Does anyone read while they exercise?

MyIrishSpirit
MyIrishSpirit Posts: 43 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I get funny looks at the gym. I bring my Nook and set it on the elliptical machine to read while I work out. I find it passes the time even better than TV. I've never seen anyone else doing it, found a magazine on a recumbant bike once.

Does anyone out there read while they exercise?
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Replies

  • IsabellaC45
    IsabellaC45 Posts: 137 Member
    Nowadays I bike off road, so it'd be a little dangerous to read at the same time! =P

    But when I was taking my exams in college, I would read my revision notes while on the bike or treadmill!

    I got a couple of funny looks, but I just thought of it as an efficient use of time!!! =)
  • mviegas1
    mviegas1 Posts: 46 Member
    I read at the gym all the time. Definitely makes the workout go by quicker.
  • gmukris
    gmukris Posts: 539
    My Kindle is always at the gym with me!
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    I've never been moving slowly enough to read while exercising. Maybe on a bike you could, but how do you do that on an elliptical? Must be a flat elliptical on which you can't raise the incline?
  • dwh77tx
    dwh77tx Posts: 513 Member
    I used to, but then realized that I wasn't really working hard enough if I was able to read while on the bike.
  • JohnMessmer
    JohnMessmer Posts: 536
    If I ever start to exercise I could answer this a little better. I think reading would be a great escape while exercising; of course, nowadays so few people read that the looks you are getting are possibly from those that have never seen a book.
  • Serenitytoo
    Serenitytoo Posts: 449 Member
    I found I bounced too much on the eliptical so I worked my way through an audio book instead. It was really the only way I can keep my attention focused on listening to a story like that now. I much rather prefer to read it myself. :laugh:
  • musenchild
    musenchild Posts: 182 Member
    In college I would do my assigned reading in the gym (not all of it, obviously, although if I had I would have lost a lot more weight). Now I have a compact stepper at home and before I broke my ankle I would use it while reading or watching TV.

    Not worried about working out "hard enough", moving is better than sitting on the couch. I might feel differently if I were paying for a gym membership. You get used to the up-and-down motion, especially if you hold the book in your hands instead of resting it on the machine.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    I'm not sure how to attach a book to a barbell.
  • LordBear
    LordBear Posts: 239 Member
    i c people reading at the gym all the time..one gym i go to has a big magazine rack... but i am at the gym to work out so anything else is just going to get in the way since i am busy.. although i do have audiobooks on my ipod..that doesnt get in my way.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    No I'm there to work out and I find that I can't put all I got into a work out if I'm nose deep in a novel.
  • DollyMiel
    DollyMiel Posts: 377 Member
    I tried when I was using an exercise bike, but it only frustrated me and even on a bike I still bounced around too much to read properly. That's probably kinda sad. haha;

    Now I'm bouncing around on purpose so I definitely can't read anymore. I know my mom does when she goes to the gym though, so you can't be the only one.
  • kingscrown
    kingscrown Posts: 615 Member
    I get motion sickness when I try and read. I see people do it all the time I would if I could. What I do is listen to books or music on my iPod. I don't like TV at the gym at all, but I figure whatever gets people to the gym more power to them.
  • D3vAnge1
    D3vAnge1 Posts: 104 Member
    When I was a member at the YMCA, I saw many people reading & exercising. So me being me, I gave it my best shot. First on the stationary bike, but found I would lose momentum very easily. Then on the treadmill, well that was NOT one of my finest moments, LOL. Then the elliptical, but quit as it bored the heck out of me.

    Granted, I am not an entertainment reader. I read for information, not for entertainment (hi-liter, underlining, note taking), so this may be why I couldn't adopt this habit, despite how "in to it" the people I observed seemed to be as they read their newspapers, magazines, and novels IDK

    If it works for you, however, to each his own. Just be safe and consider that you may just be doing your workouts an injustice as instead of your mind focusing on decreasing your lap time or increasing your workout intensity, it's keened in on what Kate Moss said about Jen Hudson's inquiry on Devyn Devine's overweight tush or what's about to happen in the next scene in that new Nora Robert's novel.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Nowadays I bike off road, so it'd be a little dangerous to read at the same time! =P

    But when I was taking my exams in college, I would read my revision notes while on the bike or treadmill!

    I got a couple of funny looks, but I just thought of it as an efficient use of time!!! =)

    On-road might be a little dicey too! :laugh: :laugh:
  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
    nope. too busy sweating and bouncing and lifting and pushing to be reading...
  • Goal_Driven
    Goal_Driven Posts: 371 Member
    I use to :)
  • Chelsrf
    Chelsrf Posts: 194 Member
    There are quite a few women at my gym that read while doing cardio. I can read while on the elliptical but find it more difficult to do when walking/running on treadmil. I agree with you though, I feel like the time goes by faster when I read.
  • MissNations
    MissNations Posts: 513 Member
    In college I would totally read magazines on the recumbent bike.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    I read nursing stuff when I'm on the elliptical or the stationary bike (which I do now and then for lower-impact niceness on my knees). If I'm out for a run, or doing weights, Crossfit, Zumba, or some other high-intensity workout, I don't, because it just doesn't work with high intensity stuff.

    Going through nursing school means I need to read things (a hell of a LOT of things), and that doesn't stop just because I need a workout. So I maximize my time when I can, so I can have more time later on to do things I want to do, and not spend quite as many hours in the house with my nose buried in literature.

    Bam.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
    If you can read while you're "exercising", then you're not working hard enough. :flowerforyou:
  • MyIrishSpirit
    MyIrishSpirit Posts: 43 Member
    Yeah I wasn't sure at first if I'd be able to do it while moving. I made the font bigger and found it was fine. At first it's a little hard to keep my place but once I get into it I haven't had a problem.

    I don't know about not working out hard enough. It's possible... I'm still at the beginning of my weight loss, I've only lost 6lbs so far; I'm still a good 279lbs. But I do 1.25 miles on the elliptical in about 20 minutes, then I'll hit the treadmill for 40 minutes and 2.5 miles. I'm working my way up on the elliptical, made it to 25 minutes this week. My goal is to do my whole hour on it instead of the treadmill.

    Maybe once I get to that point I won't be able to read while I do it anymore. We shall see!

    I obviously don't read while strength training, weight lifting, etc. I should have been more specific :)
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    i tried once. Barbell hit me in the face. Never bench press 1 handed.
  • mrsbrightside4
    mrsbrightside4 Posts: 27
    I see people read all the time at the gym. I can only do it if I'm on the bike. I wish I could read while on the other machines, I get motion sickness :(
  • Erienneb
    Erienneb Posts: 592 Member
    Oh man I get headaches if I try. I'm bouncing around too much, no way. A lot of women at my gym bring their e-readers, but they're also skinny and strolling along on the treadmill.
    I either need intense music, or I've started watching TV on my phone. This is because I don't need to stare at the screen the whole time as long as I can hear it, so I don't get headaches, but I still am distracted from how much my excersising hurts.
  • silvergurl518
    silvergurl518 Posts: 4,123 Member
    people used to bring textbooks with them to the gym in college. i just can't focus on words when i'm working out. plus, i like to have an ESCAPE from everything and just zone out. :)
  • valcladdagh
    valcladdagh Posts: 210 Member
    too funny!
  • Grandysl
    Grandysl Posts: 189
    I love reading on my kindle when I am on the stationary bike. Sometimes I read on elliptical, but sometimes it makes me motion sick.
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
    If I was planning on the ellipticals and only the ellipticals, I brought my Kindle. Now I'm trying to get some running in most days so it's a pain to have it.

    I think music is better option for me. Often when I'm at the gym Paula Dean is on the food network slowly killing her family with butter and it's entertaining to watch since they've enabled the closed captioning on all the TVs and I don't have to deal with her DRAWLLLL

    I'm trying to increase my speed and distance running so very few just ellipticals days now.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I can't read or even watch TV while working out at a high level of intensity. I need to have an accompaniment of fast-paced music with a strong beat.

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