If you don't exercise...

[BakerMorning]

Please post here! I've just seen another thread asking how much people exercise per week and everyone's replies are about 8 hours, with 9 mile runs, daily weight sessions etc. I thought I was doing quite well doing 2 runs a week and now feel quite disheartened!

Don't feel disheartened, I feel threads like that are just stealth boost central. I'm barely active at the moment due to some health issues but I'd be happy to manage 2 runs a week on a good week. If you want to up your exercise/ length of runs/ whatever do it for you not because anonymous people on Mumsnet are talking about their own (exaggerated in most cases) normal.

Think about it, if you spent that much time on exercise how would you fit anything else in? It's nothing to envy.

I saw that thread early door.

Suspect most posters were talking bllx

But you've done that same thing to me now @BakerMorning !!

I came in the thread as i don't exercise and see you think two runs a week is "no exercise" , now i feel shit about myself!

Run?

I only do that if a bus is coming and I’m not quite at the stop 🤣

I don't do any runs a week! I do walk a fair bit and spend a lot of time dancing around my kitchen but no proper exercise as such.

Some of them add up to like 15 hours a week, with a job and children, how?

DH and I need to pre-plan weekends carefully if we want to both get a workout in, taking turns looking after the DC.

I feel like I must be missing something. Maybe I'm just a lazy cow. I could go daily at 5am before DC wake up I guess.

You can easily see the stats on exercise across the population. The % doing high amounts will be pretty low.

However an hour a day of activity/movement is, IMO, a good aim. But things like cleaning, gardening - they count.

I do quite a lot ever since we went car-free.

About half of British women do no regular vigorous exercise, apparently. www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/25/almost-half-british-women-no-vigorous-exercise-survey

That survey is a bit skewed by the pandemic but the point holds.

I know women who do precisely zero, barely even walk anywhere. I think it depends a lot on income, class, time of life etc.

No proper exercise here either, I do have a 2 year old so just general pottering about with him.

@CarpingOnwards nooo honestly most of the time it's just one, and just slow jogs round the block! I also don't do any walking or anything, I WFH and it's dreadful, most week days I don't even leave the house.

@Squamata that's interesting. Would be interesting also to know what's behind the lack of motivation women cite as the reason. For me it's just complete overwhelm from life, I'm so physically and mentally tired by everything else I have to do. It really is so hard.

Some people have an exercise addiction. It's not good and they're putting themselves at risk of bone disease and injury. I do 3 structured workouts a week (weights, flexibility and cardio) and feel it's enough.

I do about 9k steps average a day and 3 slow 20 min jogs a week. I consider that enough. I used to do more but I feel like this is the sweet spot.

Me
0 hours

I sit down all day and do 3500 steps a day if I don’t make an effort. It has some of the dictatorial posters frothing 😂. I do go to the gym two or three times a week to exercise with a friend. We do an hour between two machines. I try to go to two or three classes a week too, the easiest ones the gym offers!

No kids at home anymore and a lot of my social life comes from my gym buddies.

I also WFH and literally make myself meet a friend otherwise I’d be less inclined to go.

Those threads make me 😵‍💫, we’re all in different places in our lives, kids, car/no car, can/can’t afford either the money or time to go to the gym.

I’m in remission from the big C. My priority energy wise is always going to be to work to pay the bills, everything else is secondary because no one else is going to pay them. If I’m knackered after a day at work I’m not going to push myself to go to the gym!

On my lunch at work.
Then when my DS (8) is at clubs on an evening

Good thread @BakerMorning . I saw that thread and it was nuts. We walk for 3/4 an hour every day which is enough for me. Maybe more at the weekends but not by much. Prob 6 hours a week which is enough tbh

I have literally just this month started going to the gym, mostly for weights, also doing some cardio at home (Switch boxing game), & I'm going to go swimming once a week. I used to be pretty fit as a teen/early 20s, but got chronically ill & then gained massive amount of weight when I got PG. DD is 10... I miss feeling fit & not wobbling when I walk. Everything aches but I'm determined.

And, I've given up eating chocolate this month too. Think I'm genuinely addicted to it, the first few days were awful. I don't think I've ever gone more than 2 days without it, except when I had covid.

I can't run though. Am in awe of people who do. I tried it & I'm utterly crap at it, I get bored & my feet hurt too much.

I do 0 hours per week. I go from bed, to car, to desk, to car, to sofa, to bed - every day. I know it's terrible though and I do plan to start dealing with it (although I say that a lot).

I'm planning to take small steps. 10 mins on the exercise bike a few days a week at first, try to throw in a YouTube yoga session. Then I'll see if I can keep going from there. But it's hard when you have such a terrible relationship with exercise! I actually find exercise quite bizarre and I don't know why.

Honest thread this innit. I don’t enjoy exercise post illness tbh, I use it as a social catch up.

The only excersise I do is walking to and from work

Exercise*

Me. I have arthritis and stuff hurts. I've never been able to run and the endorphine (?) hit passed me by. I did do 10000 steps a day for a few months but stopped when a rheumatologist sait it may have worsened joint inflammation. I now potter around the garden and am very happy with that level of exercise.

You would think I'd love exercise going by my username but I don't. I hate hills as well, I'm just trying to reframe my thinking 😂. Anyway I do a tiny bit of walking around my hilly town if I'm having a good day.