Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not get why people refuse to exercise?

544 replies

JumpingJacky · 30/04/2021 16:21

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?

OP posts:
Sbfksh374 · 02/05/2021 10:09

I'm very fat, have mobility issues and do zero exercise which I'm very ashamed of.
But..... I haven't always been fat and have always hated exercise. All through school I hated pe lessons, was never on any teams etc. During early 20s I tried a gym and aerobic classes. Also absolutely hated that. Hate how I feel during, sweaty, pounding heart, wobbly and faint, and then I would suffer from extreme muscle aches for a good couple of days afterwards that would put me off going again. I wish more than anything that I did enjoy exercise and I have a lot of respect for people who do it!

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 10:13

I love exercise.
Always have, always will.

On the days I don’t fancy it, I in any shape or form, I do it anyway because - there’s lots of things I don’t enjoy doing, but I do them for the greater good!

dotdashdashdash · 02/05/2021 10:29

@Egghead81

I love exercise. Always have, always will.

On the days I don’t fancy it, I in any shape or form, I do it anyway because - there’s lots of things I don’t enjoy doing, but I do them for the greater good!

But when you never fancy it, never enjoy it and never feel any benefit it's hard to keep doing it. I can't think of anything else I do frequently that I really really dislike and never feel any benefit of.
Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 10:36

But I never fancy cleaning my son’s toilet. Ever. But I do for the great good!

dotdashdashdash · 02/05/2021 10:40

@Egghead81

But I never fancy cleaning my son’s toilet. Ever. But I do for the great good!
We don't have a toilet I don't use. I stand by my comment that there is nothing I do frequently that I don't get some benefit or enjoyment from.
Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 10:46

But you’d get benefit from exercise?

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 10:49

@dotdashdashdash

* 30 minutes of hiit 5 times a week. Often with the kids 'helping'. I've lots a stone in lockdown.*

You posted this less than a year ago Confused

TheStoic · 02/05/2021 10:50

You sound incredibly thick, OP.

What adult asks ‘why don’t people do things that are good for them? And avoid things that are bad for them?’

Honestly, even my children know humans are more complicated than that.

dotdashdashdash · 02/05/2021 10:59

[quote Egghead81]@dotdashdashdash

* 30 minutes of hiit 5 times a week. Often with the kids 'helping'. I've lots a stone in lockdown.*

You posted this less than a year ago Confused[/quote]
I've said on this thread that I do exercise... I've also said I hate it and don't enjoy it and never have. And after I posted that my daughter dropped a dumbbell on her foot and needed to go to a&e, so I no longer do it with the kids in tow.

And I don't get benefit from it. I lost weight from intermittent fasting (also in my posting history). I've stopped IF, and have stopped losing weight.

lazylinguist · 02/05/2021 11:01

You sound incredibly thick, OP. What adult asks ‘why don’t people do things that are good for them? And avoid things that are bad for them?’

Well quite.

OP: "I used to be really overweight and have health problems due to my weight, and I didn't do exercise."

Also OP: "How can people not exercise?! I do!" Hmm

thenightsky · 02/05/2021 11:02

Bad memories of being bullied by a horrible PE teacher at school is a big factor in my dislike of doing anything sporty. When I left I vowed that I'd never again set foot in a swimming pool (the smell of chlorine almost makes me want to vomit)

That's my experience exactly! I'd also add, the smell of cut grass makes me want to vomit too as, to me, it means the terror that was sports day!

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 11:06

* And I don't get benefit from it. I lost weight from intermittent fasting (also in my posting history). I've stopped IF, and have stopped losing weight.*

If you read your post ** dotdashdashdash

30 minutes of hiit 5 times a week. Often with the kids 'helping'. I've lots a stone in lockdown*. You sure as heck imply you lost the stone due to exercise.

So if you didn’t enjoy AND you didn’t get any benefit from it... why were you doing it 5x a week?

lazylinguist · 02/05/2021 11:09

That's really sad. I disliked PE at school (except for netball), but my teachers weren't bullies. As a (not PE!) teacher, I don't think PE teachers would so easily get away with bullying behaviour now, but there are still plenty who do not help non-naturally-sporty kids to have a good attitude to exercise.

trappedsincesundaymorn · 02/05/2021 11:10

So if you didn’t enjoy AND you didn’t get any benefit from it... why were you doing it 5x a week

On the days I don’t fancy it, I in any shape or form, I do it anyway because - there’s lots of things I don’t enjoy doing, but I do them for the greater good

Yet you question why another poster does it if they don't enjoy it Hmm

dotdashdashdash · 02/05/2021 11:14

Egghead81

I'm currently not. Because it's really hard to do something regularly that you don't enjoy. I'm doing maybe twice a week, partly due to work commitments and lack of child free time. But I stopped exercising (a while back) and continued IF and continued losing weight. I then started exercising again (because you "should") and my weight loss stayed the same. Then due to crazy work stuff I stopped IF but continued exercising and gained weight. I'd have thought exercise would = weight loss or weight maintenance but it doesn't. It's all diet for me. Probably because I have a fairly active job. I really don't enjoy exercise. I do hiit because it's the fastest way to get exercise in. I definitely don't feel any benefit from it, if anything it causes me pain.

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 11:16

Yes because she disagreed with my point re when I don’t fancy - what motivates me.

So with that poster
She doesn’t enjoy
She doesn’t get any benefit from it
She doesn’t see doing it as doing it for the “greater good” ie me referring to cleaning my son‘s toilet

So I’m just trying to work out, why she does exercise!

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 11:16

So why do you do it

You’re saying you don’t enjoy and you don’t get any benefit from it

dotdashdashdash · 02/05/2021 11:18

why she does exercise! Because apparently it's something we should do. But I'm failing to see why - everything I read says because it's good for you, but why does it feel the opposite? Its entirely different if you sometimes or often enjoy it. But with the exception of hiking and rock climbing I've never enjoyed exercise.

toocold54 · 02/05/2021 11:27

I work a full time job and I'm a single parent. Yeah I might have an hour free in the evening but by then I'm shattered.

I agree time is the biggest factor.

There are many great free videos on YouTube as a PP suggested but not everyone has space to lay down a yoga mat and if you have to wait for the kids to go to bed/before they wake up before doing star jumps etc that’s either going to wake them up or if you live in a flat annoy the neighbours below.

cerealgamechanger · 02/05/2021 11:44

I'd love to exercise @JumpingJacky but probably sound like your friends here. I've two toddlers who are stuck to me like Velcro for the entire day (they refuse to nap if I'm not next to them and if I move away- even momentarily- they're up straight away and won't sleep). The evenings are the only time I have to myself but is filled with missed chores from the day and planning and prepping for the next day. I'm constantly on the go but probably sound/look lazy if I tried explaining this to someone else.

Egghead81 · 02/05/2021 11:54

@dotdashdashdash

why she does exercise! Because apparently it's something we should do. But I'm failing to see why - everything I read says because it's good for you, but why does it feel the opposite? Its entirely different if you sometimes or often enjoy it. But with the exception of hiking and rock climbing I've never enjoyed exercise.
So no benefit, no enjoyment but you do it because of societal pressure to?
PurpleDaisies · 02/05/2021 11:57

On the days I don’t fancy it, I in any shape or form, I do it anyway because - there’s lots of things I don’t enjoy doing, but I do them for the greater good!

Not fancying it when you regularly exercise but can’t quite be bothered on one day is a totally different situation from someone who doesn’t exercise starting up, especially when they have things that make it harder for them.

Sssloou · 02/05/2021 13:10

@cerealgamechanger

I'd love to exercise *@JumpingJacky* but probably sound like your friends here. I've two toddlers who are stuck to me like Velcro for the entire day (they refuse to nap if I'm not next to them and if I move away- even momentarily- they're up straight away and won't sleep). The evenings are the only time I have to myself but is filled with missed chores from the day and planning and prepping for the next day. I'm constantly on the go but probably sound/look lazy if I tried explaining this to someone else.
You are getting plenty of exercise.

Enjoy your toddlers.

Make sure you do what works for you to refuel and restore in the evenings.

MsTSwift · 02/05/2021 13:56

Urgh I really think pe teachers in the 90s have alot to answer for reckon they put many off any sport for life 🙄.

Exercise is a habit to be fair. Looking at me and my friends when our children small it really takes a back seat and understandably so but when your teens don’t surface til 11am you might as well get some exercise in!

Rewis · 02/05/2021 14:16

I'm a physio so it's my job to get people moving. It still pisses me off when someone tells me to exercise. We all know it. There is no need to tell anyone unless you are asked.

As for why people don't exercise. There are as many reasons/excuses as there are people. It sounds like you used to not exercise, therefore you must be familiar for the reasons.
The main reason is that people haven't gotten to the point where they feel like they really need to make the change