I can imagine people having fun getting lost in the flow of playing a competitive sport. I’ve also heard some people experience a post-workout high. But does anyone actually feel pleasure in the moment while lifting weights, jogging, cycling, etc?
If so… what does it feel like? Is there anything the rest of us can do to cultivate such a mindset?
Ive made the argument for years that working out in the gym is by far the worst possible way to work it. Its just so boring and depressing and take sup your limited time.
Why would I spend an hour at the gym working out when I can play football with freinds, or go to a skate park or go mountain biking, or even just go for a run through a park? Its like trying to learn something by just doing math problems over and over again instead of working through actual problems.
Because all those things you mentioned are sporadic and rely on good weather and scheduling of others. So how often can you even do them? Most people at my age can’t just whip up a game of football when ever.
It’s just easier to go to the gym if you want any chance at a regular routine.
There are always ways to make it work. Like for me I have regularly scheduled volleyball for a couple hours twice a week. Which because its inside I never have to worry about the weather and theres enough people that other peoples schedules arent an issue. And while volleyball can be pretty niche you can find regular open invite football anywhere even in small towns. Then I also go to the skatepark twice a week too which doesnt rely on other and the weather rarely interrupts it, and if it does I go to the one under the overpass instead. Ive been doing this for years, extremely regularly, and the fact that its actually fun and I look forward to it has made it far more regular than when I went to the gym, plus ive made loads of friends, learnt actually skills and dont have to put up with gym bros. So to me there is really no downside.
I don’t enjoy motivating myself to go workout. Everything up until the point of the actual workout isn’t enjoyable. But the workout and post-workout I do enjoy. There is a high associated with it. And that feeling of accomplishment, and visible progress is extremely enjoyable.
The only advice I can give is to give it adequate time. It’s easy to get discouraged. Just keep this in mind: You spent a lot of time doing damage to your body, you’re going to need to put in some effort to reverse that damage. Give it some time before getting discouraged.
Usually, but there’s a lot of hard days. My main motivator is that I know I will always feel great after exercise. When I’ve done the regular gym sessions and jogging, I feel like I have the energy to do all the things I want and my brain feels 20% smarter. I’ve seen that some other people seem to function without exercise just fine, I don’t understand how. But I can’t…
I mainly do just gym and jogging. Jogging is the easy one for me. I usually feel instantly good when I start my run and the barrier to go is low: keep running gear at hand and just go out of the door. There’s hardly ever any pain or unpleasantness. I’ve done this so long that my body sort of runs on its own. Or that’s what it feels like.
Gym is harder. I’ve got some random pains in my muscles from doing it. Some pain is completely normal of course but I don’t really enjoy pushing my body when it hurts or if there’s a fear of some real injury. But it can be very pleasurable and motivating as well. On a good day, I feel strong and lifting feels good without pain. And there’s progress also.
Anyway I’m quite excited about current progress at the gym. I genuinely feel better and more energized than before.
But answers to question about how to feel good: Jogging: go regularly for 20+ years and it will feel nice almost all the time… Gym (weight lifting): i would like to know this myself, it seems there are some good days but a lot of bad days as well
I cycle for adventure and experience, it’s also why I prefer gravel and offroad cycling to road. That gravel crunch in the forest, smell of the trees, sound of birds and absolutely no traffic is pure bliss. Ok sure there is some suffering during climbs, but the feeling of accomplishment when you finally get on top and the descent that follow are worth it.
I join one gravel competition a year, but I go for the event, not to actually compete. I like riding with one friend, on paths where we can ride side by side and chat, and I don’t see a point in group road rides where you just stare at the butt of the rider in front of you the entire ride.
In general I experience joy the entire bike ride, it’s like my therapy, a couple of hours without a phone, outside, just me and silence. I guess the fitness that comes with it is good too.
It takes some time to build a routine, getting to that point requires effort. Once you’re comfortable and know your limits I personally get a lot of satisfaction from pushing my body to get faster, stronger, more agile and so on. You might feel exhausted but you know you can keep going and your body will respond.
Together with all other health benefits you get from it makes you feel good about yourself after a workout which translates to better confidence, mood and more.
Lifting weights is fun and feels pleasurable. Cardio feels like I’m trying to get somewhere but I’ll never arrive. It’s frustrating. I think it’s because I have ADHD and, well, most monotonous activities are hella hard to keep up for any period of time. Doesn’t help that I’ve been off my meds for a year since developing high blood pressure.
For cardio, I’ve tried different things to trick myself into doing it. Some worked better than others. I used to do long and hard warmups before lifting weights. Of course it had a negative effect on the weightlifting itself, but it was good for my health. To increase effort, I just added 5 minutes each session. Started off cycling 15 minutes at a leisurely pace on the stationary bike, and towards the end I was doing 45 at a much harder pace. Watching the average power climb up each week was fun, it was like a game to me. And the weightlifting at the end of it was the reward to make my monkeybrain accept the annoyance that is cardio.
Of course, then I had surgery (nothing major, a scheduled quality of life surgery, septoplasty to be specific, but I was told to lay off any exercise for 2+ weeks) and then a month later I injured myself. So now it’s been over a year again. Not because my injury was very serious, but because it’s incredibly hard to start, maintain, or re-start healthy habits with ADHD. Incredibly easy to start, maintain and re-start bad ones though -.-
Another thing is, pick a podcast (preferably something funny or informative, not depressing), put it on, and go on a walk. Not the same as running, but on a physical activity for your health scale, if being sedentary is 0% and running is 100%, walking is at least 80% if you ask me. Way closer to running than to doing nothing.
I understand the last bit is difficult for people living in unwalkable cities, but for those who can do it, it feels way better than most other forms of exercise, because you’re getting dosed with happy hormones while you’re walking thanks to the podcast.
Also got ADHD and the way I managed enjoying running was listening to music (for the rhythm) and “zoning out” (aka meditating). What also works out is focusing on an idea you wanna think about, but you run (pun intended) the risk of getting to interesting findings and needing to note them ASAP…
I’ve tried for years to go to the gym regularly. I despise going to the gym. Putting on workout clothes, mindlessly trudging on a treadmill or whatnot before slogging through a bunch of machines then shower and going home. I loathe the idea of sacrificing 1+ hour of my precious free time just to feel miserable and accomplishing fuck all… Everyone claiming “just stick with it and you’ll start to enjoy it” lies. There’s no other way to say this. Lies. If you love it, good for you, but it definitely isn’t a universal thing.
Walks around town I do kinda enjoy but not enough to make me want to do it. But point me someplace new or nice to hike and I’m off to the races. I love being out in nature, taking in the sights and I don’t care whatsoever if I need to work for it.
The last few weeks I’ve also started to go swimming with my girlfriend. I’ve not been a fan of swimming as a child and basically never did it anymore since then. So I’m pathetic at it but to my huge surprise I do quite like it.
So my recommendation to you is: try loads of different things. Chances are you’ll like doing certain things way more than others. Ideally you’ll find something you love. Or at least you should be able to find something you don’t hate.
I forgot to add, it’s good to have a goal. Whether it’s losing weight or building muscle, and have a plan to achieve it. Keep at it, it takes time for new habits to form.
I love lifting weight. I squat three to four times a week and I love going heavy. I also love bench and deadlifts also. Seeing my body get stronger is also rewarding, and just being physically capable is a great bonus. Helps counter act my sitting!
I’m in my mid 30’s and I spent A LONG time working out, getting as fit as I could.
I still hated my body when I looked in the mirror, and I hated every second of the workout. “Post workout” I was so proud, but like, that’s equivalent to drinking so you could appreciate being sober.
I stopped a while ago and started just trying to eat healthy and focus on other sources of happiness. I’m much happier since!
I’m in my mid 30’s and I spent A LONG time working out, getting as fit as I could.
I still hated my body when I looked in the mirror, and I hated every second of the workout. “Post workout” I was so proud, but like, that’s equivalent to drinking so you could appreciate being sober.
I stopped a while ago and started just trying to eat healthy and focus on other sources of happiness. I’m much happier since!
My body is the kind that absolutely won’t lose weight unless I do some cardio. Unfortunately, the gym is a while away, and work isn’t very forgiving either. If I worked hard on a day, I’ll come back home with a headache, and if I run with that my head will split open.
Eating healthy doesn’t seem to have an effect on my body. Even if I cut back to 1500 calories, my body fat is so stubborn that I couldn’t lose even a single kilogram in 2 months (didn’t exercise) of a very strict diet (not to mention I would be hungry sometimes).
I wonder if I could have a treadmill at home, and could just have a brisk walk every night I don’t feel like it (and run without going to the gym), I would actually do more cardio and maybe loss weight faster. But I can’t afford it.
My body looks like the underside of a frog, so I understand what you’re saying.
Same. I even went pretty regularly for months and tried all the different workouts and while I was in better shape, none of it was enjoyable in any way.
There is definitely a huge difference after 6 months of focusing on one thing. I’ve done hot yoga off and on over about 12 years and I’d say it took 6 months of going consistently before I felt like my body adjusted and it was more enjoyable. After 2 years I didn’t feel like I was going to die and it actually became very enjoyable.
I’ve fallen off recently because it’s easier to sit around and initially it does suck because you need to readjust. But I when I had gone 2-3x in a week, man I felt like a god. I started going in my 20s, I was high af all the time and knew I needed some exercise or I was gonna die.
I think it takes a certain person to love lifting weights of all things. But luckily there are lots of things out there
I am a bit surprised about the diversity of opinions. For me, well organized muscle movement, both cardio and weightlifting, is quite enjoyable simply physiologically. Plus other things like resting the mind, enjoying the scenere, etc.
I do classes, 1hr of body combat to go hard and then it’s done. The music, instructors and feeding off the energy of the ppl around you make it enjoyable.
Classes are the best. Loud music, workout to the beat with other people there. I tried lifting, but was so bored between sets that i just went home halfway through a workout. Than i started Body pump, and there is no time to get bored.
Anything where the scenery moves, yes I am enjoying it whether I’m riding, biking, hiking, inline skating, trail running, etc. I think part of what works for me is I almost never repeat the same route twice and if I feel myself getting burnt out on one activity I switch it up and do something else. Too much road biking? Go mountain biking? Too much of any kind of biking. Go trail running or inline skating, or at least go for a hike.
Add comment