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
Exercise

Chat to other fitness enthusiasts on our Exercise forum.

Original poster

Reason(s) why you started or want to start exercising?

80 replies

SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc · 03/08/2023 09:12

There seem to be a lot of threads on finding motivation to exercise.

For those who do exercise or those who want to exercise, what's the primary reason you either currently exercise or want to exercise regularly? Do you think regular exercise is more of a chore or a gift?

OP posts:
LemonyZest · 03/08/2023 09:17

Interesting thread Op.
I exercise regularly for health, so much research seems to point to exercise being the key to a healthy older age (with a good dose of luck)
I’ve found a sport I love but the running/ walking/ swimming are more about habit and the dose of endorphins I get afterwards.

SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun · 03/08/2023 09:26

Physical and Mental health. I would do it fit weight loss but not convinced it works.

I have also found running very sociable and enjoy the stats eg pace etc. how far, how fast.

Original poster
SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc · 03/08/2023 11:09

Thanks @LemonyZest Do you mind sharing the sport you love? Why do you love it?

Thanks @SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun your probably right. It's bit of a hot topic in Sports Science at the moment: exercise and weight loss. The evidence seems to be suggesting that in the long-term (> 10 months) it's not that useful for weight loss, but good for maintaining weight loss.

OP posts:
BogRollBOGOF · 03/08/2023 18:15

I feel awful if I don't exercise. I hate puffing around and everything feels hard if you don't exercise. I also stop sleeping and get twitchy if I don't burn enough energy.
I had SPD in my pregancies which severely compromised my mobility so my starting point after birth was from walking 100m and going to bed to recover. Once I could walk without limping, I started C25k. A year later I did a HM. Years later, I finally did a marathon.

Long term, exercise is great for health. Looking after your heart and cardiovascular system. Keeping your muscle mass and bone density longer as you age. Shorter term, I'm motivated by goals such as training for races, times and progression in lifting weights. I want to keep moving like a young person.

I enjoy it, and I'd rather ache because I've achieved something and had fun along the way than ache because I hadn't moved.

LemonyZest · 03/08/2023 18:21

@SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc badminton and tennis. I enjoy the social side of a team sport and playing matches, the exercise is a bonus.

Tulpenkavalier · 03/08/2023 18:25

I exercise for my health, because it makes me feel great, and because I love it.

Health is key. Weight loss or maintaining an ideal weight is secondary. Though a healthy Mediterranean style diet is also very important to me.

I'm nearly 70 and fitter than I was in my 40s. And it shows - though that is secondary. I want to stay fit and healthy for as long as I can. I see too many people my age whose life is severely impaired due to poor lifestyle choices.

I didn't enjoy exercising as much when I started out. The thing is, the better you get at it and the fitter you get, the more enjoyable it is. You couldn't pay me enough to induce me to stop working out.

loulouljh · 03/08/2023 18:39

A massive gift. It's my sanity.

CheerfulBunny · 03/08/2023 18:44

I feel like crap on toast if I don't do it. I've been doing an hour or so after work so the 5 to 7pm zone since my 20s and now if I don't, the guilty feeling is worse than actually doing exercise. If I can get my kit on I'm half done! If I don't do it I feel achey and restless and my mental health suffers. I'm not a marathon runner or in fantastic shape or anything but toned, I suppose. I don't know anyone else in my work or friendship groups who works out as regularly which I find a bit strange, really.

RayKray · 04/08/2023 07:26

Because I love it. I love getting strong, l love the feeling of lifting. It makes me feel amazing. I love getting muscle. It's very cool. It's now a big part of who I am. I am genuinely excited for every time I train.

I'm not generally speaking an exercise kind of person so I absolutely recognise it feeling like a chore. Exercise was for most of my life. Then I found lifting and that flipped a switch.

Health as I get older etc is there as background noise to why I do it too. But the main motivation is the here and now of loving doing it.

Usernamen · 04/08/2023 07:28

Mental and physical health. Not so much to maintain weight (I find diet to be far more important for this).

LolaSmiles · 04/08/2023 07:37

It makes me feel good. Even if I can't be bothered doing something is better than nothing and it gives me more motivation for the rest of the day.

I find it's a keystone habit. When I exercise, I find I want to drink more water, eat less sugar and UPF, want to eat better. When I don't exercise and get out the habit, I can find myself snacking, being less productive, drinking less water.

ExPreschoolTrustee · 04/08/2023 07:37

My sister was incredibly fit and active, then had a severe health episode and as a consequence now has very limited mobility

I started running as a way to escape to have a cry when we weren't sure if she'd make it (red face from exercise his the blotchy year face from the DC)

Now if I feel like I can't be arsed, I think of DSIS who would give anything to be able to get out into the wilds again

It very quickly gives me the kick in the arse I need!

MrsHaroldRobbins · 04/08/2023 07:45

I started exercising for the health benefits, getting older and realising that I want to be as fit and able for as long as possible. For me, the key is finding something you enjoy. I started with running but it did feel like a chore and it was very easy not to do it. I've now switched to gym classes - spin, body conditioning, yoga, Pilates. The group setting coupled with a good teacher and great music makes me want to go, it doesn't feel like a chore at all. And, as PP says, the habit extends into healthy eating.

StopFeckingFaffing · 04/08/2023 07:46

Lots of reasons but mainly because I enjoy it (running, cycling, walking) and I love the feeling of being fit and healthy

I prioritise exercise on my non-working days and feel it has helped me massively over the years in terms of my mental and physical health

I have never been overweight but have a good appetite and love cakes, puddings, chocolate etc. Reckon I would definitely be overweight if I didn't exercise!

thishasnotmyweek · 04/08/2023 07:50

I found a physical hobby that I really enjoy and then started going to the gym out of desire to get better at said hobby

before the hobby I found it extremely difficult to motive myself to go to the gym!

starting the hobby gave my fitness a boost and so then I went to the gym it wasn’t as hard to start as I already had a base level, whereas before I was starting from nothing

Dreamsy · 04/08/2023 07:55

I hate working out, but I do it for two reasons: one, there are times (maybe a minute or so) during the workout where I get a high, that is unbeatable; two, after workout I feel so strong and happy with myself. This second feeling lasts for days! When I stsrted working out, it took me more than a month to get confortable, so you need to wait it out at first. Good luck!

BlastedPimples · 04/08/2023 08:03

I walk at least 5pm every day. I want to do more and start weight training.

This is going to sound pathetic but I'm worried I will be absolutely exhausted by it and won't be able to function afterwards.

mangochops · 04/08/2023 08:07

I've been running for years. My reasons are:

  1. Physical health, my resting heart rate went from 70 to 55 in only 2 months
  2. Mental health, if I dont run, I find I get anxious easily- running really, really helps with my mental health
  3. I want to look good naked and it works 😆
HeadNorth · 04/08/2023 08:07

Mainly my mental health - I have experienced a disproportionate number of sudden and tragic bereavements. I truly believe the fact I am not on any pills is because of my animals and exercise. I run to stay functional for my family and over the years it is has become a habit and I don't feel right if I don't exercise regularly. I think it has also helped me stay slim through the menopause, so that is a bonus but not the main motivation.

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 04/08/2023 08:11

I’m 65. I find exercise a chore but do it for my health.

I notice the benefits now when I’m with non-exercising peers who run out of puff far sooner than me, are beginning to slow down and are doing things like losing their balance.

I’ve currently got a foot injury and it’s frightening how quickly you lose tone and how hard it is to get it back as you get a bit older.

I’ve never seen a benefit to my weight and for me my mental health would be better served on the sofa with a good book but needs must.

mangochops · 04/08/2023 08:12

Forgot to say that the hardest moment is just before you do it. Even the Rock said that putting your gym kit on is the hardest bit about exercise but I have never regretted going for a run but I have regretted not going for a run. If you can push through the initial "urgh, I cant be arsed" part you're golden. This is absolutely the hardest part- Mel Robbins suggests the 5 second rule, you count down from 5 and at 1 you just do it, you dont even give yourself time to think about it, just do it. If you start thinking about the pros and cons of it, it will always be easier to put it off so that would be my best tip. Just do it.

RayKray · 04/08/2023 08:24

BlastedPimples · 04/08/2023 08:03

I walk at least 5pm every day. I want to do more and start weight training.

This is going to sound pathetic but I'm worried I will be absolutely exhausted by it and won't be able to function afterwards.

I'm preparing for comp at the moment so I have been so tired I can't function, but that is totally a decision for where I am in training. You don't have to feel like that strength training at all! Just reduce the intensity if its making to feel like that (eg less reps, less sets, less weight). No one trains at that intensity for sustained periods as it wouldn't get you anywhere. So you don't have to feel like that at all.

spiggydit · 04/08/2023 08:34

When I was younger I exercised for vanity and now I'm in my sixties I exercise to maintain function. I can't say I enjoy exercise (I was always that miserable looking girl on the hockey pitch at school praying for the end of each lesson) I look at exercise nowadays as a kind of medicine I have to take - it tastes rubbish but without it I'd feel worse

Usernamen · 04/08/2023 08:46

mangochops · 04/08/2023 08:12

Forgot to say that the hardest moment is just before you do it. Even the Rock said that putting your gym kit on is the hardest bit about exercise but I have never regretted going for a run but I have regretted not going for a run. If you can push through the initial "urgh, I cant be arsed" part you're golden. This is absolutely the hardest part- Mel Robbins suggests the 5 second rule, you count down from 5 and at 1 you just do it, you dont even give yourself time to think about it, just do it. If you start thinking about the pros and cons of it, it will always be easier to put it off so that would be my best tip. Just do it.

Agree with all of this.

Another massive motivator for me is exercise classes because there is a financial penalty for late cancellation or no-show (as much as £20…).

I’m also part of two loyalty schemes at two exercise studios where the more classes your do, the more free classes/buddy credits you get (works out at around 1 free class for every 10).

BlastedPimples · 04/08/2023 08:46

Thanks @RayKray

I'm often shattered after a dog walk of 5kms and I need to be able to function. But I will try the Iron series.