Asklemmy

It's dependent on how my day was and the music/podcast I'm listening to. If both are good, I can enjoy my workout with a better mindset. If not, I just remind myself that my body will thank me later on and I generally have a better attitude after working out regardless.

I used to hate lifting. Now I look at it like a meditation, and look forward to it (mostly) every day.

I love cycling, although I would say it's a combination of travel + physical activity that does it for me. I can also listen to some stuff in the background while cycling, which satisfies my ADHD monkey brain, because it's two (or three) experiences crammed into one time slot (efficiency!).

Yes. I wholly enjoy working out these days. The noise @ 6am irritates my neighbors like their smoke irritates my lungs @ 12am.

I love it. I was a fat kid, lost a ton of weight at 30. Got really into biking which gave me strong legs but made me look like an alien. So I started lifting weights to balance that out (and improve my biking). I also started running without any break-in period because my bike fitness carried over to running well enough.

Now I love all three sports for their own sake. I have gone through phases focusing on each one and have developed training methodologies for each. I especially love biking in the summer, lifting in fall and spring, and running in the snow.

The key as I understand it is to set goals and start small, work your way into it. Also go slower on cardio; learn what zone 2 is and spend 80% of your time there. It is better to be slow and enjoy it than go too fast, burn out, and suffer.

Lifting weights feels like a routine. As someone else said, there is purity on watching your body work, looking at your form, and pushing for PRs. I highly recommend Wendel's 5-3-1 program.

Biking is very freeing, you can go anywhere with enough time. Very calming, in your head time.

Running is shorter and more intense, even at an easy pace I don't usually want to go more than an hour. But it also feels good for the rest of the day, and there is something charming about getting all sweaty from doing awesome things.

I find gyms insufferably boring.

I play an intense competitive sport which burns easily 5000 calories a week, keep a reasonable diet, and do stretches/cooldowns according to my Dr and physio. Then at home I do a pretty basic routine of squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretch band exercises. I don't smoke and barely drink anymore either.

I'm 38 and that keeps me in great physical condition, healthy weight, nice muscle tone; plus I'm energetic, and mostly injury free. I've also noticed I'm aging significantly better than my stagnant friends and colleagues.

Find a sport you enjoy and go all in on that.

Does swimming, yoga, biking and gardening count as exercise, or are we strictly taking about big muscle workout?

I do enjoy lifting weights but I can tell it's because I've been sitting at a desk all day. I think I'd hate it if I had any other job.

Gods! I used to! I had to stop the kinds of exercise I loved post disability, and the fucking physical therapy shit I can still do isn't enjoyable, it's just so damn dull and doesn't give the same feeling of satisfaction, despite hurting so much more.

But I would work out up to three hours a day when I had time. Calisthenics, strength training, martial arts (unarmed, plus various weapons), break falls and air rolls (an offshoot of the martial arts).

It was fun, and I could feel the benefits of it, and I miss the ability to tell my body what to do, and it just does it.

But yeah, I not only enjoyed the workout itself, and the benefits, but I even enjoyed the ache and burn of it. It was fulfilling on so many levels.

I did cross fit for a few years and actually got in shape. I genuinely enjoyed working once I got in shape. You almost get addicted to the feeling if your heart rate being maxed out while sweating buckets.

Having had both great and terrible work out days, I found what led to the good, enjoyable days was purely the mindset. HIIT on a stationary bike sucks, but I had some fun sessions when I turned it into a game. Weight lifting routines can be super boring, but changing from rep based to time based and seeing if you can crank out a few more reps without sacrificing form can make it fun.

It takes a lot to get into that mindset for me, but it's possible and it makes a world of difference. Gamification of any task can introduce a challenge and give oneself a better purpose in the moment.

No. It's always a pain the ass. I love how it makes me feel though.

When I'm running, yes I do. When I'm doing any other form of exercise? Not really.

But I really love feeling fit

Yeah, it's very relaxing stress release. I spend a lot of my day looking forward to my lifting between 10-11pm and thinking about what accessory work I'll be able to get to do after my main lifts.

You can listen to podcasts, nobody is coming to ask you to do something and demand your attention, there's no other chores to do during that hour.

It's addicting too, feeds the same itch from video games leveling up, grinding in Diablo for that piece of loot that raises one stat by like 2% you get hungry for those little boosts and they stack up over time and you keep trying to optimize your loadout so you can squeeze out a little more performance from the build, same thing with lifting and trying to keep pushing to the next increase.

I walked on the treadmill today. It was nice. No pressure to go fast or do any prescribed workout. I put in my earbuds, had a video playing off to the side, and went at my own speed. First time I’d done that kind of thing in a long while, and it was nice. Got a whole mile in. I don’t know if that’s the appeal exercising has for everyone else, but that’s it for me.

Yeah sometimes. I know that even if I did nothing in a day, if I go work out I feel like I did something.

It also feels good to get a personal record on a machine or at an exercise.

It also feels great to get a good pump in.

After a workout you feel satisfied and tired and it's great!

Also seeing your strength and stamina go up in everyday tasks is satisfying.

My advice is start slow. Even if it's a light day and you're kind of miserable, you still feel good about getting it done. Try to convince yourself to go for a week, and go easy, very easy. Like just get any amount of exercise done. It'll become easier and easier to go to the gym and to do exercises. And you'll find that you'll start to like some of them.

You might like how it stretches a muscle or tendon that is always a little tight. Back extensions feel AMAZING

You might like how strong certain exercises feel

You might like how the extra muscle alleviates pains you've had in the past

You might like how much definition a certain exercise gives you.

You might even just become proud of how good you can do an exercise. I used to have that. "Yeah I'm not bad at working out, but crunches? I'll beat anyone"

it's fun sometimes to bring a friend along and compete a little as well. You can also motivate each other to keep going.

Started hitting the gym for about 4 months now, what has helped me a lot is getting a personal trainer, he helps me push past the last 5%, and it gives me someone to talk to between reps. And while I don't necessarily get pleasure in the moment while lifting weights, I do get it afterwards, when feeling my muscles burn. And it does wonders for my energy levels and my general mood.

I also started running a month ago, I promised someone I will participate in a 10k in October with them. This is definitely more on the "existence is pain" side, but while doing it I try to focus more on my form and breathing, and less on how it makes me feel.

It's kind of hard to describe really

It's like you're lost in the movements, you're caught in the flow, the strain is no longer a struggle, you just flow, you move and it moves.

Your reps go on, your sets flow together, the down time ceases being a factor, you're there.

The presence of mind and body, you are there, you are now, you move.

Numbers mean nothing but you know when the reps are done, the exercises flow together.

Someone could call your name and you wouldn't know it as it's not in your mind.

There's only the movement, there's only the flow.

There is no you, there is no weights, there is no other, there is only movement and flow.

And when it's over you know it, yet feel like you could go a second time through the whole affair. And sometimes I do and then I feel Godly for the whole day and sometimes the next.

And the sleep quality that night is beyond description.

I've hit that state many times doing calisthenics (my typical workout), when out biking, and when out hiking. It's always the same really.

Hour long calisthenics routine? What's a second hour really?

20 mile bike ride? I could go another round, why not snag some dinner from that food cart I got lunch at?

15 mile hike? Well tonight's going to be even better with all the stars, what's a second trip around the mountain?

You don't get there immediately, you won't get there every time, but when you do it's bliss.

These people addicted to running tho... 👀

IDK how they do it. I hate running. I have had extended periods in my life where I exercised 6 times a week, but I never enjoyed it.

I go to the gym 6 days a week if I can and the term we use is "Secondary fun"

It is fun to think about doing it, it feels great once you're finished and your heart rate drops back down. But it sucks mid workout.

I definitely do. My dumb-dumb brain doesn't really get the whole neurotransmitter thing, but as stingy as it is with dopamine and nor-adrenaline, as generous it is with endorphins. Oh, you're 5 minutes into your cardio warm-up of your hour long work-out? Enjoy this heap of endorphins for the next 2 hours. I feel good, it's extremely meditative because thoughts are just on pause, I love getting stronger and more in shape, and I always go in the sauna at the end of my work-out which is a huge motivator before going and makes it all even better at the end. I always walk out of the gym completely zen and satisfied.

If you don't get such an easy endorphin rush, I don't know what to do. I can imagine it would suck in that case.

Yes, I now love taking exercise in most ways but I came to it quite late. Today for instance, as training for a sprint triathlon I've decided to to, I ran to the swimming pool, swam the required distance and then ran back. It felt great to be able to do it. Some bits of my body were sore but not in a bad way, just a reflection of the fact that I worked hard and accomplished something if not done before, it feels great.

For me there is no greater endorphin rush than listening to some really good bassey music and really pushing myself on a cardio machine

Rum & bass + rowing machine really got the adrenaline going for me, was actually comparable to being high for a period of time

Lifting weights is different but feels very good to see yourself in the mirror lifting something heavier than you've ever done before and you get addicted to chasing that feeling

I think part of the mindset is getting yourself to embrace the physical punishment and actively seek it out, couldn't tell you exactly how to do that but for me a lot of the time knowing it's going to be difficult will get me more excited now

I climb , so it’s fun and not really a chore at all. If anything I’m disappointed when my skin gives out and I have to give it a break.

I always dread doing it but once I've started and after I've finished yes

Yes, of course. But if you don't enjoy it, you don't have to do it, or don't have to do it at the level you're attempting. There are 1000 ways to be fit and healthy, you don't have to pick 2 and do them forever. Experiment.

Yeah for sure. Somedays no, but once you make it part of your routine it gets alot easier to enjoy. I usually listen to podcasts or music to keep my mind more active though and that helps alot, because then you are not thinking solely of the physical exertion on my body.

Yes! I love it. It's almost a meditative experience for me, kind of like when you're in the shower alone with your thoughts. Also, since I've been regularly working out for a couple of years now, I'm at a point where if I don't work out, then I start feeling like shit.

Is there anything the rest of us can do to cultivate such a mindset?

Idk, but I definitely did not like it at the start. I just sucked it up and pushed through, making sure I did it on a regular basis. Eventually, it stopped feeling like a chore and started feeling like a part of my routine, like brushing my teeth in the morning or showering in the evening.

It's delayed gratification.

I hate working out. It feels like shit. It hurts. It takes time. It's not fun.

But this is so much better than looking like shit.

I'm weight deficient for a man. Had to deal with a lot of comments from not being a real man to bring viewed like a cartoon character to some women.

Every time I want to stop a set early or not workout that night, I hear all the haters and I run back to my routine.

I do it for them. And it works.

I am in a gym at this very moment. No I do not.

Do I enjoy my workout? Fuck no! I do it because I want to keep my body in shape and healthy. But I do experience some pleasure. During my warmup jog, I hate myself for putting myself through this, but later when I'm lifting weights, I feel like I'm somehow doing something good by lifting something so heavy. And afterwards, I feel very elated, free and awake. So it's a net positive even if the process is near torture sometimes.

YES.

And it seems I'm in the minority as well. I enjoy my workout during, but I think it's mostly psychological. This is doing either weights or cardio. For weights, the pump is key, and addictive, which is not specifically psychological.

I think the psychological part has something to do with the accomplishment of getting the workout in, and looking forward to the feeling or "high" afterwards which is noticeable to me.

Also regular workouts make me feel better generally throughout the week, on a regular basis. Very noticeable if I stop for weeks at a time, and I miss it.

I didn't enjoy it at first, but seeing progress in my weightlifting encouraged me a ton. Eventually I did start enjoying the actual workout, and if I skip a day it feels like something is missing.

Ive been lifting for about 4 years, it took 6-12 months for me to start enjoying the process.

I do. Something in my monkey brain just likes lifting heavy shit.

I'm at a point where sometimes I don't want to go lift, but it's part of my routine that if I don't go I feel like shit. a chore to go, change and warm up but 20min in I just fall in the zone