How did you find an exercise that you love?

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  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    I'm 49 and I've been active most of my life, and never thought of it, as boring. Walked 12miles with a group, and then got lost, which meant we walked for a total of 14hours. Have done this twice lol Danced from 8pm to 8am with just pop drinks, and water for fuel (you can do this in London). Swim ten lengths without moving legs. Run up a steep hill, jump rope in the park, roll down a grassy hill, climb a tree, slide on the bannister, paddle a canoe, without getting wet, horse riding, gardening, snow walking, without loosing boots, ski, skate, cycle, and just have fun with my friends :)
  • ValeriePlz
    ValeriePlz Posts: 517 Member
    OP, you sound like you have tried a lot of things, which is good. I agree with others that you should do more of what you love, or modify the workouts so you like them more.

    For instance, I am one of those people at the gym that reads on the exercise bike. I also walk outside instead of on a treadmill whenever I can.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    See: profile picture.

    Basically, I found a pole studio in town, watched some YouTube videos and decided I wanted to try, so I emailed the instructor to see if she thought my 240 lb self could handle it. She encouraged me to come try it, I did, and was immediately addicted.

    As for strength-building? Pole dancing. Do it.
  • chaemd
    chaemd Posts: 38 Member
    I think the reason why I prefer push up's over most things are because I was told I'd never be able to put pressure on my right arm after the accident I was in. Never be able to do a cartwheel, a hand stand, a back bend, or push up's anything like this. I was also told if I was ever able to do 1 push up, it would probably damage my arm worse. I was scared for a long time to not attempt it, but after doing a lot of things I was told I couldn't or wouldn't ever be able to do, I decided I'd prove my doctor wrong, after all he said I'd be lucky to gain 20% back in it, but now have 80% back to it.

    qp42o4.jpg

    I even have gone as far as doing them with my daughter on my back.

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    You look great! Congratulations to you!
  • Zylahe
    Zylahe Posts: 772 Member
    I dont see why u need to pick one thing..
    At the moment i' rock climbing, walking and learning to skate. ( roller derby style)
    Sometimes ( about once a fortnight) i go for a " run". (= stagger) around the block.

    I like that each activity uses different muscles and is a different intensity.

    If you really want to stick with a particular excersize, get a group of friends / colleugues doing it. That way, you arn't going just for the excersize but for the time together too.
    Climbing is fantastic for this as there is a reasonable amount of down time.


    Try getting some frinds of collegues to go to a taster session of some activity near you.
    You can also make friends at your activity, even if it starts with chitchat bfore/ after classes. One yoga class i used to go o, the hole class would go out for a curry together afterwards.



    Ooh and Velum, i've always wanted to try pole dancing, am so jelous.
  • MichaelRobinson1994
    MichaelRobinson1994 Posts: 83 Member
    Try giving weight lifting a go. It is for me a great form of stress relief.

    Look at 5x5 stronglifts as a good starting programme. You'll get strong and you wont get bulky, but get dense, strong, toned muscles.
    A great thing is the metabolic gain from lifting! - You increase your muscle mass, which boosts your metabolism, and the lifting itself leaves me STARVING, and able to eat back those calories knowing I've earned them!

    I used to be overweight, and now I'm pretty lean and very happy with myself (I used to be 28lbs overweight when I started) - Now I want to start getting some size and bulking up a little, so I've started a new programme. But Lifting is my favourite thing in the world.

    I also play for my Universities Volleyball Team, so that keeps me lean too!
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I really need to learn to practise consistency. All my life I've had a tendency to jump from one type of exercise to the next, and never really commit to any one type. Most of the time I end up getting bored of what I'm going and move on to something else...

    So far I've tried basketball, volleyball, hockey, multiple gyms and classes such as body attack, hiking, walking, running, pilates, yoga, cycling, swimming, TABATA, HIIT, 30 Day Shred and Ripped In 30. I've found the only activities I really enjoy are yoga (only in a class), cycling, hiking, swimming (in summer only) and walking. My trouble is that these alone are not enough. I need something that I can do to build muscle as well as endurance... and I have no idea where to start as I ended up hating every other exercise I've tried!

    How did you find an exercise that you love? Can anyone suggest a program that I could follow (I like structure)?

    Hey variety is the spice of life!! I love mixing up my cardio workouts! There is no set rule you have to stick to one type of cardio (unless you're training for a race or something)....I say mix it up!!!

    As far as strength training. Stronglifts seems to get a lot of votes around here. You might want to give it a try. What I found is I love body weight exercises for strength training too!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    I didn't think I'd like lifting heavy things...then I started Stronglifts 5x5 and learned I love to lift all the heavy things.

    I also love kickboxing.
  • mfp2014mfp
    mfp2014mfp Posts: 689 Member
    Think about what you loved doing as a child in terms of sport/physical activity. This is what worked for me, I went to the pool one day to see if I still liked swimming. Ive been back every day because I LOVE it :happy:
  • RainRedfield
    RainRedfield Posts: 597 Member
    I'm in Search and Rescue. The rope team was loaded with my kind of people (intelligent, funny, and crazy enough to jump off a perfectly good bridge). I found I love Climbing and Rappelling. :)
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    Why do you have to practice consistency with exercise? I don't think there's anything wrong with switching it up when you get bored. I really don't like lifting but I force myself to do it twice a week because I know that it's beneficial and I always feel great after. I just put on some good music and deal with the boringness until I'm done. I fill the rest of my week with workouts that I love and look forward to.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
    It's a long story. My EX husband was "working late" a lot leaving me at home at night. I thought I should probably learn to protect myself. I was already working out and found it really boring. So I gave Martial Arts a try. You have to pay attention in class and perfect your form, as best you can, from the first day. The class went by fast because of this. No more boredom!

    Fast forward about a year. As it turns out "working late" was code for "running around like my pants are afire" for my EX. I told him that I was sick of his running around that he was free to date as he was going to be single soon, anyway. I also threw in some scathing insults when he tried to lie his way out of a divorce. This made him angry. I guess he didn't like to be referred to as a "lying man-ho" etc.... He lunged at me and chased me up the stairs. I was faster, and more clever, he was in a choke hold (using the bedroom door as a weapon) in seconds. I made him call 911 on himself. :smile:

    I have loved the power and freedom of Martial Arts (contact kick boxing) ever since! I push myself to lift weights to improve my kick boxing.
  • mccallp319
    mccallp319 Posts: 52 Member
    I started lifting in athletics when I was 12. When I was 14 I joined the powerlifting team and I absolutely fell in love with it. I stopped for about 4 years after high school, but I have since started lifting again.
  • rorae
    rorae Posts: 34 Member
    pj primrose - you rock !!
  • lorigrocks
    lorigrocks Posts: 123 Member
    Have you tried kickboxing? I go to a women's only place that is strictly kickboxing you get a full body work out in an hour...it is very intense but what keeps me going is we do something different every time so it never gets boring. I have tried lots of different things as well and have always gotten bored and given up within a month...I have been at kickboxing for 2 months now and am already looking forward to going tomorrow :-)
  • KameHameHaaa
    KameHameHaaa Posts: 244 Member
    I decided to try doing things I used to do as a kid when I was more active/energetic lol. I've been doing the 30 minute circuit at my planet fitness and was incredibly bored, so instead of just stepping up and down on the steps I've been doing punches, blocks and other stuff that I learned when I took martial arts as a kid. I probably look goofy doing that while everyone else is stepping up and down but I've compared my calorie burn doing the punches to my calorie burn just using the steps and I burn ALOT more with the punches because its something i ENJOY and can do more vigorously I guess.

    So i guess my point is just find something you really, honestly love doing and just be awesome at it :)

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