people who come to her classes are all lovely! — just 'normal' women of all shapes and sizes who don't take themselves too seriously. Lots of her students have adaptations and she designs her classes to be really accessible so no one feels singled out.

Have a look if you're after a friendly, interactive online beginners' Pilates class: katpilates.co.uk/online-pilates/live-online-pilates-classes

If you have a local class and you like the music, definitely go along and try it.

Those classes sound horrible. I've been to many many yoga, pilates and barre classes over the years and don't think I've ever been to one where every single participant was able to do every exercise as demonstrated without alternatives or modification. In yoga teacher training we learn about the myriad reasons why people might need an alternative and all the ways in which we can offer them and make a class achievable for everyone. It's just expected that you'll need to have an arsenal of modifications up your sleeve because everybody's body is different.

I'm surprised the instructor didn't nip the shitty behaviour in the bud.

Re the recommendations for pole fitness - it's not my thing personally but I know loads of people of all shapes and sizes who absolutely love it and have seen amazing improvements to their upper body strength very quickly, and it's very unjudgmental. Same for hoop fitness.

It’s awful you had to deal with those ladies in your class.
Have you considered getting a personal trainer for 1 to 1 sessions? They can be great at motivating and the fitness program will be specifically for you.x

Would recommend clubbercise if your looking for a fun class. I loved it pre COVID, clubby tunes turned up all the lights turned off except hand held glow sticks so no one see what your doing or which bits are wobbling. I would burn 600 calories some classes

I second the Team Body Project recommendation.

Yoga is a good starting point. Nice gentle exercise that gets you moving without building up too much of a sweat.
Walking or dancing videos on YouTube.
Cycling? Or invest in an exercise bike if you're not comfortable going out cycling yet. The time can pass quickly with music or a podcast on while you're pedalling.

Walk with Rik or Team Body Project on YouTube. I prefer TBP overall and I hate exercise with a passion

I know you said no to swimming, but have you considered open water swimming? It is much more interesting than swimming lengths in a pool and the climate of the country you live in would be ideally suited to it.
You could always get a rash vest and surf leggings to wear if you don't feel confident in a costume.

I currently enjoy les Mills classes e.g. body combat, body pump, body attack. There's modifications you can make to take out the impact so they are suitable for all fitness levels. Think YouTube has the Invincible series for combat which takes you up to a full class gradually.

Anything to do with horses and ponies will have you fit in no time, even if you just do the mucking out

Another saying pole fitness!! It's great fun and even if, (like me), you're not that confident with the more scary moves, the conditioning exercises will increase your fitness levels no end. Pole also has a very supportive and welcoming community - my classes have all shapes, sizes and ages in them, (I'm currently the oldest at 47!).

Can you get up early and walk before it gets too hot? You might not be able to walk for as long as you've been used to, but no need to stop altogether.

Rowing machine at home plus podcast on good headphones. Like walking, the movement is mindless - no skill no counting so just put on a good story & get on with it.

Came to say pole fitness too! I used to do it, was never very confident but I enjoyed it and the difference it made to my shape was astounding. If I had the space to have one at home I absolutely would have.

Are you in a country with Parkrun OP? I absolutely love it and have missed it so much through the last year. Ours (Jersey) started again last week and I almost cried crossing the start line. Lots of people, all speeds, all abilities, all ages and shapes, no judgement.

Pole fitness did it for me. Before that there was nothing I stuck with. (I don't do pole dancing as I'm not into the sexy moves and heels etc and I have no coordination but I love the fitness class I go to where we climb and learn different holds, hang upside down.. It's really a lot of fun.

I hated sports at school too (although quite enjoyed badminton actually), but I am quite active now. I have to do a variety as I get bored easily. So at the moment, I've got access to the Peloton app (I've got a generic spin bike and treadmill at home, plus they do other types of classes, including strength, yoga, walking, barre, Pilates etc etc), I see a PT fortnightly, mainly weights/HIIT kind of stuff, I do a bit of jogging (I've done and graduated C25k several times, and now can usually comfortably knock out a slow 4-5k without training in between), a yoga class weekly, and lots of walking (and pre-COVID, my PT used to hold a weekly circuits class, but that's not been held now since pre-March 2020).

In the past, I tried things like Zumba, which was quite fun, the Shred DVD (only 20 mins, BUT hard. Fast results, but I found it a bit repetitive so lost interest), Yoga with Adrienne (lovely - I always try to do her 30 days of yoga programmes every January), Fitness Blender (great selection of free workout videos that can be filtered down by length, exertion level, muscles to be worked, equipment etc etc, excellent site).

I find I need to feel 'good enough' before going to a class, although actually, I've realised that going to classes, it's not easy for anyone, despite their fitness, as a good class allows you to pick your level to work at. I'm sorry people were horrible to you, I've never known classes to be anything but supportive, I'd hope it's an unusual experience.

Is there anyone you could go to a class with? That's always helped me keep going, and gives me someone to chat to.

I bought a weighted hula hoop I am loving it!! It's got 1kg in it and I'm up to 7 minutes a day currently at first I couldn't keep it up but now it's going well, it's a full on workout too as my Apple Watch goes crazy as my heart rate gets as high as if I go running! Plus it's really fun

Boxercise?
I used to love doing that.

Weight lifting or kickboxing?
I find you don't realise how much exercise you're actually doing during any martial arts based workouts, which is great for me!

Doesn't talk I meant to say

Try Walk with Rik. He's on You Tube . I really like the Boxercise he does but he does a lot of walking and dancing ones as well . Also he does talk to you like you're a twat, which I find a lot of the other online classes do

I’ve just bought a rowing machine. Can set up my ipad and slog away while watching tv or netflix.

It’s working for me. I’ve joined a fb group which does “challenges” so you get certificates for doing 5k/day for a month, for example, which gives me goals.

The rower is actually reasonably portable so I can do it outside in nice weather. If you get an air resistance one the fan blows a great big breeze in your face too :)

How about tennis? Or climbing?

Also if you liked pilates and the people were awful, why not try elsewhere or videos at home?