How can I Positively Motivate My Spouse to Workout?

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Replies

  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    ...oops i mean prayer.:blushing: ( i really gotta remember to read the threads first for context.)
  • lindsaymarcin
    lindsaymarcin Posts: 81 Member
    Maybe suggest having a free date night each week and then pick an activity that will get him some exercise ex. nature trail walk, bike ride, or dancing. Like others have said you can't force someone who doesn't want to do it themselves, but there are small ways to help encourage :)
  • ReinasWrath
    ReinasWrath Posts: 1,173 Member
    Tell him if he works up a sweat you guys can shower together afterwards c:
  • LozPenguin
    LozPenguin Posts: 139 Member
    All I can think of...take up a sport that isn't too intense (or at least one that you can just play casually), one that you think he could find fun and requires a partner. Then tell him you really want to do it and beg him to come with you so you can. Make it all about you wanting to do something and not about 'getting him to exercise.' Maybe tennis or something. Hell even table tennis is a good start-you get a good bit of arm movement in and if you're bad at it, there's a lot of running after the ball. ;) If you make it a positive and relaxed experience, have some laughs; perhaps then he'll gradually start to enjoy less-stagnant activities and be more open to trying new ones as a couple, and you might be able to work your way up to work outs or going for a jog together. But in the end, when it comes to his health and fitness, its all up to him. You can't think for him, and it has to come from him to really make a solid change.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Nope, can't be intentionally/forcibly done.

    He may eventually be motivated to do it, and it may very well be something you did that caused it, but it could be any number of an infinite number of things that lead to it. (And one of those things actually could be you nagging him...but it's doubtful...and could (and more likely will) lead to an unintended outcome too.)

    Best of luck.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    Life lesson: The only behavior we can change is our own.
  • biddy249
    biddy249 Posts: 76 Member
    A man is not going to start working out until he has that "ahha" moment, sometimes that is a health scare or the light finally goes off in ones head and they say it's time to get moving. Until he decides for himself to get moving there is not much you can do. I would advise just setting a good example yourself. Lead the way by exercising regularly and leading a healthy lifestyle. Hopefully after he sees you committed to healthy living he may jump on board. Good luck to you.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I think this is a man thing... I really wish some men woukd chime in here...

    It's a man thing? Yeah, sure. Let's see a man come in here and ask how to get his wife to work out. He'd be in a coma for three months after that berating.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
    Someone bumped up a thread from 2012.
  • makingamiracle
    makingamiracle Posts: 41 Member
    You, topless. Hold his feet while he does sit ups. Works in my house.


    I'm sorry, that wasn't a serious answer at all.

    But it's the damn truth. I swear it! :wink:


    Um.... I need to exercise more!!! :tongue: :flowerforyou: :blushing:
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    I think this is a man thing... I really wish some men woukd chime in here...

    It's a man thing? Yeah, sure. Let's see a man come in here and ask how to get his wife to work out. He'd be in a coma for three months after that berating.

    As you know, it has been done before. It's predictably ugly and gets nuked and locked quickly...because how dare a husband try to figure out how to get his wife to improve her health...er, I mean, how dare he say he doesn't love his wife because she isn't a model with a perfect body (which is inevitably the popular translation).
  • makingamiracle
    makingamiracle Posts: 41 Member
    Whoa.... zombie thread alert.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Someone bumped up a thread from 2012.

    And I fell for it.
    giphy.gif
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    No shame.

    It's a frequently recurring topic anyhow...just as relevant if the question was asked today or a decade ago.
  • You can lead a horse to water...
  • amflautist
    amflautist Posts: 939 Member
    I have done all of the following at various times in my life - sometimes to motivate me, sometimes to motivate my children to go outside or do their homework. Never for DH.

    1. Sell the couch. 2. Use a pair of scissors to cut the cord to the TV. 3. Rearrange the furniture so that it's harder to be comfortable in front of the TV. 4. Cancel your satellite or cable subscription. 5. Buy a treadmill and set it up in front of the TV. Tell him its for you.

    The idea is to DO something to break up a bad habit. Talk never works.