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

[SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc]

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?

For me, my inner monologue was constantly musing about how unfit I am and how fat I am. I’m still both of those things but now I’ve started exercising regularly I’ve stopped thinking about it all the time. The peace over it is great.

I get far more tired from not exercising enough, if that helps!

Go slow and build up the amount you do. Your body will tell you when you’re overdoing it - for me, not building in a rest day every week is a no-go, and I often have two rest days on busy weeks. Experiment and see what works for you. Good luck!

I exercise primarily for health. It also helps me feel good and keeps my mental health on an even keel.

But the main reason is for longevity. I look at older relations who struggle to walk. Can’t get on and off the floor. Sometimes even a chair and think I don’t want to be like that.
I don’t always want to, but I have it set in to my diary like a job and I never miss a training session unless I’m sick or physically can’t go.
It’s more than just weight loss or how I look it’s how it makes me feel

Initially for weight loss. Now for physical/mental health. I have children, including one with a disability, I need to do as much as i can to be on top form for as long as possible.

I exercise for my health - physical and mental..
I do resistance/weight training to help me when I'm older, especially now being in my 40's I want to stay strong.
And I really enjoy it and feel amazing after.
Walking is my way to have space and clear my head.

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
Agree with this
Too much umming and ahhing can lead to finding excuses. In my case it also seems to bring the rain on so it becomes a soggy run, or I sit on the sofa and regret not going sooner.

I started to do daily cardio to help control blood sugar after a diagnosis of pre-diabetes. I fear being diabetic more than I dislike exercise :-)

I used to go to the gym regularly when I was younger. After having DD now 10 I put on loads of weight so started sw and I was walking everywhere with her. Then I had a few years of not a lot of exercise at all. Now I've gone back to slimming world at the beginning of the year and started walking 10000 steps a day. Then that became couch 2 5k 3 times a week and I also do 1 or 2 clubbercise classes a week. It just helps my mental health, being in the fresh air is good for my skin and I hate my thighs so need to slim them down.

Great advice. My husband always says to me you never regret a jog but I worry I won't be able to do it and feel like a failure. Today though I struggled halfway through then managed 5k in 40 minutes!

Exercise is a normal part of the day I thought?.

After the pandemic I was notably 'softer' from all the sitting at home. I'm someone who didn't do formal exercise but who would always be out and about. I didn't like the loss of tone and flexibility. Found an exercise I really like (yoga) at a place that is convenient for me and I would be lost without it now. This morning in the shower I noticed a new bit of muscle tone on my thighs, probably after a few hard classes this week.

The other is longevity. I have a relative who is getting on but not old old and he struggles to get out of a chair or pick something off the floor. A fall would be a catastrophe.

The final is mental health. I have never once regretted attending a class and it helped untangle complicated thoughts about a break up and bring focus back to my own well-being.

Health. There’s cancer in my family & a cancer where obesity is a huge risk factor. I’m doing everything I can to stay fit & healthy. Exercise is a key part of that.

I started when approaching menopause as I kept reading resistance training is the way to go to help stave off osteoporosis. So I started doing weight training with a PT, expecting to hate it. Loved it and chose to lose weight so I felt more comfortable doing it. It is now mostly a gift rather than a chore. What it actually is is a habit. It's done wonders for my mental health as well as physical

I'm 49 and menopausal. I've had a few podiatry issues that have left me with weak feet, ankles and knees. I also had high cholesterol and developing middle-age belly fat from insulin resistance.

For me, it was that I was really starting to feel old. I had permanent pain in my knees, my balance was shit, I felt stiff and achy all the time. I didn't just want to be one of those people who was sofa-bound with loads of health issues by the time I hit 60. There's a lot of type 2 diabetes in my family and I was worried I was next in line for it.

I joined Gymophobics and do 3-4 30 mins resistance workouts a week. I'm on month 3. The pain in my knees has totally gone, my balance is better. My core is strong, my legs are muscular. Weight not necessarily shifting due to menopause but I look and feel SO much better.

There comes a point when not exercising simply isn't an option if you want to stay fit and healthy into your late middle age....you can't be blasé about your health once you get past 45 IMO....

This is what I did this morning:

Plus warm up, 7 minutes of planks, and cool-doen/stretching.

OMG it feels so good. I should be dead tired, but in actual fact I'm energized.

NB : I'm 69...

I go to the gym twice a week for an hour and do some smaller bits of exercise most mornings. In my case it's because:

• I have a congenital issue with a hip joint that means I'm likely to be less mobile as I get older, so the more active I can keep the better
• Now I'm middle aged I do put on weight if I don't exercise and, again, the less weight I have to carry on my bad leg, the better

I don't 'enjoy' it per se, but I do feel very good afterwards. I'm not working super hard but I know it is benefitting me.

Also, more recently I have seen the huge difference in wellbeing between my in-laws, who have always exercised a lot, and my parents, who never have (albeit my mum doesn't count, she does have a chronic illness). But at any rate, FIL is a few years older than my dad, they are both in mid 70s, but FIL is much more energetic and able to be active than my dad.

Our oldest turns 16 next year and will stop having PE lessons so I want to buy them local gym membership to try it out, or to find something they like doing a few hours a week and honestly, I'm going to tell them to look at the difference between their granddads - because, if you're lucky, you can be a long time 'old' these days and starting and keeping up being active could make years of difference to how long you can keep enjoying life.

I run 5k per day on a treadmill in the gym. I also walk to the gym and back (1hr in total). Although good for fitness it's also good for me mentally. I even went today with a raging hangover (slowest time of the week unsurprisingly!).

I’ve been working with a PT for a couple of years but really dragging myself into the gym for the rest of my sessions. Not loving it but doing it because I’m older (50’s) and overweight. Two months ago I cancelled the PT and my gym membership and put the money towards a health club / tennis club with pools. As soon as I switched I felt energised by it…. Have loved the Pilates and swimming the most. In particular I feel it’s nurturing rather than punishing. I’m on holiday at the moment and I’ve really missed it. When I return I will start a tennis course and I’m excited by that. I’m also making plans for some lake swimming with some friends and if I have time some horse riding. I will make it back to the weights but right now I’m loving the diversity of exercise options available to me.

Workout will always solve problems like disturbed sleep. It will help in weight control, gives yu energy, Increase strength. and will also help in reducing stress

I loathed sport at school. Was repeatedly humiliated and made to feel miserable so I stopped at 18 and did nothing other than walk the dog for 30 years.

At 48 I started to feel a bit stodgy & slow although I wasn't overweight. Felt the need to stretch, so I took up running by myself, quietly. C25k Definitely wasn't ready for an audience.
Graduated to parkrun. Stuck at it. Finally started to enjoy it after about 5 years. Now 60 I run twice a week. Generally feel pretty good.

I do it for strength, flexibility and cardio vascular maintenance. As I approach my 50s, I really feel the benefit of it in a way I didn't in my 20s or 30s, so it's much easier to stick at it.

I found it hugely liberating to drop the expectation that exercise is a good tool for weight loss. In my experience diet is by far the most important factor in that. Now I do exercise I enjoy rather than that which I expect to burn the most calories.

Ultimately, it sounds a bit cliché but I've found exercising and eating better have been the best solutions to improving my energy levels as I've got older.

I don't do anything extreme - but little and often goes a long way.

Feeling decidedly old and creaky as I hit 50. To my horror I was to find it more difficult to have a 'normal' level of mobility. My knees hurt, my hip was going funny, my shoulder hurt and my balance was off. I've joined the gym and find CV work plus weights and yoga have helped enormously. I've still got a way to go with weight loss but I'm making progress and feeling a million times better than I did.

Ladies....... listen to an old woman:
The work you do now will determine your quality of life when you are 60, 70 etc.
I look around me and I see women my age waddling, struggling, not doing much at all because they have neither the strength nor the energy.

It doesn't have to be this way!
I'm 70.
I work out. I walk. I run. I ski like a woman half my age.
My biological age is 53.

My recipe?

• planks
• abs work
• legs and glutes
• weights/dumbbells
• lifting serious weights
• resistance training
• HIIT

Plus a healthy Mediterranean style diet.

Will I live to be 80, 90...?
Who knows - there are no guarantees.
But I feel so much better, fitter, happier.
So I'll continue what I'm doing while I can.

Here endeth the lesson 😃

Last October I'd reached my heaviest at 15st, we went away and I couldn't walk much, I was slow, out of breath and my knees were in agony. I'm early 40s, needed to get fitter ASAP.

Those first few months in the gym were very tough but now I absolutely love it, I feel down when I don't get to go. 30 yrs of being a couch potato and now I'm a gym fan.

Dieting too, I'm 2.2st down. I love my body shape now, I can easily walk 20k steps a day without any issues. I love weight training, keep going up the weights to the next one.