Ask Lemmy

Bike rides are the only thing that made cardio fun for me. The varied environments and the thrill of exploring massage my brain and I end up not noticing how much it sucks to bike straight up the side of a mountain. Also the alternating grind of ascending and thrilling adrenaline rush of descending keeps things fresh.

Combine with work. Birds and stones.

Sports or recreational activities, as opposed to going to gym for the sake of exercise. The physical exercise is a part of the activity rather than the sole focus.

Pick up an outdoor hobby like disc golf, tennis, pickleball, golf, something that you can enjoy with other people. You can usually find an amateur league of various sports/games and that'll keep you going when they ask if you're coming or you're signed up to play on a team for the season.

You may even enjoy the company of those people and do other sports/activities together.

Turning it into a game can also help.

Remember, it's more about slowly creating a sustainable habit of moving your body that's important. You don't need to run a 10K tomorrow to be successful.

Maybe you can make a map of the parks around your city and put a fun sticker on each park after you visit for 30 minutes, regardless the activity. Idk, just kinda throwing stuff out there.

A couple ideas:

One of the best things you can do to be active is walk/run/use cardio machines for long stretches of time. So,

• Get some wireless headphones and catch up on some podcasts, albums, or audiobooks you've wanted to check out.
• If you have a convenient way to set it up, you can try to get an excercise bike or treadmill in front of a TV screen, and watch or even game while you're active
• Find some trails nearby. It's more fun moving around if your focus is on sightseeing and exploration, instead of exercising

But also, gamification can be fun. Stuff like,

• Last time I did 3 sets of 12 reps of 100 lb, can I do more this time? Get an app and keep track, aim to increase either reps or weight when you can
• Last time I went a half mile in 20 minutes, can I do it faster this time?
• Yesterday I walked for 5 minutes, can I handle 6 today?
• Can I piece together a workout from some exercises that I don't hate? One that gives me push/pull/legs? One that covers certain muscle groups? That planning can be kinda fun
• Likewise with diet, get a calorie counter app and try to eat with intention. Think of it like a strategy game for min/maxing numbers. Can I get a slight surplus? Deficit? Can I get xyz grams of protein a day, or stay below xyz grams of sugar?

I got a recumbent exercise bike, a pawn shop tv, steam deck, and a steam controller. I play whatever is loaded on my deck while I bike, usually for about 30-45 minutes at a time.

Right now I am playing Fall Guys while I exercise, as it keeps me entertained on survival for ~10 minutes per game.

Search apartments.com or whatever for places 1-2 hour bike rides from work. Move there.

…not joking, I’m fortunate enough in that that’s what I’ve been doing. Biking/walking to work is the only way I get any exercise (even though I can work from home). In winter months/if it’s too cold or snowy I’ll use the stationary bikes our work building put in to entice people back from COVID.

I have to have a purpose to exercise (other than health I guess?) otherwise I won’t do it.

I've recently taken up swimming. I'm much more inspired to do it if it's an indoor facility, so the city rec center pass is inexpensive and then I'm inspired to go. Even if all I do is fart around on a pool noodle for an hour, I'm still moving, and the water makes the impact on my bad knee go away.

A few variants I like:

• Weight lifting

I like the progression. It's cool to see the numbers go up

• Cycling

It literally just makes me feel like a kid again, just flying around at quite high speeds. I've recently discovered that this is also a lot of fun to do with friends

• Walking

This is the one that helped me the furthest in weight loss back when I was overweight. You can do basically unlimited amounts of it, and with a podcast or audiobook in your headphones, it doesn't really get boring either.

I discovered I like hitting things a while back so I go boxing regularly. These days I read some Trump news and then go take it out on a heavy bag for an hour.

Personally, I like a treadmill.

For years I planned to get one, and all the runners in my family would talk about how awful they are, how no one ever uses it once they have it, and getting outside is so much better.

I finally got the treadmill a couple months ago, and I use it several times per week. Some weeks I use it every day. It's convenient, I can control the temperature in the room, I can watch something on my phone while I run, and I like being able to set a consistent pace.

I take my canoe out on a lake that's 8 minutes from my house. Relaxing, and the exercise is a side effect.

I'm also delusional enough to think I can box so I hit the punching bag for 40 minutes some days. It's a joke but makes me feel badass.

I hate running, so I don't do it.

I love hiking and swimming and team sports, so I do them.

I'm trying to do stuff that's quick that I can do every day. I do pushups before my morning shower and some squats whilst I brush my teeth. Do it every day, I feel better for it and it only takes like 3 minutes. You can do extra sets around the house if you have a spare 30-60 seconds too.

Dance

Dance

REVOLUTION!!

(That rhythm game with the arrows on the screen and ground that you stomp on)

I use a stationary bike in front of a TV. My brain is off anyway, so I might as well put my body to work.

Another alternative is to find a sport that you enjoy, or a social group that makes the activity enjoyable.

Exercise outside (preferably in a natural setting) and with a group. Outdoor bootcamp is the holy grail for me. Reasons:

1. Outside air is easier to breathe than stale gym air

2. There's always something interesting to look at while you slowly die

3. Clumps of grass don't mind if I swear under my breath

4. PEER PRESSURE. IT WORKS.

5. At the end of the training session, ~~trauma~~ bonding with the rest of the group (edit: I misused the term trauma bonding)

I chart my improvements over time and equate them to role playing game experience points

Do 20 crunches? that's +20 xp towards constitution

Really makes it a lot easier to reframe boring tasks

Playing DDR.

Because then the public won't see my red, flailing body as I stumble around to sit after a single song.

That and mowing my lawn. ...except with my lawn, I've had people pull over and ask if I'm okay. Which is embarrassing every time it happens. I'm out of shape and I have a condition!! But I'm not going to explain that to strangers lol

Experiencing the benefits of strength training day to day (being able to move heavy shit easily and not struggle with things that I used to) also seeing how I look in the mirror after I do it helps.

I put some vtubers when running.

I use comfortable earbuds, turn on a podcast, and go outside. I walk as far as I can and loop back around and barely notice because the pod was taking up my mental space preventing me from feeling the pains.

Last time I enjoyed myself doing exercise, I probably played table tennis with a tennis ball and hands as paddles. The hard part is finding people who have time when you do, and who are on a similar skill+fitness level as you (picking silly games like the one I described helps).

So yeah, I'm not getting much exercise, either.

Embrace the Suck.

i learned to love the feeling of muscles getting stretched

I dont tolerate cardio, its really not feeling good and it seems to take forever to get to a place where its supposed to feel good. If it ever does.

But lifting weights is fun. I enjoy that since body looks better and feels stronger. And there, results show clearly in just 2 months or faster.

I've always loved sports; so that part's easy, personally. But I've also learned to kind of savor the feeling of using my muscles and getting tired. Whatever I'm doing, or even on days where I didn't have time to "exercise", I make a point to check in on different parts of my body, maybe tense them or stretch; just trying to notice what feels good and then really savor that feeling. I find that building that mental practice helps motivate me to seek out exercise, or power through when I'm not really enjoying a particular activity.

Fast speed hike incline on treadmill

Put in earbuds, drum&bass

Disassociate for 1-2 hrs while staring at the food channel

I've speculated that it takes time and discipline of exercising regularly for a long enough time, until you get the psychological reward from it. After which for some including me, makes it an addiction. I literally crave it. And if something happens to where I can't workout, like an injury or work or whatever, it really sucks and I can't wait to be able to get back into the routine. I'm talking of a mix of "boring" weights and cardio. I love it.

So my two cents is, muscle through the initial several months of boring suckage but make it count. Eventually, maybe you'll catch the addiction. But this might not work for everyone.

Rhythm Games (Samba De Amigo, Fitness Boxing Ft. Hatsune Miku) + needing to walk to bus stop to go to arcade

Ring Fit was also good, but I foolishly left that behind when I moved out x.x

Me personally? Group dance aerobics are joyful fun classes. Group yoga classes are a very supportive and lovely environment. I do also get to work without a car, do yardwork, park far if I take a car, just try to be generally active.

It takes 6 weeks to build a habit. Just choose something you tolerate, commit to 6 weeks, and at that point you should feel better on a day you work out, than on a day you don't.

Exercising is part of my precious me-time. I put on a good podcast or some nice music and have a good time. No stress, no hanging on the phone, no Netflix - this is my opportunity to dwelve into thoughts or just do nothing. It is super relaxing.