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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:
Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 14:20

Well I don't like music that much.

I know I sound joyless but hear me out Grin I do like music of course but I have to be in the mood for it. And I hate HATE music on headphones.

OP posts:
loveka · 09/04/2017 14:21

Genuine question. Why did you bother asking about exercise? What did you want to achieve?

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 14:22

Because I genuinely wondered if it was just me and I genuinely wondered if there was anything I hadn't thought of.

I mean as I've already said, the thread title makes it clear doesn't it?

OP posts:
TheStoic · 09/04/2017 14:22

Is there anything you DO like?

Anything at all?

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 14:24

In general?

Eating Blush
Some books but again I have to be in the mood
Music but absolutely not on headphones. Has to be when I'm on my own in the house and I turn it right up (classical.)

OP posts:
Crookshanks24 · 09/04/2017 14:24

I think it's about frame of mind. I have always hated exercising and anything to do with it 😂 but I forced myself to join a gym a few weeks ago and although I detest every minute i am in there I leave feeling better and better every time knowing I am doing something good for my body.
All I do is power walk on the treadmill, rowing machine, sit ups with low weights and squats. I take nice water breaks between each one and do it at my own pace. I don't go every night religiously just once or twice a week.

ElspethFlashman · 09/04/2017 14:24

I loathed Pilates as I found it incredibly boring mat work. 20 people lying around like dead fish doing incredibly tiny movements and trying not to fart. But maybe the problem was that it was a group class? I wouldn't mind a 1:1 on a big fuck off machine, that sounds quite cool.

loveka · 09/04/2017 14:29

Ok. Well the answer is you have to force yourself to do it if you don't like it. You have to just put up with the pain/ boredom for 40 minutes.

Or just don't do it and stay the way you are.

But it's clearly on your mind that you want to be able to do it, or you wouldn't care enough to ask the question.

ElspethFlashman · 09/04/2017 14:30

........... though now that I've looked up the price of a 1:1 session......er, no. Confused

DistanceCall · 09/04/2017 14:30

You could try what the French call "faire les cent pas" - taking your one hundred steps. That is, walk whenever you can. Take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to the shops, get off the bus one stop earlier, make excuses to get out and do something or take something upstairs and back... That sort of thing. A pedometer might help.

Sirzy · 09/04/2017 14:31

A lot of it is also to do with attitude. If you have an "I will hate this" attitude when you start it's unlikely to lead to a productive workout!

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 14:31

Probably but I DO hate it!

OP posts:
Ecureuil · 09/04/2017 14:39

Yeah I hate it too. Necessary evil though isn't it, if you want to be as healthy as you can in old age.

TatianaLarina · 09/04/2017 14:49

If getting a dog would make you walk everyday your dh might change his mind.

I walk on a treadmill when it's wet watching latest Scandi noir/ Beverly Hills Housewives.

TatianaLarina · 09/04/2017 14:51

A propos of focus, you find it hard to do so because you never make yourself. If you focused on something for say 30 mins a day you would develop the ability to do so more. The brain is like a muscle.

Ciderandskatesdontmix · 09/04/2017 14:52

Sometimes you need to think outside the box. I hate exercising, gym has too many mirrors for my liking! I started playing roller derby 18 months ago. It definitely improved my balance, coordination and endurance levels. It is definitely exercise but it doesn't have the monotony that other exercise does for me. Maybe some sort of team sport would be better for you?

Ciderandskatesdontmix · 09/04/2017 14:52

Sometimes you need to think outside the box. I hate exercising, gym has too many mirrors for my liking! I started playing roller derby 18 months ago. It definitely improved my balance, coordination and endurance levels. It is definitely exercise but it doesn't have the monotony that other exercise does for me. Maybe some sort of team sport would be better for you?

sadsquid · 09/04/2017 14:54

I think most people can find a bearable way to do it if they're open to it, but I don't think everyone's going to like it or love it or get an endorphin rush from it. Bearable might be as good as it gets. OTOH it's like housework and the other shit boring maintenance tasks we have to do in life. Some peculiar people actively enjoy cleaning and want to do it. More people are meh about it but get on with it. Some people like me hate it with the passion of a thousand fiery suns but still do at least a bare minimum to avoid total filth and horror. And of course some people decide the consequences of avoiding it are livable with.

Original poster
catscurledupbythefire · 09/04/2017 14:54

I think I'd just annoy the other team members Grin

OP posts:
Lemond1fficult · 09/04/2017 14:54

YADDNBU. I have never found an exercise I enjoy because it's both boring and uncomfortable. I have never ever felt the endorphin high, despite completing the couch to 5k running app.

I do exercise 3-4 times a week though. How? By finding activities I can do in front of the TV. First it was kettle bells - I learned a couple of 10 min routines from YouTube. Now it's rowing - I bought a cheap rowing machine off Amazon (£150!), it lives behind the sofa, and I do it whilst watching a programme I'm only allowed to watch whilst exercising. If I stop for a break, I have to pause the programme. I also use the programme minutes counter to keep track of how long I've been doing it. I don't quite enjoy it still, but at least I'm no longer bored!

Ecclesiastes · 09/04/2017 14:55

The thing that finally got me exercising properly in mid-life was realising that saying 'I hate exercise' is on a par with saying 'I hate reading' or 'I hate music' (or 'walking in the countryside is bloody boring'). In other words, not something to be admired, or indulged, but the sign of a limited, philistine, self-defeating attitude that just made people think I was a bit...thick.

SwedishEdith · 09/04/2017 14:56

I think you have to do it as an incidental thing - walk or cycle to work, take up dancing/a sport because you want to learn to dance/that sport.

But "doing exercises" is as mind-numbing as housework or brushing your teeth. Well, worse because at least with those you get immediate results.

Cornishmumofone · 09/04/2017 15:05

Have you tried martial arts? I was very overweight and depressed so I joined a karate class. The drills were very repetitive and there were plenty of people to copy so it was easy to pick up. There were some very stiff people there whose flexibility improved over time.

As I got better, I lost weight and became more flexible. I HATED PE at school and did very little exercise but the karate classes were life changing. They gave me the confidence to try new things. Like you, I couldn't run, didn't like walking and didn't like wearing headphones.

I no longer do karate, but have learnt to swim and run in the last few years. Sport has become my social life, even though I had to force myself to do it first if all.

I have a 5 month old baby, so can't do as much as I'd like, but I swim once a week, run 2-3 times a week and do two buggy fit classes. Yesterday, I swam 5k. I hated it as I was slow and it was boring, but I knew it was good for me. In two weeks time, I'm running a marathon. As a fat person who hated exercise, I never imagined my life would go this way. Sometimes you just have to push yourself!

Ecureuil · 09/04/2017 15:13

The thing that finally got me exercising properly in mid-life was realising that saying 'I hate exercise' is on a par with saying 'I hate reading' or 'I hate music' (or 'walking in the countryside is bloody boring'). In other words, not something to be admired, or indulged, but the sign of a limited, philistine, self-defeating attitude that just made people think I was a bit...thick

Yeah this.

ShotgunNotDoingThePans · 09/04/2017 15:15

It's already been said, but the whole premise of the couch to 5k and similar programmes is that people who 'can't run' or 'hate running' can do it. You run in short bursts - brisk walking if that's all you can manage at first. I think the app starts with 1 minute bursts with 2 min walking rests, but I started with 30 secs when I did it. I was running for 40 mins three times a week in about six weeks and lost ten pounds.
In fact, I feel a fool for not getting backto it after a chest infection - I'm now several years older, post-menopausal and dreading thethought of starting again - but I need to as that ten pounds has re-appeared.
If you just choose something and start it at the most basic , gentle half-hearted level, you're less likely to suffer the post-exercise aches and pains which are really off-putting at the beginning. As you get stronger you may actually enjoy the ache!