How do you keep yourself exercising is you hate it?

[Youbutterbelieve]

I know I have to exercise to retain my health and mobility. But the only exercise I enjoy (and therefore do) is hiking and that's reasonably sporadically due to work and young kids.

I need to include more regular exercise in to my life, ideally resistance/ weight stuff. But I hate it. I'm one of the 12% of people who doesn't get exercise induced endorphins, so I don't get a clear benefit from having done it - makes maintaining a routine so much harder!

I'm not overweight and I'm reasonably fit (can easily hike 15-20miles a day, multiple days) but I know I need to be more regular.

How do maintain an exercise routine if you hate it?

Omg, this makes so much sense - I also have never experienced a workout 'high'. Intense exercise makes me feel sweaty and irritable. Like you OP I love to hike - I'm sure it's the fresh air and views that lift my mood rather than the exercise! Watching with interest if anyone has a solution 😁

Did you walk fast enough to get your heart rate up?

the guidelines state that you should get 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (or a mixture of the two) a week. I’m not sure that your shopping trip would account for any of those.

Making it into a habit is key - I love the James Clear book, Atomic Habits.

You need to get rid of the friction causing you not to do the thing you want to do.

I have a set of weights in the living room. I do 10-15 mins whilst watching tv most evenings. If they were away in a cupboard I probably wouldn't do it.

I try to walk as much as I can and generally average 12k steps a day without "going out for a walk". I drag my kids along too and they can walk a fair way now - my youngest could do 10 miles age 7. They just need to be trained 😂 (and take plenty of snacks!).

I do go to the gym a couple of times a week but mainly pilates and yoga classes - I force myself to go to a high intensity class once at the weekend (usually early to get it out of the way) but because I have to book that and will get a black mark if I don't show up it forces me to go even when I am not really in the mood.

One last thing - a weighted pack. Ups the intensity of a walk.

Could you just go out for a walk? It doesn't have to be a massive hike. Walking is one of the best exercises you can do and it's free!
You can even build it in to your normal routine like walk to work or walk to the shops and get a bus/lift home

Just remind yourself you're getting huge health related benefits as a payoff, like investing in a pension. What you do now is going to transform your quality of life when you're old, and now will be doing a bunch of other things like better menopause experience, better sleep, more regulated nervous system, and so on.

I have always been "active" walking a lot, allotment etc but it was nowhere near enough. Fixed times with other people is what works for me now, videos at home do not work for me AT ALL and we don't have space for an exercise bike or similar so I go to lots of classes at the local sports centre, Parkrun on a Saturday morning and a couple of small group video classes on a subscription (live with others on zoom). I also try and do a few squats, stretches etc at home and keep some dumbbells handy for a bit of spontaneous strength work (that one doesn't happen often).

If you find out please tell me! The only exercise I love is swimming. I used to be quite good at one point, I got to county level as a teenager, and whilst I'm far from that now I still have the correct form and confidence in the water that makes it pleasurable. Plus there's something about swimming hard in cool water followed by a hot shower that our brains really like, it gives loads of feel good chemicals. So I still swim about 3hrs a week, but I have never stuck with gym because its just boring to me. Looking toned isn't a motivation to me, I love swimming for the brain-chemical thing. But now I really need to put some muscle on, I'm very hypermobile and got referred for physio after I was ill and lost too too much weight. I have back pain and they said I really need to get some muscle back in my core and shoulders. So they're giving me a program. I'm going to hate it. But I guess I will do it. 😭. Nearly ended myself lifting a new sack of cat litter over Xmas.

Agree, for me it’s not about motivation or enjoyment but discipline. Having said that, I refuse to do exercise I hate. I have found stuff I don’t hate (I don’t enjoy it either).

They're loads of fun but sooo bad for pelvic floor. I was under the care of two different specialists who were adamant I should get rid of mine, and that women shouldn't trampoline or similar.

I hate all exercise. With a passion.

Yes, when we got my DCs a trampoline and I went on it with a bit much enthusiasm because I'd been told it was good for pelvic floors but it knackered mine (admittedly it was already damaged from childbirth). I ended up having surgery.

Ekkkk! Rebounders - Thanks will check.

I find it takes more time than just the run. You have to change before and after and shower after. You can't eat before so you have to plan your meals around it. You're also very limited when it's dark before and after work in the winter.
Something that doesn't require a shower afterwards is less time consuming.

I don't think this is enough exercise for your heart.

I can assure you that a fixed contract does not force people to go

I also don't get the high from an exercise! My main motivator was an early diagnosis of a major chronic illness - I want to be as well as I can be. My secondary motivators are the sense of pride I feel each time I go to the gym, because I'm making smart choices, and I also like the muscle development. I don't think about whether I want to or feel like going to the gym - I have to have a valid reason for not going, and I'm good about not lying to myself.

I don't get a 'high', but it's very rare that I finish jogging in a bad mood, even if I was in one when I started. However, I struggle to do it even once a week for the reasons I mentioned above.

It's a well known medical fact that some people don't get the endorphins / medical high post exercise. I don't. I might do a spin, a boxercise class, Pilates , occasionally. No high, ever. Pisser really.