If you're not naturally sporty but found something you love...WHAT IS IT?!

[ExerciseWoes]

Yes I'm posting shamelessly for traffic!

I'm hoping for some inspiration please MN.

I was always slim-ish before my son was born but I really just maintained this through eating well rather than any form of exercise.

I've never liked exercise, never enjoyed sports at all. I've tried gyms, I've managed to stick with them for months at a time but never got that "omg I'm totally addicted, love being here" feeling, it was an utter chore every time and I hated it that much that it always eventually fizzled out.

Anyway, since my son a year ago, eating well is not going great. I don't eat appallingly but meals tend to be faster / not as healthy / quick grab something whilst he's quiet style and I'm finding myself really unhappy with my body.

I want to start doing something to get into shape but what?!

My husband has suggested running but it's never ever appealed to me, I really can't imagine liking it. I am quite well... endowed in the ahem chest area... And whenever I've tried anything like the treadmill or a jog I've felt uncomfortable for the entire time. DH just seems to think I've not been trying good enough sports bras and perhaps a decent one could make it bearable?

Anyway... I'm open to trying almost anything..

If you're not naturally sporty but have really gotten "into" something, what is it?! The cheaper the better!

When I had an accident my Osteopath suggested and arranged for me to have some 1:1 yoga sessions. I loved it.
I love fell walking but the thing I loved most and can’t do now is riding. I was quite sporty at school and played at night and weekends but I liked team sports then. I tried running and I hated it!

Some places have baby yoga. They put a load of toys in the middle and the parents are around the outside. There is one near me they seem to enjoy it. Do some 1:1 first though as it is much better.

Horses, and historical dance. School sports were about ball games (which I am decidedly mediocre at) or track and field (where I'm ok in long-distance running, but mediocre at everything else). But horses are about feel and balance and communication and thinking (while requiring fitness and great control), and dancing is about music and aesthetics (while requiring enormous discipline and strength and flexibility). The aesthetic/communicative elements provided the way in, for me, and I work on the other aspects because I realise they are important for the whole, even if they are not of particular interest to me on their own. The joining element for me is exercises aimed at developing the core and at self-awareness, e.g. Pilates and Feldenkrais.

@Changechangychange

Swimming, cycling. I do actually love running, but needs to be somewhere scenic - running on a treadmill is boring as fuck, as is grinding it out round and round the park.

I’m a 34G, and wear a Freya sports bra from Bravissimo. Never got on with Shock Absorbers, they are an odd shape.

I second this, if you have a bigger than average chest a shock absorber is useless and the only regular runners I know that use them are C-32D cups max. Freya is a good one and also check out Maree. Panache do some good ones for bigger chests too

Running - I'm a 30GG so I get what you mean about being well endowed! Shock absorber is the way to go. What helped me is I have a playlist of hip hop, club tunes ... I put it together myself and love it. I will say that it's best to cultivate an attitude of not caring too much about pace or length. Even now, sometimes I'll run 10k and sometimes I'll plan to do 5 but stop after 3. An attitude of just enjoying my music and fresh air means I haven't got dispirited. Also I ignore all advice to join running groups or train for marathons, that would kill the fun for me.

I also do yoga. Daily in whatever form - an hour in a studio or 10mins at home. I love that it can be chill or sweaty or both, depending on what you need on the day. And it helps to balance out my aggressive hip hop!!

I hate running. Have never got into it. I love walking though- listening to a good podcast. And also I don't know if you have / are returning to work but I changed my commute to cycling. Kills 2 birds with 1 stone. Cheaper and that's my exercise. It's about an hour round trip for me. Would that be a possibility?

@PersonaNonGarter

Yoga, Pilates and walking.

That's my go to too.

Nordic walking is great if you don't like running. Nordic skiing and Alpine skiing, but you will need to move house to do it daily 😆

Swimming? But the key to weight loss is diet

Climbing. A bouldering gym is a good place to start. It is extremely addictive. It also made me take up weight training and yoga to support getting better at it. And climbing outdoors is a massive hit of adrenaline! Can't recommend it enough!

Exercise is easier if you can fit it in with your natural environment. Do you live somewhere where you can walk/swim/cycle for an hour and it can fit in easily? When I lived on the coast, paddle boarding and long dog walks and beach running was easy to fit in. When I'm at home in the South Downs, walking up the hills is my exercise and I'm about to buy a mountain bike. My next door neighbour is a PT and has a weights room in her garden, so that will be started when I get back to the UK.

Walking. I try and walk every other day. Have tried getting into running but Hate it. I have a couple of walker mates and we are always checking in if there is a spare hour somewhere in the weekend. Parka on, brew in hand, fresh air. Lovely.

For me, the biggest appeal of any exercise is the social element. Having friends to exercise with keeps you accountable and takes your mind off it too.

I did a couch to 5k course and made a small group of friends there, we go running together a few times a week (sometimes all of us, sometimes just a couple). Knowing someone is waiting for me forces me out, and if I'm looking forward to catching up with a friend I'm more willing to make time for it.

Same before kids, when I still had a gym membership. I'd do the same classes every week and see the same people, and it was an incentive to get out. That said, body combat and bounce are awesome and I always felt great afterwards regardless!

Yoga and zumba.

Find a good zumba class (admittedly not that easy) and it feels a bit like a kitchen disco.

Helps if you like Latin music mind you, but I have relatives in the Dominican rep so half of what's played in the class I go to is what I grew up with and reminds me of hot summer nights staying up way past my western European bedtime dancing on the sand.

Yoga is an absolute godsend if you have a bad back and can be as gentle or as vigorous as you need it to be

Did couch to 5 k in my early forties, now run 3k most days. Listen to a podcast and watch the seasons change. Love it.

I think it's so important to find one thing you really get into, which then makes you want to do other exercise to get better at the first activity.

For me it was running - I now do yoga, climbing and strength training to support my running. The important thing with starting running is to go at a pace where you could hold a conversation, which will build your fitness while keeping running fun. Running in interesting places really helps too, treadmills are not my idea of fun!
And yes to a good sports bra, which will help with all sports but is particularly important for running/jumping.

2 years ago I hated running with a passion and thought I would never be any good at it, but it turns out I am actually reasonably fast for someone of my age and experience, which is very pleasing! And running club has been a great way of getting to know people.

I have the Jillian Michaels app. I love her The app is brilliant, there are literally hundreds of different work outs on it, you can start as a very basic beginner and work up. You work out at home, which works better for me, because, like you, I find going to the gym a chore. You only need a matt and some hand weights (Aldi is good for those!) Most of the work outs are sub 30 minutes, but they absolutely work to get you into shape. The app is around £100 for a full year, but you can pay monthly or quarterly. If you think it might be for you, have a look at Beginner Shred on YouTube. You can try that for free and see if you like it.

I like weight training and Les Mills at Home subscription. Only £12.99 per month and a huge amount of workouts to choose from. I rally enjoy BodyPump, Barre and BodyBalance

Sorry, it’s actually called Les Mills On Demand, not At Home!

I never thought I would enjoy running, even when I was younger and fitter I couldn’t run for more than a few minutes without feeling like I was going to collapse, but I did Coach 2 5k last year and it does really work.

I also do pole dancing 3 times a week- it’s amazing for strength and flexibility and it is so, so much fun. It’s really sociable too, friendly and inclusive.

I was never sporty at school, utterly rubbish at anything which required catching a ball or coordination.

But I have been running for the last ten years or so and enjoy it. I also like cycling (in fine weather) and go swimming (which I like less). I have also recently started doing an outdoor fitness class although I find it quite hard but it has made me fitter.

I do trampoline classes with Bounce. Absolutely love it. It's the only thing I've ever stuck with. Brilliant for burning calories.

I love pole fitness, only thing I have ever really stuck to and looked forward to going.

I needed to be able to run so kinda forced myself to do it and now I really enjoy it. Good when you have some running buddies but also good to stick on a podcast of some good music.

I was definitely not sporty at school. I was one of the group who refused to do the annual mandatory cross-country run at anything more than a slouching pace, occasionally breaking into a resentful little jog when yelled at.

Fast forward 20 years and I somehow seem to run 15km twice a week? How? I sometimes encounter school cross-country runs and always want to shout out solidarity with the miserable unsporty kids at the back.

Anyway this is such an individual question, you have to really think about your personality, your environment, your time constraints. Think about why you're not sporty - what factors put you off? Because if you work out what you hate, you can look in the other direction to find something.

I hated team sports. So I do something that's intensely solo, and I also ignore any group running suggestions. I feel like exercise is my private me time, not socialising time.

I chose running because I was broke in my 20s and couldn't afford the gym. I started doing it seriously when I went self-employed and could go running during the daytime on weekdays when there were fewer people around to see me wheeze haplessly along the path and collapse after 5 minutes.

I also inherited a set of weights (moved into a houseshare, previous occupant left them behind) and have done home workouts for years before the pandemic popularised them. I don't really get on with the gym - I never have a plan re: the various machines, it feels haphazard, I hate being around so many other people when exercising, and I can't be arsed with the faff of travelling to a separate place to work out.

The key to exercise you'll get to love is not to pick something on a whim and try to fit it into your life but to think about the rhythms of your life and preferences, and pick something that naturally slots in.

@ExerciseWoes try Bodypump if you fancy weightlifting but don't fancy the main gym floor.

I made myself do C25K several times because it was free and easy to do and had visible progress markers. And it does work. BUT, while it can teach you to run, it can't make you enjoy running if you just don't like it. My generous rack frame isn't set up for jogging, and I hated every step. It also sapped all the joy from the ten or so songs I had on my playlist to trick my brain into thinking I was at some kind of treadmill disco. I can't hear Firestarter now without a sense of dread.

BUT then we moved near the council gym and I found a brilliant Zumba class which is so much fun it doesn't even feel like exercise. I love dancing, and there are no mirrors in the studio to amplify self-consciousness. Wide range of ages and abilities in the class, and a fantastic instructor who makes a point of encouraging everyone by name. Learning the routines feels like a mini brain workout as well as improving my general co ordination. I go three times a week, plus Body Pump twice a week for my perimenopausal bones. And sometimes I squeeze in a Body Balance class too.

If you'd told me a couple of years ago I'd be going to the gym five times a week, I'd have laughed until I got a stitch. Now I have more pairs of Sweaty Betty leggings than jeans. But the major difference between 17 yr old sport-phobic me and 48 yr old me is that I no longer care what I look like doing it.

Pilates
Exercise classes that I felt were much like dancing for 40 minutes (ok yes there were steps and resistance bands and dumbbells involved too) but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them.