To not want to exercise

[beewaspfly]

help me out here. Wrong side of 40, in the thick of perimenopause. All of my friends, and I mean all, have started exercising like crazy in the past few years- even the ones I’d least expect. My GP keeps telling me I HAVE to start strength training or I’ll have an unbearable later life.

but…I don’t want to. It’s just so tedious. I hate the gym, hate PT even more, hate classes (have tried several), hate home work outs, even the short ones. I don’t get any endorphin rush from it or whatever. The prospect of doing it ruins my day - it’s better if I do it first thing but even then I hate every minute.

id rather just be walking somewhere nice, meeting friends, working, napping, catching up on tv and eating amazing food with my family, reading and enjoying my life without the sense of impending dread.

im size 10, love to walk for HOURS every day, slim but not really toned (ok, a bit flabby in some areas), feel pretty healthy on the whole. Can’t I just keep doing what I’m doing? Please??

my mum is in her 70s and fine doing what I do, although she has had some falls lately. Dad says he wish he’d worked out as he’s such a weedy skinny old man now (his words). But they’re fine. My grandmother is in her 90s and going strong.

why do I have to do this? Why is everyone else doing this? Someone tell me one good reason and I’ll stop moaning

but…I don’t want to. It’s just so tedious. I hate the gym, hate PT even more, hate classes (have tried several), hate home work outs, even the short ones.

Well, you can be old, fat, with weak bones, difficult breathin, and bed-ridden in 40 years then.

I think if this thread proves anything it's that it's not at all unusual to dislike exercise to one extent or another. I reacted to intense exercise in the way you describe as a teenager but I was fed up with being overweight and last in cross country so eventually forced myself to run and have been doing so pretty much ever since (with breaks for having babies) and more recently switched to weight training. I did a marathon in 2018. It helps to find a type of exercise you hate less I guess but ultimately you have to overcome the hatred and discomfort if you want to pursue it.

Im not a massive fan I have to say but Im over 50 so I still do it 5 times a week.
Just 20 mins of weight training x3 and 20mins beginners pilates x2 using YT videos.
Then I line up something on Netflix and do 20-30mins cardio x5 as well.
I get it out of the way first thing and see it as something like brushing your teeth, just neccesary.
Also I get a lovely smug feeling when I have finished which is nice!😄

Im mid forties with a 5 year old. Desk job mon - Fri. I walk every lunchtime for half an hour and do housework and general activities with my son.

I wouldn't fit 40 mins 3 or 4 times a week in. I'm not getting up earlier than I do now and im too tired by 8pm when I generally finish all chores and still need to wash my hair every other evening.

I have started doing things like leaving my trolley further away and carrying heavy bags to the car. Trying to work bits of exercise into everyday life. Having a small child was great as he was big and I got really strong for a whole lifting him in and out of car seats etc.

Other than that, ive accepted this phase of my life is limited in terms of exercise. It'll change as my son gets older but not much I can do for now.

I hate exercise too.But unlike you, I am overweight, but similar age, I walked my dog for at least two hours a day.Some mild hills but nothing's serious. I have joined jim multiple times as I never got everyone.I always think i'm going to the change and it'll be different this time.And it never is. My issue is my lack of fitness and my weight being on display and not fitting in and people looking and all the usual things that over weight people feel about when they think about going to the gym.

Anyway, i just sympathise because I hate it too, but I have noticed my hips hurt at night.And I have a bad back more often, and I definitely think I need to do strength training as a minimum.I can't see a way out of it and I keep putting it off

Walking or cycling + carrying heavy shopping home regularly = some decent exercise that will help build strength too!

I also hate going to the gym.

How do you have a flat incline?

I would urge you to check out the options in my post above, @21ZIGGY - all of them can be done in the privacy of your own home.

I do. I despise it. It actually stresses me out so much that twice i have gotten an ulcer after pushing though with exercise, i looked and felt great but the stress of doing the exercise just was not worth it.

I walk now and that’s it. I’m happy with that.

At the very least, prioritise squats OP. If you can’t independently rise from a chair or toilet then you cannot live unassisted. Surely avoiding being in care prematurely could motivate you to incorporate a little more into your routine.

I feel the same but I want to be able to lift a 10kg bag into the overhead compartment of an airplane as long as I can.

Am doing no weights either but also feel pressure to lift. I was so fit when lifting toddlers and big supermarket shopping bags.
Life gets lighter the older you get when we really need the opposite.

Id love a physical class that wasn’t like exercise, maybe rock throwing!

I'm 51 and stick to the 10K steps a day, more if possible. I swim laps two-three times a week. I know that I should probably strength train, but like you, I don't really want to! My weight is fine and I'm fairly supple.

I think we're doing OK - do you have any weights at home? Perhaps look online for some exercises...that's what I should do, we have some weights (but I don't want to :-).

Gardening for sure! I ache way more after gardening than weights. My arms currently have that nice “I lifted something heavy feel” after gardening yesterday.

You like walking and enjoying nature. You want to be able to do it in the future when you are older.

This is the reason for the strength training. So that you retain enough muscle mass and bone density to be able to keep doing what you love well into old age, without risking one wobble turning into a fall and a broken hip/back and never being able to enjoy a gentle walk again.

From my perspective, it's grim at first but so much easier/enjoyable when you get used to it. After I started building muscle, I really wanted to build more and found it quite 'addictive' (in a positive way - not a good word but I couldn't think of another word for it). I also feel better and younger. I look better - not the main thing but a nice side benefit.

It's entirely your choice, of course, but I do think it is very good for a person in midlife both physically and mentally, and I think after a few months, it becomes almost enjoyable. You do need headphones and music though.

Walking is no doubt good for burning calories but it doesn't have the same benefits, maybe different ones.

Have you considered pilates? (Not my bag really but many swear by it and it could be sociable if that is something you enjoy).

I also sympathise as I hate the purposeless ness of these kinds of workouts and I also loathe gyms… you are already doing walking which is good. Instead of doing weights etc could you do things like building in extra lifts of shopping bags or doing garden work which can be both physically demanding but also useful?

I feel you op
I'm trying to something fun to do
Exercise until really my thing either

You could get one of those vests that you can add weights to? Apparently this is what the fit-ties all do! I’m with you, walking is one of the best exercises you can do so jeep on enjoying it!

The way I bribe myself is by watching the kind of mindless stuff I would never watch otherwise but quite enjoy in small doses. Takes my mind off it. I also don't exercise in a painful way, or get breathless. I just do a fairly gentle half hour pilates routine from youtube (sometimes with reasonably small weights). I find doing it every day is more important than it being intense. I have grown quite a lot of muscle that way, surprisingly.

I have a great deal of sympathy with the impact of school sports and PE etc when you are non sporty, badly coordinated and last picked.
I didn’t really tackle this until my 50’s although like you I walked a fair bit. I joined a very long running local keep fit class, totally not full of gym bunnies. It is an hour out of my week so I just get on with it. A few years later I added in yoga, and actually enjoy it, not competitive and I just try to make myself better at it. I now do have core muscles!
If you want to start small with weights then get some hand weights, put them in the kitchen and each time you are waiting for the kettle to boil you use them. Little and often!

Meh, it's a 2026 thing.. my grandparents & parents were all active in a normal life kinda way.. my dad had a heart problem but the other five lived to late 70's / mid eighties.
NOTHING would induce me to go to a gym, @beewaspfly .

Not the point but this post was on Facebook today.

Surely it can’t be that hard to find a form of exercise which you enjoy as well as walking? Cycling, sea swimming, yoga, boxing, rock climbing… it’s not like there isn’t loads of choice available!

Bone density deteriorates as we get older. That’s a fact. And you probably won’t know about it until you have a fall and break a hip.

My dad took up running in his 50s and now, at age 80, runs 10k in under an hour. A few years ago he was knocked off his bike and literally bounced off the driver’s windscreen into the opposite carriage way. Walked away with a few bruises. Perhaps he was just lucky but I suspect decades of running helped build strong bones.

Personally, I’d rather invest some time and energy in my health now to have a better quality of life when I’m older.

Some of us just really don’t like exercise in any of its forms. I walk every day because I have dogs and I force myself to lift 3 times a week and cycle a couple of days a week but I despise every single second of it. I’ve tried everything from yoga to bouldering over the years and I hate it all.

I’m the same age as you and I feel the same about exercise. The difference is I am overweight, you are not.
Just do what you enjoy. Lots of walking sounds good. Is there anything else you like? Swimming, or dancing even?
You can buy weights to use at home if it would make it easier/more appealing to do strength training at home?