Your Turn: Do you LIKE exercise?

by Martha Edwards (Subscribe to Martha Edwards's posts)
Sep 3rd 2008 3:10PM

Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback.

There was a time in my life when exercise was tedious, torturous even. It was something I did out of necessity -- sometimes to slim down, more often because my high school gym teacher made me. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And, not surprisingly, I didn't keep it up regularly.

But somewhere along the line, things changed. Yeah, I still have days where I check the clock every five minutes, but more often than not, I don't think about time. And even if I do, I keep going because I know the way I feel afterwards will make it all worth it. When I'm feeling lethargic, when I have something on my mind, when I want to start my day right, I head to the gym. And I love it.

But what about you?

Comments (5)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

rrr 9-03-2008 @ 4:28PM

I feel almost exactly like the author.
It used to be hard to get myself to workout and not much fun but now that I'm in better shape I crave it.
I know my day will be better, I know my body will feel better and look better; those are powerful draws.
It took a lot of effort to break the inertia that was keeping me fat and lazy but now it's almost harder on me when I don't work out.

Chris 9-03-2008 @ 5:39PM

I hate it. It's torturous and I'm trying but failing to go regularly. I've tried tons of methods to distract myself, to not distract myself (the old listening to your body and concentrating on that approach), to mix it up, to try intervals, to challenge myself to reach new markers. It's just incredibly boring and not at all mentally stimulating.

I hate it.

u262f 9-05-2008 @ 1:18PM

I think "exercising" or "working out" is an inefficient waste of time, energy, and money in most people's cases. I suppose there are people who honestly enjoy the adrenaline rush, but I don't understand why people force themselves to exercise when they hate it. Aren't we all busy enough? Therefore, I don't "exercise" or "work out" at all. That's why I chose "other": all the options imply that I actually exercise or work out.

Instead, I play video games -- Dance Dance Revolution in particular. It's a lot of fun, and it's playing video games, not "exercising". Just listening to the music makes me happy. I love getting good scores, unlocking new songs, and beating my previous records. I also like tending to my yard, such as weeding by hand, watering by hose instead of using sprinklers, manually rotating the compost with a shovel, etc. It's very relaxing, and I get delicious, fresh food out of it. I don't like the act of cleaning, but I like having a clean house. I work up a sweat scrubbing things down myself, not to mention that this saves me money by not having to hire a maid service.

I find the "working out" phenomenon to be very ironic. Tons of people pay tons of money and waste tons of gas going to tons of gyms to waste even more energy and look so utterly miserable doing it so that they can consume more food and complain about being utterly miserable making money to pay for that food. Frankly, I don't think spending time and money "working out" to be any better than spending time and money on a shopping spree or a night out at the movies. In the end, "working out" is just a luxury and sheer entertainment, and if you don't enjoy it, then it was a waste of time and money.

I lost weight by giving myself permission to enjoy my life. To start off with, I gave myself permission to play video games. I also love TV, and I gave myself permission to watch lots of TV (while lying sprawled out on the floor... doing Pilates-like exercises... and lifting light weights). I gave myself permission to spend lots of time playing with my food. By playing with my food, I've found that I can make better-tasting versions of most of my favorite foods (and my versions happen to also be healthier). I gave myself permission to have real sugar and real fat, which reduced my snacking urges. It's amazing how satisfying real sugars and fats can be after trying to substitute low-calorie snacks for so long. When I read labels to look for food with the lowest amount of calories and fat, I kept gaining weight. These days, I try to buy foods without labels (fresh produce), or I try to buy food with the highest percentage of proteins and vitamins compared to the amount of calories, fats, and salts. It's been much more effective than trying to pick foods with the lowest number of calories and fats.

Fitness is not about quantity (or lack thereof). It's about quality. It's about enjoyment. It's about really living life. Any food or activity that doesn't enhance your enjoyment of life in general should be removed. If you hate exercise, don't do it. Find what you really want to do, what you really enjoy doing, and give yourself permission to indulge in it. It just happens that it's often easier to give yourself full permission to indulge yourself (so you don't feel guilty after) if you can work some sort of physical activity into it. (If you feel guilty after, then you didn't give yourself full permission.)

u262f 9-05-2008 @ 1:42PM

Something else I wanted to mention...

I was an academically gifted child during high school. My IQ tests at genius level, in the top fraction of a percent of the population. I was one of the kids who aced AP classes without studying, won chess tournaments and several academic competitions, played in orchestra, competed in piano, volunteered at the hospital, took college classes during high school (college students were even asking me to tutor them), and generally did well at everything -- except PE. I've always hated exercise.

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) seemed to have been made for me. I love music. In spite of being gifted, I find Dance Dance Revolution to be very mentally stimulating. At the higher levels, it's actually a challenge to even parse the arrows on the screen, let alone optimize which feet to put on which arrows. For some songs, it's difficult figuring out where in the beat the foot is supposed to fall.

For me, my brain is in control. DDR engaged my brain, and I became so eager to test out the potential solutions to the foot/arrow optimization problem that my brain forced my body to keep going.

Stephanie 9-04-2008 @ 9:21AM

It can go either way, for me. For instance, my boyfriend and I will go for 3 hour walks in the nature preserve, and while I can feel my legs start to tire, I don't mind it at all. We're planning to take a trip camping in the Appalacian Trail next summer, even. Hopefully, we can eventually buy kayaks and get our exercise kayaking.

But when it comes to running or trying to actually fit exercise into my schedule, other than random walks with my boyfriend which will only happen once every two weeks... I find it a royal pain. I hate running, and right now I'm not a member of a gym (can't afford it), and even then I wouldn't want to get up at 5:30 every morning just to work out.

If I have the time, I honestly don't mind working out, especially doing resistance training. Being outside and not even THINKING that I'm getting exercise is the best, and I truly enjoy it. But it just gets me more stressed trying to figure out how and when to get my exercise in during the day. So now it's a royal pain.