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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you can't enjoy exercise if you just ... don't?

382 replies

catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 12:28

I would be interested if anybody ever has because I. Hate. It.

I hate - classes (am a bit thick slow to pick things up, so can take keep up. Plus can see myself in the mirror) the gym generally as I just get bored and it hurts and I can't focus on anything like music or a film because all I can think is 'ow this hurts, ow, ow, ow' walks (get bored on my own) running (no chance) cycling (hurts my backside) swimming (I just can't be doing with all the faff.)

So - any ideas? Or should I just write off exercise and moderate my food intake RIGHT down?

OP posts:
temporarilyjerry · 09/04/2017 12:46

Have you tried Pilates, OP. I was like you, hated exercise, hated P.E. as a child, least sporty person ever, also inflexible and old but I love Pilates. Lying down, moving slowly exercise. What's not to love?

Flightywoman · 09/04/2017 12:46

OMG, I thought I was alone! I don't get endorphins either. All I get at the end is 'thank god thats over'

I hate exercise, I get bored out of my skull and I can't switch my brain off to just get through it.

The only thing I like is running - but it has to be one circuit or loop, I'll just abandon it if I have to go round more than once. And I have to be alone. I fucking HATED Parkrun! Awful awful awful.

And cycling is ok, but not just for its own sake. Cycling to work, good. Cycling miles just for the hell of it, dull.

I'd rather be doing almost anything else than go to the gym...

robinia · 09/04/2017 12:49

Slightly bizarre suggestion but look on the DofE (Duke of Edinburgh) website in their physical activity section. It's got a huge list which might give you some ideas.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 12:50

Haha yes! I have found my people. Cycling somewhere isn't too bad but just doing it because ... NO.

I don't think I'd be any good in Pilates. I just sort of pretend to go along with it all Blush

OP posts:
limitedperiodonly · 09/04/2017 12:50

I hate exercise but I like the results. I aim to exercise in the gym or swimming pool for about 45 minutes - walking there and changing times adds about 30.

I work quite hard when I'm there and don't socialise. I regard people who want to talk to me as weird. I couldn't get on with classes though I do like mirrors, not to admire myself, but because they make me correct my position. I find it intensely boring but it's soon over.

At my fittest I used to run with my husband every Sunday morning. I'd do 10k in just under an hour and hated every fucking minute of it. At the end there used to be a tree that I'd focus on and then stop and walk the rest of the way home. He talks about going into 'the zone' and clearing his mind for deep thoughts. All I'd be thinking was 'will this torture never end?' But it does.

HuckleberryGin · 09/04/2017 12:50

I love running, I run 3-4 times a week. But at least twice a week I come home from work knackered, hungry and can't be arsed to run. But I just do it. I force myself to get changed and go. I always feel better for it

I didn't start getting the good feeling from it until a while after I started. To begin with I mostly felt sick/like I might die.

Podcasts or music to listen to while walking is a good tip.

Birdsgottaf1y · 09/04/2017 12:55

I hate running/cardio workouts, but loved coastal and hill walking.

I quite liked the Just Dance on the Wii, dancing is good exercise as we age. I don't dance in public, unless doing the Hokey Cokey with my GD.

Likewise i found that i loved free weights and the results that they give.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 12:55

I must admit I don't really like headphones.

Sometimes they are a necessary evil but I don't like them. So this means I don't like listening to music when exercising.

OP posts:
Photograph · 09/04/2017 12:59

Exercise IS addictive, once you catch the bug, you can't let go. You just have to find the right thing for you. It might be just finding the right class, with the right crowd and instructors to start enjoying yourself.

Wando1986 · 09/04/2017 12:59

If it's not fun then you're doing the wrong thing. Also after week 6 basic running is the most amazing and freeing thing in the world, you feel like a kid again. Is what you're really saying you're lazy and just cba? I'm 33 weeks pregnant and 200lbs and still love exercise. I think it's a bit odd to assume it all has to be done in a gym or with equipment. Just go for a bloody walk in a nice but of countryside.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 13:01

Oh, I am lazy, but I can be arsed. I reserve the right to hate it though :)

Going for a bloody walk in a nice bit of countryside is a) boring b) pointless from an exercise point of view as I almost always have a tiny child with me and c) liable to get you killed round here as the nice bit of bloody countryside has no nice bloody pavements so you might end up being nice and bloody splatter on the bloody road.

I really can't run. Even DH gave up with that one.

OP posts:
Dozer · 09/04/2017 13:01

Being unfit makes it harder to enjoy exercise.

If you're getting worn out quickly your heartrate might be too high - cheap heartrate monitor would help you get into the right "zone".

Not wearing headphones makes it dull, eg I like walking listening to radio podcasts and jogging slowly on treadmill to good tunes, or TV.

Inflexibility is no barrier to yoga, I do yoga because I'm inflexible and have a desk job, no one cares what anyone else is up to and the moves can be adapted.

Dozer · 09/04/2017 13:03

Step one IME is finding some DC-free time slots! I started (v slowly) with dvds or streamed classes at home when DC were in bed.

No pavements - drive somewhere that's safely walkable!

megletthesecond · 09/04/2017 13:05

I've been doing it for twenty years and still go through periods of not enjoying it. I just get on with whatever I can fit in, classes / gym / running and go through the motions.

I don't get that endorphin-y either. But the feeling I've looked after myself and am fighting against potential future health problems is worth it. I do like a nice long run with good music though. But I rarely get the chance.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 13:06

Well, yes, but the point is that I don't enjoy it! Walking for the sake of it, alone, no matter how beautiful, no matter how brilliant my audiobook/podcast/beethovens fifth is, bores the shit out of me.

And other exercise bores me AND hurts me!

OP posts:
Goodasgoldilox · 09/04/2017 13:06

I feel your pain. I don't like exercise - but do it because I need to for health.

Accept that it is the little bit of torture that helps make the rest of your life good.

Perhaps it won't always be torture. All exercise is horrible when you first start. You need to get good enough to enjoy it and that takes a little while. Pick the one that seems least bad and get better at it.

I walk dogs. They love exercise and their absolute joy does help cheer me.

DJBaggySmalls · 09/04/2017 13:06

YANBU. I used to love walking Ddog, now he's gone I just walk and its a faff. I have an MP3 player and I couldnt do without it.

Fluffypinkpyjamas · 09/04/2017 13:07

YANBU and in fact, I could have written your post. I don't get endorphins either and I never get ''addicted'' I just loathe every single second of it and cannot wait for it to be over. I am not large but could definitely be fitter. But I just hate exercise SO much. I can walk our dogs for miles happily so I am not lazy but any form of exercise bores me. I loved dance classes because it didn't feel like exercise but where we live they are few and far between.

Titsywoo · 09/04/2017 13:10

There are so many different forms of exercise though - walking, swimming etc etc. I do kettle bells, circuit and HIIT with weights as I'm not co-ordinated and think resistance and weights is better with a bit of cardio rather than all cardio. I don't LOVE it but I quite enjoy it as we all have a laugh as we do it. You just need to find the thing you like.

I hate gyms and would never go. Horrible places.

SheSparkles · 09/04/2017 13:10

Pilates is what got me started about 18 months ago-as a dedicated non exerciser. I could hardly do any of the moves, but over a very short period of time I really started to notice a difference. The gym I wee t to helped though, it was very small, friendly and supportive-nobody posing in Lycra. From there I got a bit of confidence to try other things, and work out what I do and don't like.....I refuse to do anything that involves having both feet off the ground! I'm not a runner, never have been, never will be. I've had to change gyms, mainly because the small and friendly didn't offer enough variety for me. I'm now doing at least 10 classes a week, between Pilates, legs bums &tums, body pump, core conditioning, and various x-fit HIIT classes.
I've lost a fair bit of weight (still,have multiple stones to go) but in time I know I'll get there. I've now started on Slimming world, and I've lost over a stone in a month-I'd never have believed it! I'm at the fat and fit stage, and now in the 2nd half of my 40s, have never felt better.
I get what you say about not getting the endorphins, I don't so much notice when I have them, more that I know when I don't -like today, I'm having a rest day and cannot get myself motivated to move!
Just keep trying different things, eventually you'll find something to suit you

DimplesToadfoot · 09/04/2017 13:11

what about something more fun like a wii fit and board?
there are easy/fun exercises you can do that take 1 minute, you can't get bored in that time .. or can you?
ok you'll need to build up those minutes or play 30 x 1 minute games and as you get better you can make it harder and longer

I often put mine on if there is something on the TV I want to watch, I set the Wii going on a step program, start stepping, turn the tv over, by the time the program has finished I've done 6k steps without even thinking about it

Titsywoo · 09/04/2017 13:11

So what if you don't enjoy it though? I don't enjoy brushing my teeth but I have to Grin.

Even if you only do 30 mins a day 5 times a week it will keep you fit and it's not much time out of your day.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 13:12

I know but actually hating something and just being neutral about it are different! I am trying to look on it as just something to be endured but I hate it so much that's hard too.

OP posts:
disappearingfish · 09/04/2017 13:13

What do you like doing? You sound unbelievably negative about everything.

As PPs have said, if you don't exercise regularly you will be weak and ill in old age and probably die early. I think that's enough incentive to put up with 30 minutes of boredom and discomfort several times a week.

TinfoilHattie · 09/04/2017 13:14

Podcasts. Have made my walking a lot more enjoyable. Whatever you're interested in, there's a podcast. Download it to your phone and off you go.

Can particularly recommed both seasons of Serial, SOmeone Knows Something and a drama one called Homecoming which I'm half way through and is excellent.