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?
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 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’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.
Do you take progress pics and keep track of your time, speed, reps, sets, and weight?
That made it fun for me. I enjoy seeing the numbers go up and seeing my body change. It’s like leveling up in a game lol.
Also I find that some people find it boring bc they see it as a useless activity since they don’t see much progress. Something my trainer told me was that I could never outrun a shitty diet and after my diet was fixed, I was able to make real progress
Yeah I can see a treadmill being extremely boring. I usually ride and run outside, but I had to ride on a trainer for a couple of weeks because of an injury and it was just awful. I couldn’t wait to be done. But when I’m outside sometimes I’ll extend my ride for another 10km just because the weather is nice and I feel good, I’m (almost) never in a rush to finish.
I don’t think I could run on a treadmill either, at least outside I have short goals to reach (ok now to the next lamp post…)
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…
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.
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.
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 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.
Cardio is awesome, the runners high is real, but you have to be well conditioned so it’s tough for beginners.
Sometimes, I also like to do workouts because it makes me feel productive while not being as mentally taxing as my ‘job’ of being a full time college student :/
Cardio is awesome, the runners high is real, but you have to be well conditioned so it’s tough for beginners.
Hell nah. I spent 40 years telling people running is what you do to get away from the police. I started jogging during the pandemic 2 years ago. You sure as shit don’t need to be well conditioned just be aware of your body and its limits which I will admit many people are not.
I started running to lose some weight recently. And I genuinely enjoy it.
It’s alone time, time to think, or listen to an album or podcast and just be alone.
I enjoy the progress I’m seeing. Every week I can run further than I could the last week, every week gets easier and faster, and beating my pb is a real endorphin rush. Every week I weigh less than I did the previous week.
I enjoy feeling proud of myself. It would be so easy to sit on the couch and watch Netflix. Or play a silly little video game. And that’s what most people do. I enjoy not being most people. I enjoy putting in the work to better myself.
I enjoy pushing myself. When my legs burn and I don’t think I can run anymore, but I push through that and run another kilometer. the runners high is real. Not comparable to a fun drug, but still feels good.
So yeah, I’m not a fitness guy, but working out definitely has it’s place and can be enjoyable
Add comment