Feeling off if too long between workouts

zeldon919
zeldon919 Posts: 118 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
A lot of people I know who are fit, and people on here, say that if they go too long before workouts they start to feel (for lack of a better term) off.

If this is the case for you, how long did that take?

Bonus points if you do/did hate exercise.

Replies

  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,281 Member
    Yup. Me. And yes, I used to hate exercise. I don't know when I turned that corner though. I just kept going and going, whether or not I felt motivated. I still do. Even if I'm not motivated. Motivation rarely dictates how my workout will be, so I just go. But if the weather stinks and I can't get to the pool, I get "off." I don't sit around on vacation, not because I feel guilty or "should be" working out, but because my body isn't used to inactivity. I feel better if I'm moving each day. Something. Anything. Even better if it's a planned workout and it's a good one. Then I feel awesome. I really didn't focus on trying to like it. I started doing something I already had an interest in and tried to get better (running-I was too fast for years, and swimming-I always had a fear of water). That made it easier. I think I realized one day when I missed a couple of workouts that I was much happier when I got a regular workout.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    zeldon919 wrote: »
    A lot of people I know who are fit, and people on here, say that if they go too long before workouts they start to feel (for lack of a better term) off.

    If this is the case for you, how long did that take?

    Bonus points if you do/did hate exercise.

    Can you define more clear please?

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    I'm assuming the OP meant going too long "between" workouts and "before" was probably a typo. My response is very similar to @girlwithcurls2. I'm so used to regular activity that I feel "off" and not very good mentally or physically if I have to go too long without being active. Thankfully that rarely happens.
  • zeldon919
    zeldon919 Posts: 118 Member
    Sorry - *too long between workouts*. The specifics vary, but not the base fact of it.

    Basically - tried for years to get an exercise habit, never stuck for more than a month. Now I want to try again.

    I live where winter is brutal, and I use public transportation. So for ~6 months of the year leaving the house for any reason is a pain in the *kitten* and I barely see sunlight.

    I’m hoping that if I start in earnest in spring I’ll be at that point by next winter. Where it won’t be a chore, it’ll be something that’s a habit, and also something my body is accustomed to and needs (enough to override my brain’s desire to hibernate, or at least put up a good fight).
  • lin_be
    lin_be Posts: 393 Member
    I think the key is finding something you enjoy doing. I look forward to my 30 mins at the gym and I like to play sports or walk while listening to podcasts. So it doesn’t feel like a chore. Also, having a structured lifting program really helps me stay motivated to go to the gym because every 4 weeks I’m changing the program, taking progress photos, and I can feel myself getting stronger.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    zeldon919 wrote: »
    Sorry - *too long between workouts*. The specifics vary, but not the base fact of it.

    Basically - tried for years to get an exercise habit, never stuck for more than a month. Now I want to try again.

    I live where winter is brutal, and I use public transportation. So for ~6 months of the year leaving the house for any reason is a pain in the *kitten* and I barely see sunlight.

    I’m hoping that if I start in earnest in spring I’ll be at that point by next winter. Where it won’t be a chore, it’ll be something that’s a habit, and also something my body is accustomed to and needs (enough to override my brain’s desire to hibernate, or at least put up a good fight).

    I see.

    Develop habits on activity you enjoy by setting goals would be a good start. If you are hitting goals you are more than likely to stick with it.

    If you are progressing with lesser of stimulus for that activity, no worries & ride it out until you need to add more.
  • Picoides
    Picoides Posts: 16 Member
    Yes! I never thought I would be in this boat. I always hated exercise and didn't understand people who "needed" to do it. But now that I'm a couple of years into running and weight lifting, I've become one of those people. If I go too long without some kind of workout, I feel sort of edgy and just generally out-of-sorts. It's hard to explain. I don't feel guilty for not doing it - it's more like I miss it and feel a bit grumpy that I can't do it. I started to notice feeling this way after a few months of regular workouts. At that point, I was going to the gym several times a week to walk on the treadmill, and trying to lose 15 lbs; now I have a general routine of alternating cardio and weights 5-6 days per week. Believe me, I never expected to feel this way but now I LOVE that I do!
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I think very few people, especially if they are overweight, start out liking exercise. It's normal to hate to do it and find it to be a challenge. That was certainly me. I think when you build up regular routines, probably for about 3 months or so, then it starts to feel natural and it feels unnatural not to work out. Now if I go more than 1-2 days in a row without working out I feel weird, and my body is dying to get back to the gym. I went from being sedentary for years to working our 5-8 hours a week in about 6 months. It can be done, but it won't happen overnight.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I skated roller derby for quite a few years and in hiatus I could swear I would get atrophy pains in my quads after about a week off.
  • zeldon919
    zeldon919 Posts: 118 Member
    Thanks for the input everyone.

    At the moment, the exercise is primarily about general health and fitness, not weight loss. I’m far enough from goal that it won’t impact weight loss much.
    It’s also about wanting to get that habit in place now, because further along the journey it will make a big difference in loss and then maintenance (and vanity) and I want it to already be a regular part of my life when I get there.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    lin_be wrote: »
    I think the key is finding something you enjoy doing.

    ^^^This 100%. I played sports as a kid but never really enjoyed exercise of the sake of exercise until college. Even then it was more of a lesser of evils when I started using the rowing machine and random/unstructured lifting. Similarly, I started doing p90x after I gained some weight traveling constantly for work; while this was effective enough to do in hotels, i never really progressed passed the first month's set of workouts and had a habit of cherrypicking the videos I liked to do/was good at doing. After trying and loathing p90x3 I took up traditional powerlifting and absolutely fell in love. It's not something I have to do, it's something I want to do, want to do often to progress, refine, and improve at doing. If I can't or don't lift for any stretch of time I feel the same way about it as I would any other hobby; I miss doing it and get annoyed if I can't for whatever reason. I'd go as far to say that taking the requisite days off for rest and recovery is even problematic for me at times. Referring to your last question, it took years for me to find what I ultimately liked but it probably only took weeks to really get smitten with it.

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