this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 4 points 1 hour ago

I like to walk, I pick nice places with good/interesting scenery. It's good mentally too, helps me unwind and work out problems and come up with new ideas.

[–] snoons@lemmy.ca 9 points 7 hours ago

Knowing I won't feel like shit for the rest of the day.

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Play is a good one for aerobics. Going for a run or bike? Try to find new routes or go places you haven't before. Maybe run an errand. Maybe try to study wildlife or plants around while running one to another.

For strength training IDK. just pop in some absurd music and know that later it will feel good either just post exercise or weeks later when the exercise itself feels nice. It's also going to be nice when you go to lift a thing or hike and recognize you're actually stronger. Always a rewarding feeling!

In either case, it's important to reflect positively on your progress. "Hell yeah i can do this thing now thanks to my effort!“ and not negatively e.g. "my goals are so far away I'm so weak".

[–] sunglocto@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 hours ago

I just do it until I physically cant

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 5 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

I try not to think about it as a punishment for what I ate, and more a celebration of what my body can do.

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 2 points 1 hour ago

Yep. When you get old you won't be as able, so enjoy it while you can. And the exercise will likely prolong how long you can be mobile.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

This is a great perspective, I’m going to embrace it.

[–] WraithGear@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

I like to bike, and my motivation is to see what is around the bend…. And so i needed to spend a week recovering after biking 50 miles, and hard bonking 35 miles from my car. But hey i absolutely had the motivation to do that to my self.

Now my next motivation is survival, because the Sun has totally gone down, and if i don’t make it back to my car, i might actually die. A very powerful motivator that one.

[–] Statfish@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

I've always loved sports; so that part's easy, personally. But I've also learned to kind of savor the feeling of using my muscles and getting tired. Whatever I'm doing, or even on days where I didn't have time to "exercise", I make a point to check in on different parts of my body, maybe tense them or stretch; just trying to notice what feels good and then really savor that feeling. I find that building that mental practice helps motivate me to seek out exercise, or power through when I'm not really enjoying a particular activity.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 4 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Experiencing the benefits of strength training day to day (being able to move heavy shit easily and not struggle with things that I used to) also seeing how I look in the mirror after I do it helps.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

Fast speed hike incline on treadmill

Put in earbuds, drum&bass

Disassociate for 1-2 hrs while staring at the food channel

[–] Pika_nyan@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

Dance

Dance

REVOLUTION!!

(That rhythm game with the arrows on the screen and ground that you stomp on)

[–] blackstrat@lemmy.fwgx.uk 5 points 15 hours ago

I'm trying to do stuff that's quick that I can do every day. I do pushups before my morning shower and some squats whilst I brush my teeth. Do it every day, I feel better for it and it only takes like 3 minutes. You can do extra sets around the house if you have a spare 30-60 seconds too.

[–] Lorenz_These_Curves@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Not sure if this answers the question; but, as soon as I learned about BDNF and how muscle building can increase the levels of it, I became a gym rat. I want my brain to keep working past 90 and be able to program well into my 90s (I wanna be yelling at everyone about my struggles with Rust).In all seriousness if you don't wanna have dementia a little too early in life. Lift. Weights. Don't ignore cardio though. But BUILD so you can reap the benefits of your lean mass into your elder years . Training also helps me improve my MTB performance, which I find really fun.

Sorry for the wall of text :D

[–] kcweller@feddit.nl 1 points 49 minutes ago

Got any sources to read up on BDNF and working out? I just checked some stuff online but it's mostly either ai-slop articles or science papers about the protein itself 😅

[–] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 8 points 17 hours ago

I got a kid but not a car. Just walking to the kindergarten and back twice a day is movement. We spend a lot of time outdoors at playgrounds or parks and I have to do all the grocery shopping by bike or walking. I don't do other physical exercise admittedly, but this kid is a fitness machine. We be running, playing, I need to lift her, carry her, carry her stuff, clean up, wrestle - for real having a kid made me the most physically fit and active I've ever been.

When I was younger I liked to dance. Trying to lose weight I'd just put headphones on in my room and dance for hours. A friend of mine actually lost a crapton of weight this way, think obese to normal weight.

Also, making a kid (and training for it and reenacting it) is great exercise.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Sports or recreational activities, as opposed to going to gym for the sake of exercise. The physical exercise is a part of the activity rather than the sole focus.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 1 points 1 hour ago

When gym is no fun, go out and run

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago
[–] Truffle@lemmy.ml 10 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Try different things until you find something that feels good even as an idea. Think about things you like doing and how you like them. For me, I dislike team sports and being surrounded by people in a gym setting. I like doing things on my own, preferably at home while not talking to anyone. I first start thinking about maybe enjoying a spooky story podcast while walking so I start thinking about the temperature and the things I like watching while I'm out, etc. Same for weight lifting, pilates and yoga (Those are my cyclical workouts. I get bored easily) I hype myself up in my head first and then use the "do it for five minutes" method.

I have NEVER said "Well I wish I didn't come to yoga. This class sucked" "That lifting routine was a total waste of time. Not doing it again"

Also, having cute/neat stuff for it helps, just beware of spending habits. Did I need to buy green yoga blocks? No Do they make me Happy everytime I look how they are the exact same shade as my pothos? Yes they do.

[–] arararagi@ani.social 3 points 19 hours ago

I put some vtubers when running.

[–] FrustratedArtist@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Find sports that you actually enjoy - try out different things. In my case:

  • Cardio: running fucking sucks, swimming is boring as shit. Cycling, on the other hand, is pretty fun. Feels like flying when everything aligns.
  • Strength: lifting weights at the gym is doable, but boring. Climbing? Hell yeah, give me more routes where I have to tie myself into a knot while pulling up all my weight with my fingertips.

It can be an exact opposite of it for you. Or you'll find out that team sports are the bees knees because support from other people is what you've been missing.

[–] gt5@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I used to hate running until one day something clicked in my brain. I just ran my second half marathon last week. One thing I learned was that of your dying from running, you’re probably going too fast and should just slow down.

My PT told me that the best exercise is the one that you can do consistently

[–] MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 2 points 23 hours ago

the runner's high maybe? seems like it's bad for your knees though.

[–] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Combining fun with short-term goals is what works for me. I started playing squash 10 years ago and I love it. I play 3 times a week and that takes care of most of my cardio. Now when I lift weights or do extra cardio, it is because I want to beat that guy from league, move up a division, etc. Open ended reasons like health or beauty were never enough motivation for me.

[–] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

I want to beat that guy from league

Kinda same here. I want to argue with people. You know those people who promote their bs but you can't disprove it since the others call you skinny or not strong enough.

[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Combine with work. Birds and stones.

[–] Houseofoliviereu@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It became an addiction. It helps to relax. Not a gym rat. But almost. Need to go everyday. Far away to have those extra big muscles. But the "legs day" are..... horrible.... It hurts a lot...

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

No one needs to go every day. Recovery is important. 3 or 4 days a week is quite adequate.

[–] gurnu@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

There's no "need" but after going to the gym every day for a couple months... Yeah you need to go every day. I start feeling restless if I don't go do something at the gym. Mon-tue and thur-fri weightlifting (different muscle group every day) and the rest cardio/stretching/light weights.

[–] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 3 points 20 hours ago

None. I enjoy exercise itself. No music, no tech, no nothing. Just a program and a timer. When I'm running, I get runner's high. When I'm doing calisthenics, I look forward to doing advanced moves.

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Personally, I like a treadmill.

For years I planned to get one, and all the runners in my family would talk about how awful they are, how no one ever uses it once they have it, and getting outside is so much better.

I finally got the treadmill a couple months ago, and I use it several times per week. Some weeks I use it every day. It's convenient, I can control the temperature in the room, I can watch something on my phone while I run, and I like being able to set a consistent pace.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Apartment bike + watching something on a cheap 2016 tablet

[–] Therobohour@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Work out watch star trek. By the season 4 you'll be made of steel

[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hold up. Which series? You starting with the original or with Next Generation?

[–] Therobohour@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago

That depends, how massive do you want to be?

[–] motor_spirit@lemmy.world 66 points 1 day ago (16 children)

find an activity that you legitimately enjoy. that's it

[–] toomanypancakes@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Trial a load of sports. One will click.

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

I can emphasize.

I only found out with past 40 why that is, because I am a medically very curious case. Happy to have found out it's not my fault but it still sucks the same.

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[–] gerryflap@feddit.nl 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Honestly I find it quite enjoyable on it's own. The more I do it, the more I just enjoy the running itself. But I tend to have some music playing and dream away a bit

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[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I chart my improvements over time and equate them to role playing game experience points

Do 20 crunches? that's +20 xp towards constitution

Really makes it a lot easier to reframe boring tasks

[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 6 points 1 day ago

I'm really not a charting guy or a numbers guy at all. I hardly write anything down if i don't have to. A few years ago i kept reading how much people enjoy running or jogging, so i gave it a shot. I absolutely hated it, but i kept doing it to see if it clicks at some point. Suddenly i saw big leaps in improvement. I still kinda hated running, but the "leveling up" part kept me going. I bought a smartwatch, and suddenly i had numbers and graphs to back the feeling up. I got obsessed.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I used to hate exercise. Then, I pushed myself to do it regularly and the benefits surpassed the negative side of it by a lot. For instance, almost all my chronic pain issues are gone, so I'm saving a couple hundreds yearly on healthcare. I also feel better physically (I can move better, I have better endurance) if I'm exercising regularly compared to when I'm not. Because, let's face it, I don't like it, so every now and then I stop for reasons and getting into it back again is very difficult. But it's always worth it.

The chronic pain relief by itself was enough to keep me motivated. Asthma, joint pains (hypermobility sucks!), etc are now down to manageable levels – if not completely gone.

And yeah, I don't enjoy it and sometimes look for excuses to slack off. And right on cue, my knee pain starts flaring up after a couple weeks. Followed by the rest of the body.

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