Ask Lemmy

Combine with work. Birds and stones.

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.

Honestly I find it quite enjoyable on it's own. The more I do it, the more I just enjoy the running itself. But I tend to have some music playing and dream away a bit

Find sports that you actually enjoy - try out different things. In my case:

• Cardio: running fucking sucks, swimming is boring as shit. Cycling, on the other hand, is pretty fun. Feels like flying when everything aligns.
• Strength: lifting weights at the gym is doable, but boring. Climbing? Hell yeah, give me more routes where I have to tie myself into a knot while pulling up all my weight with my fingertips.

It can be an exact opposite of it for you. Or you'll find out that team sports are the bees knees because support from other people is what you've been missing.

Work out watch star trek. By the season 4 you'll be made of steel

For me keeping it quick helps alot. No need to be in the gym for 1.5-2 hours, especially if you can wrap up your workout in 50 minutes. I'm just there to get my reps in, no more no less.

To that end either find a split that doesn't target as many muscle groups in 1 session. Like Push Pull Legs. Or super set as much as possible.

For finding motivation to actually do it, I tend to workout after already being productive. So clean up your room/kitchen, or code for a bit. And when that productivity train is going, keep it going. Or go immediately when coming home from work, don't first "relax". Keep the momentum high and tackle things of your todo list; like working out.

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

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 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.

I used to hate exercise. Then, I pushed myself to do it regularly and the benefits surpassed the negative side of it by a lot. For instance, almost all my chronic pain issues are gone, so I'm saving a couple hundreds yearly on healthcare. I also feel better physically (I can move better, I have better endurance) if I'm exercising regularly compared to when I'm not. Because, let's face it, I don't like it, so every now and then I stop for reasons and getting into it back again is very difficult. But it's always worth it.

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.

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.

Hiking. I don't try to climb mountains,just get out and move. The fact I have to watch my footing and have a chance of seeing (or at least hearing) wildlife helps distract from the fact exercising sucks.

I use mental tricks as well. I had to bribe myself to get started. "Look there's a trail near that takeout place you like, if you hike you can get takeout!" If I run out of breath due to uphill terrain, I'm not stopping because I can't keep going, it's clearly to look at this neat bird/bug/plant. If I have an off day and need to turn back early, I remind myself that I've already won by getting off the couch.

find an activity that you legitimately enjoy. that's it

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)

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.

By doing physical activity that's intrinsically rewarding.

If you enjoy bike riding, go ride your bike, and don't even bother thinking about it as exercise. Enjoy, and get into it.

The fitness part is just a side effect.

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 started lifting for self improvement and quickly got hooked on progression and getting stronger. It didn't take long to become a habit and now it's the thing I most look forward to after a long day of work. With no more than three hours per week you can completely transform yourself..

i learned to love the feeling of muscles getting stretched

Find something you actually enjoy.

Historic European Martial Arts. Swing a sword and mace.

https://youtu.be/sMPSCb7frrc

Or you can dance, or juggle, or tumble...

Stephen Fry lost 100 pounds by listening to audiobooks while he walked.

There are game consoles that connect to a treadmill; you have to keep your legs pumping or the game stops.

I lost 30lbs and doubled my muscle mass by doing a gentle calisthenics routine to failure every night while watching the whole series for King of the Hill. I found it kept me busy enough to not notice how much I hated exercise but it wasn't distracting enough to need to stop and watch.

For me at least: getting out into nature. Cycling can easy get you out and into the countryside. And is easy on the joints etc. I prefer road bikes as I can see more.

Otherwise, I often drive to walks or runs with good views etc. I cycle to a nice forest park run.

The other trick that works with me is statistics. Going for Strava or park run segments/records can really motivate me. I also now use the wanderer.earth extension to get 'points' for exploring new places I have never been.

Going to the gym sucks. Swimming is nice in moderation.

Audiobooks.

Music is fine, but I actually find I will make more time to exercise if I'm listening to a good book.

I do it for my dogs. They drag me out and make me walk.

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?

A doctors note telling me I don't have to. :)

When you have a heart attack, they enroll you in a program called "Cardiac Rehab", it's like physical therapy for your heart.

Had the first heart attack, started the program, doing the workouts, felt pretty good. Actually, while using the machine, it felt like I could do it all day.

Then they'd have me stop, cool down, drink some water, my blood pressure would crater and I'd pass out. :(

Doc said "Yeah, I don't think Cardiac Rehab is productive for you..."

Had the 2nd heart attack. "Well, that was 5 years ago, lets try it again!"

Sure... Same deal.

If you're looking for a "life hack" to make any exercise instantly enjoyable, then that's really not going to happen.

But you sound like you're motivated to start exercising so that's great. You can add this in layers to make this genuinely enjoyable:

1. find something you like (for me: weight lifting and squash are fun. Running and swimming are hell)

2. Decide on a fixed time (for me: 10pm every day is designated for exercise)

3. Make it as simple as possible and remove as many barriers as possible (for me: I don't sit to watch TV or play video games close to exercise time, otherwise I know I'm not going to get up again. I put on exercise clothes when I get home from work so I'm already ready when the time comes).

4. Add something else that's really enjoyable (For me: I have a TV series that I only watch when I'm in the gym. So if I want to find out what happens next, I'll have to go to the gym tomorrow.)

5. Make this routine (once you're habituated to doing this regularly, then it stops taking will power to force yourself and is just embedded in your routine)

6. Forgive yourself for missing sessions (any time you miss a session, it doesn't matter, you'll start making progress again any time you start exercising again)

7. Make it social (some people love this and you can do exercise with someone. I personally hate that and I love the meditative solitude of exercise time)