To not get why people refuse to exercise?

[JumpingJacky]

Exercise near enough saved my life, literally, and I am evangelical about it but still people make so many excuses as to why they can’t do just a small amount, and don’t realise that they are suffering for it!

I have a relative who suffers from back pain. He spends a large majority of his day sitting. I have suggested various low impact exercises that I know through experience will help but he won’t do them while continuing whingeing and moaning about being in pain!

A friend who is overweight complains that she has pain in her knees and ankles and is finding walking hard which is stopping her doing stuff. I know weight loss is hard so I suggest she joins the gym (she can afford it and has time) to use the low impact machines to at least build some strength into her legs and get a bit fitter but she’s just not interested whilst continuing to whinge and moan!

I get it that exercise is hard and can make you uncomfortable and sweaty but for the benefits to your body that’s a small price to pay surely?

Quite a lot of us are still recovering from the literal trauma of school PE.

It doesn't always fit with people's busy lives.
Gyms and fitness classes are not cheap
I work out from home , but not everyone has U tube or the space to do even gentle exercise
I can't run very well , so that's out.
I know I should do more though .

I genuinely don’t understand how anyone can have been through what you have op, be evangelical about exercise and have absolutely no concept of the mental health requirements to make someone get up and do it, and be totally and utterly lacking in any form of empathy and instead just crows about what you’ve achieved and preaches. Whilst proclaiming you don’t understand why they don’t do it.

I’m fairly sure you didn’t reach eighteen stone by eating healthy and exercising. I wonder why you didn’t do it? Why you let youtself get to that stage?

because i dont like it.... its hurts, its uncomfortable, and its exhausting.

I have degenerative disk disease, arthritis in every joint in my right leg, plantar fasciitis caused by the limping i do on that side. I'm also asthmatic and getting out of breath triggers attacks, i also suffer with fatigue.

The only safe exercise i can do (as per my physio/specialist advice) is swimming, and last i checked the pools have been shut for a year.

IF someone like you came and told me to 'join a gym' or 'get out and run' you'd be told in no uncertain terms to fuck off.

Exercise converts are even more tedious than vegan bores. Why not just do what makes you happy and let others get on with their lives. Your friends probably switch off as soon as you start lecturing.

I absolutely love exercise, so it was a disappointment to find that running was no longer possible with stress incontinence. I do lots of other stuff, but it's hard to attain the same level of fitness.

@mommathatwearspink, that was me 2 years ago. I went to the gym, told them it was all new and terrifying to me. They booked me in for a free induction session. He showed me three machines (treadmill, bike elliptical), made me have a go on each at super-slow speeds and resistance, and suggested achievable targets for me to start with, focussed on being at a certain heart rate.

To this day, I never use any of the other machines and have no desire to. I ignore all the super-fit people and encourage myself by noting the other fat, slow, older people there. I avoid the times where the schoolkids use it.

Honestly, I never thought I would be the sort of person who goes to the gym, and I couldn’t say I love it. But I can do it and I don’t hate it. I always feel welcome there. I’m currently 17.5 stone, btw, and there are definitely larger people than me there.

and last i checked the pools have been shut for a year.

Depends where you are. I am in England, South East and the pools were opened last summer, only closed around Christmas and have now reopened again.

Even the kids swimming lessons were on in the summer and until Christmas and have been back on for the last couple of weeks.

The only safe exercise i can do (as per my physio/specialist advice) is swimming, and last i checked the pools have been shut for a year.
You know it’s pretty easy to google and check before posting stuff that’s wrong:

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Preachy people are tedious in the extreme.

You are not wrong at all, but tbf to OP, so are people who consistently moan and regused to do anything to make situation better.

I agree with this. If someone wants to have a moan once in a while, fine. But if they do it repeatedly while making no moves the address the thing they are moaning about, I lose patience.

Some people may be stuck in am unhappy situation (e.g. unable to exercise due to disability), but not everybody is. If you are in a position such that you can make changes your life comparatively easily, don't expect your friends to want to listen to you whinging forever about something you refuse to change.

The only safe exercise i can do (as per my physio/specialist advice) is swimming, and last i checked the pools have been shut for a year.
You know it’s pretty easy to google and check before posting stuff that’s wrong:

I'm in England too and pools are definitely still shut here. I googled yesterday.

OP, I hate running, and most forms of exercise. I always have. I've always come last in everything at school no matter how hard I tried. I'm just not co-ordinated when it comes to running and have never experienced a runner's high. I tried couch to 5k but sadly my bladder is not what it was since having kids and entering perimenopause, and I developed a bad knee for the first time in my life. So it's not for me, and I find evangelical people who post their running times/routes on FB SO. FUCKING. TEDIOUS. Especially those who don't work and can go during the day, and get enough sleep and time to themselves generally.

I KNOW I'd probably feel healthier if I exercised regularly. But I don't WANT to. I just don't. I work FT, my alarm goes off at 6..15 and when I get in at 5pm (I live near work and know this is even earlier than some people finish work) I just want to read my emails in peace with a cup of tea before I start putting washing on and thinking about cooking tea or unloading the dishwasher.

I find people who love running a bit annoying. There is always a lot of "you should do x/y/z" or "I bet if you tried a/b/c you'd like that." No, I don't like it. I have tried. Running and me don't get on.

They are similar to those evangelical breast-feeders who give the impression they think everyone else is missing out or doing badly by their child.

No. You do you, and I'll do me, thanks.

Pools are most definitively opened here, my whole family has been swimming!

Exercise near enough saved my life

Now I have a mental image of you hanging off a bridge by your fingernails and a peloton breaking your fall.

@EwwSprouts

*The only safe exercise i can do (as per my physio/specialist advice) is swimming, and last i checked the pools have been shut for a year. You know it’s pretty easy to google and check before posting stuff that’s wrong:*

I'm in England too and pools are definitely still shut here. I googled yesterday.

You didn't Google very well because pools are definitely open in England. www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53349989 www.swimming.org/swimengland/indoor-pools-reopening/ www.swimming.org/swimengland/coronavirus-faqs-answered/

I'm in England too and pools are definitely still shut here. I googled yesterday.

I must have been dreaming when I went swimming twice last week at my local leisure centre.

@bridgetreilly , @NeverDropYourMoonCup

Thank you both, that’s really valuable advice
I’ll bare this in mind next week and try and push myself to just go for it!

As someone who hates exercise, I LOVE swimming.
Not doing exercise isn't always just laziness, it's because it's not enjoyable at all to everyone. Like Brussel sprouts or marmite. You either love it or you don't. Some people can pinch their nose and swallow a Brussel or two at Crimbo, while others gag at the thought. Then there's the evangelical twunts happily jogging and doing lunges round the table gobbling all the Brussels up.

I do not swim because it's exercise, I swim because I like it. That's it. The exercise is a bonus.
Mind you, the pool has been closed for so long now I wouldn't be surprised if I half drown on my first session.

@CurlyhairedAssassin I find people who love running a bit annoying. There is always a lot of "you should do x/y/z" or "I bet if you tried a/b/c you'd like that." No, I don't like it. I have tried. Running and me don't get on.
I couldn't agree with this more. I HATE running. I ran the London Marathon for charity and I HATE HATE HATE running. It is SO boring and (no offence) but so are the people who do it. I'm also super baffled by people who get sponsored to run for charity and like running - like, eh? You're being sponsored to do something you enjoy for charity? That's super weird and like abstractly selfish. It's like me being sponsored to lay in bed eating chocolate and watching Desperate Housewives.

I fucking hate exercise. Makes me feel like shit. I've done loads of it- I was a competition level cheerleader and gymnast, I've done hiit, netball leagues, 5 aside football, running. I don't mind rock climbing and hiking bit don't get to do it regularly enough to be considered exercise.

Oh OP, do please stop. I’m glad for what you’ve achieved, it’s grand you feel so enthused.

I absolutely know I need to lose weight, I know I need to move more but right now I don’t have the time or the willpower. I know this isn’t good for me, but I find exercise boring, especially gyms. I have two weddings to attend next year so I need to pick myself up so I can wear something nice.

But I don’t need lecturing by someone who has seen the light.

That's super weird and like abstractly selfish. It's like me being sponsored to lay in bed eating chocolate and watching Desperate Housewives.

It’s a major source of income for many charities.

Not doing exercise isn't always just laziness, it's because it's not enjoyable at all to everyone. Like Brussel sprouts or marmite. You either love it or you don't.

not really, the comparison would be more that "food" is not enjoyable to everyone. "Exercise" can mean so many different things, it's more than just run/gym/swim.

I only enjoy exercise I can do easily, so either long brisk walks outdoors, or something I can do at home like yoga or kettlebells. I don't have a car so going anywhere for classes or swimming just takes forever on public transport and I don't have the time or desire to do that. I've tried going to the gym before and didn't like the environment. And the problem with walking or jogging outdoors is of course weather... it's nice on a lovely spring day when it's sunny but awful when it's cold, grey and rainy in November. Plus it gets dark so early that you'd need to go walking or running after dark if you're working full time.

Of course exercise is good for us and we should all be doing it, but I'm not surprised people lack the time and motivation if they are busy with work, family and other commitments. I find I need to really get into the habit and then I will stick to it once I start enjoying it.

You're being sponsored to do something you enjoy for charity? That's super weird and like abstractly selfish.

selfish to try to do a good thing?

You can try to raise money by eating chocolate, if people are happy to give you, what is stopping you?