When You Don’t Enjoy Exercise

Lauren Gunter | December 4, 2022

A love and excitement about exercise is a very common thing to find within this group of people. Most of us found our way onto this page because we belong to a CrossFit gym, and wanted to take our fitness a step further and we’re using nutrition as a vehicle to do that. Yes, we want to be healthy. But a lot of us also love hitting PRs and even competing. I want to mention that this life is geared toward strategies for people who don’t love exercise, but it’s also just as much geared toward those who do. If you are passionate about fitness, this is a good way to get some perspective, so next time you might be nagging your spouse or parents or friends or coworkers about their lifestyle, you’ll be able to 1) see where they’re coming from and 2) offer some strategies that might actually get them moving. Just a hint: shame isn’t one of them.

 

Perhaps a population that doesn’t get acknowledged enough, but that does exist among our community is people who don’t love to exercise. It might make you feel like an outsider, but the reality is that most Americans don’t enjoy exercise. Loving exercise doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Not loving exercise ALSO doesn’t make you crazy. However, whether we enjoy it or not, we know it’s important. So what do you do to make a consistent exercise routine, when it’s something you don’t like? What if you don’t feel that endorphin rush after going for a run or doing a WOD?

 

Today, we will cover some strategies and tips. We are not the exercise police. You not wanting to exercise is not a moral failure. We’re here to help you do something that you know is good for you, even if it’s not easy for you.

 

What’s the reason?

When you’re really passionate about something, it’s hard to see why someone isn’t. When I meet someone who doesn’t like cheese, I’m completely mystified. I’m not talking about someone with an intolerance, I mean someone who just doesn’t want it. I don’t get it. Exercise is the same way. It’s hard to wrap our mind around why exercise is so hard to love for some people.

 

Past Experiences

Let’s say you were taunted in grade school for being the last person to finish the mile. Those emotions stay with you, and that might make it difficult to exercise is groups for fear of coming in last, or make it hard to run without having anxiety.

 

Pain

Whether it’s a legitimate injury or just your body getting moving for the first time in awhile, exercise tends to make things worse before they get better. If you’re not getting that immediate positive feedback, it’s hard to want to continue coming back, which is the only way we see those benefits.

 

Discomfort

Different from pain. Here I’m talking about how uncomfortable it is to breathe hard, get sweaty, and feel those muscles getting fatigued. Your body might not be the size that makes equipment easy to use. Or you are 100 pounds overweight, walking into a class where the girls have bigger muscles than you and the guys have washboard abs. You feel out of place.

 

Perception

A lot of us dealt with conditioning being a punishment of some sort. Usually in sports, there was this mentality that unless you’re dying, you need to keep going. Or if you’re late, you run. Miss a pass, do push-ups. We’ve associated a lot of these movements with negative experiences and if we don’t have a coach yelling over us to keep going, we’re simply not going to.

 

Identity

While a lot of us might think we look cool wearing our CrossFit shirts around that hug our biceps while we chat about flipping tires, we do kind of sound like a-holes to those not “in” that group. You’re not a real CrossFitter if no one has rolled their eyes at you for saying that word. For people who want to improve their fitness, but have a sour taste in their mouth because of how they are treated by fit people, or even how they perceive them, they may not want to attach their identity to that idea.

The Power of “Should’s”

I know this sounds crazy but stick with me. The easiest way to grow your resistance is “should’s”. Think about that person in your life who is always saying, “you know, you really should ____”. You might be less stubborn than me, but when I hear that, whatever I’m being told I should do moves to the bottom of my priority list. Once the pushing, from yourself or someone else, backs off, it’s a little easier to approach. This happens a lot with kids. If you push and push them to try an activity, they often get more and more afraid or worked up. However, if you back off, they might see how fun it is and try it on their own.

 

Bottom line is, you don’t HAVE to exercise. Is it good for you? Sure. But nobody is holding a gun to your head telling you to get on a treadmill. That’s your choice. Remember how much say and control you have in the matter. A fun little experiment to try for a weekend would be a “do nothing” experiment. Take a few days and see how little movement you are capable of. Lay in bed and do nothing. You might realize that you are craving a walk or some movement. Our bodies want to be moving, our heads just get in the way.

Taking time off from forcing yourself to move might also be a good time to work on other healthy habits. Take a break from forced exercise and dial in your sleep or your nutrition, or even take that time back to manage some stress. You might find that once other areas of your life are healthier, it’s a little bit easier to incorporate movement.

 

Focus on “movement” rather than “exercise”

People often assume that in order to be healthy, you need to be running marathons or have a gym membership. That’s not true! You don’t even need to set time aside every day to exercise or move. You can park further away from the door for work or the grocery store, you can pace while you’re on the phone, you can vacuum your house or mow your lawn. Take something you already do, and just add a little to it. You brush your teeth every day; walk around the house while you do that! Taking the trash out? Drop it off and just keep walking around the block. My personal favorite brand is to play. Go outside with your friends or your kids and throw the football!

 

Try stuff

Use the 10 minute rule. Try something new for just 10 minutes and if you hate it, you can stop. Get in the pool with your kids for 10 minutes, or do a yoga class on YouTube. If after 10 minutes you’ve had enough, call it. You might end up liking it enough to stay for 5 more minutes. A lot of times, getting started is the worst part. Not always, but it’s worth exploring.

 

Or, try things you used to like. Was there a unit you liked in gym class? What did you do outside with your friends when you were a kid? You can join things like kickball or softball leagues, or even rent a gymnasium for a night and play some floor hockey.

 

Something that I personally would like to try is making a bingo card of activities I’d like to try. What’s an activity that you’ve seen on TV that looks kind of cool? Rock climbing? Spikeball? Fishing? Or, if your family members have some favorite activities, put some of those on there. My dad went to his first CrossFit class because he wanted to spend time with my mom and me, and now he goes 3 or more days a week. Does your spouse like to hike? Do your kids like to paddleboard? I bet they’d love to show you and have you step into their world with them!

 

Adjust your expectations

You might never become a fitness fanatic. If we can get you from being disgusted to being “meh” about it, that’s great. You can stay healthy with that attitude toward exercise. If you can get to a place where exercise is something you can tolerate, then take the pressure off to make it something you love. Ask yourself, or your coach, how you can take what you enjoy or at the very least, what you’re already doing, and make it just slightly more active. If today you are parking toward the back of the parking lot, maybe next month we can add taking the stairs instead of the elevator. 

 

The bottom line is: movement is what matters, NOT exercise (for general health). You never need to fall in love with it, you just need to make it tolerable, and there are many ways to do that including trying something new, adding a little more movement to your normal routines, or using activity as a way to spend time with loved ones. If you have ideas, please share them in the comments!