Running. My brain struggles to start with anything that requires a lot of actions to get started. Going to the gym, for instance, requires me to grab my stuff, bike to the gym, change clothes, and then keep switching exercises. Any of these actions require me to get over a mental “bridge”, and can thus cause me to stop.
With running I change clothes, put on shoes, and just start running. I can be outside very quickly, before my brain realizes what’s really going on. And once I’m going it seem to cost me more mental energy to stop than to keep going. So for my brain it’s perfect. Barely any setup and almost no “bridges” to cross.
Long distance walking. I usually pick a direction, put on a podcast or some music, and just vibe as I walk and listen.
I do it because it’s not overly complicated, allows me to relax and enjoy something to listen to as I walk, gets me out of the house and maybe towards another activity I’d like to do, and it helps me sleep better at night.
On a light day, I might do it for 30 minutes. I might go for 2 hours if I’m in good condition. I think my record was over 5 hours.
I had horses for 10 years, and riding was by far the best exercise for me. I have fibromyalgia, so I can’t do many exercises without causing me way too much pain. I last rode in 2014.
I also love kayaking but haven’t gone in a long while because of kayak transport issues.
Yoga is also fun. I play the Nintendo Switch game Yoga Master and do yoga like once a month.
I have a very hard time with exercise. I do get about 20 mins of cardio each night catching my ducks to put them in bed.
I joined the gym last October, I usually road cycle 100-150 miles a week, come winter I’d hook my bike up to a turbo and spend winter indoor training, but by God it was dull, this past winter was amazing, 3 times a week strength training, yoga twice a weekend, pilates once a week, spin classes a couple of times a week, winter has never passed so quickly. Come summer the weather has been shit, barely done 1000 miles outdoors, usually would have done that in the first two months, carried on with strength training, yoga and pilates, but not so much the spin classes.
Road cycling. I was running for years, but I never really enjoyed it much. Never really got past the hobby stage of cycling, but eventually bought a nice mountain bike and started getting serious.
Then I later sold the mountain bike and got a road bike. This is my true calling. I have the full gear, with bibs, cycling socks and everything. I try to ride my bike whenever the weather is nice, but… that is unfortunately rare in my area.
Playing Switch games while walking on a treadmill. I always found exercise boring before, but the split controller of the Switch makes it easy to play while walking.
I have found I don’t even notice I’m walking and look forward to it since I’m actually looking forward to gaming.
Dark Souls while walking is the best. I’ve walked about 140 miles in the last month.
I’m with you. Spent my life playing sports growing up, mainly swimming. Went into the Marines after. Constantly was in very good shape. I hate working out. I’m mid-30s now and I’ll walk for an hour at 4+mph, I’ll ride my bike, and those are fine because I’m out and about, but I’m just so over gyms and running. I think it’s for the best too, running is not great on your knees, and it also just sucks. I used to run a ton, but the only reason I did was because I didn’t want to get put in a situation in the Marines where I couldn’t do something. So I just ran. Never got the runners high or anything.
Not everyone is built the same. I loved exercise as a kid, and as I got older my sleep apnoea stopped me enjoying it. You know that good feeling you get after doing exercise, how your body feels energised and powerful? For a long time, I wouldn’t get that, because instead of recovering through sleep, my body was suffocating itself all night and I’d wake up feeling like I’d been beaten up underwater.
I tried and tried, but until I got a diagnosis and therapy, there was no use. I couldn’t enjoy it, I just got a headache and muscle cramps and spent the next day or two laid out. You can’t get healthier through exercise if your body won’t repair the damage the exercise is doing.
Even now, if I have a bad night, exercise is off the table. In fact, I get anhedonia, which is the pathological inability to derive pleasure from anything.
And yeah, I am way more likely to die of a heart attack, but that’s not a lifestyle choice. It’s just my condition. I was denied life insurance over it.
So maybe next time ask questions before you make judgements.
Yeppers. It triggers the brain to feel the big happy. Usually I’m not too happy when I try to start moving or when I’m just moving. But once I’m running I’ll usually have some point between 0-3km where it starts feeling good. And from there on out it keeps feeling good even if I’m tired.
I don’t particularly enjoy physical activity and so I try to maximize my time spent exercising. I use a couple of those adjustable dumbbells and spend a few minutes every day just doing some reps. If I’m feeling more motivated I will also mix in some calisthenics.
If you want more data, my wife enjoys walking and insists on walking 10k steps every day since she got her Fitbit 2 months ago. She hasn’t missed a day yet.
When it’s not hot AF I quite enjoy trail riding. I haven’t been in two years though because it’s quite hard to find that much free time (~4 hrs) when I have two kids under 6. I enjoy feeling the breeze as I ride, the constantly changing scenery, and the random challenges of rough terrain and steep hills. It’s also quite fun to use GPS and map your ride and see the stats.
Kids definitely make things harder don’t they? Mine are 2 and 5 and so even if we go out, they walk slow as shit, and if I turn up the intensity in hide and seek it’s over before it starts. I like to think I’m essentially exercising most of the time though, because they can certainly get my heart pumping.
I love lifting weights and LISS like long slow bike rides or runs. Intervals suck but I do them because they’re good for me. So I guess my answer is yes. If I had to pick a favorite it would be biking.
I’m primarily a runner but I’ve been combining swimming for the last 10 years or so and it’s been great. Swimming is fantastic cross training for runners. It lets you maintain cardio fitness while you give your “running” muscles a break. It teaches good breathing techniques. It works other muscle groups like upper body and core muscles which are important for stability. And most of all, for me, my partner loves to swim so it’s something we can do together.
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