Asklemmy

Yes. It's my meditation moment. I don't have to think about anything other than my posture and movement. I just put on the music I like and go. It also helps relieve tension and frustration when something bad happens during your day. And I feel great afterwards. That post-workout high is real.

Yep. Especially after the training it’s like “yeah man I did it”.

Also, it’s all about consistency. Perfectionism is the enemy of consistency. Don’t be a perfectionist. Just be consistent and soon you’ll see results.

Like I see some people who just started working out and do as many push-ups or any other excercise with as many reps as they possibly can and after they’re exhausted.

That’s wrong. These people think that if you don’t do 100 pushups first day you’re a failure.

No, do even one push up. It’s more that 0. Then do 2, then 5, then 10, then 5 again coz you don’t feel like it today.

Like don’t starve for perfectionism. Just be consistent and you’ll actually get to enjoy working out. It’s a great way to clear your mind, have a healthy body, build muscles, better body chemistry and less diseases etc. Be consistent, not perfect. And avoid guys who make you feel you’re not doing enough. These guys will make you feel like every exercise should be perfect or with the highest reps possible or smth.

I used to. Lifting weights helped me in many aspects of my life. Particularly in regards to making goals and seeing them through. It was difficult to get into but once I started seeing results (pretty quickly) the gym became my second home for years. And then my daughter got sick and I got depressed and now it's been 5 years and god I miss it but just haven't been able to get back

Lifting is ok, going TO the gym sucks.

I've always had sporty hobbies so at least I'm somewhat in shape. Over the years I did karate, parkour, bouldering, football, volleyball, and ive been deeeep onto hema for a long time now.

I just love having an activity that is basically "playing" but very physical. Even when i feel like I'm not progressing, I'm still having a good time and get to completely exhaust myself once a week.

Climbing is the first time I had fun working out - the problem solving aspect of it is fantastic, and no route is the same. I even started training specifically to be come better at it. Now the trick is to not get injured when you get too psyched

I love riding my bike on the weekends and if my commute wasn't 1.5 hours each way, I'd go to the gym pretty often.

I feel pleasure while my bicycle. The feeling is a mixture of childhood play and feelgood brain chemicals.

I like to go fast :)

Riding my bike for long rides? Absolutely love it.

Slinging weights in the gym and sweating my ass off on an elliptical machine? Hate every second. But I listen to audio books in the gym, and that makes it much more enjoyable. Im envious of people who actually enjoy the gym lol.

I very much like how I feel after the gym, and overall when Im active which is why I keep going back.

For me its like playing Diablo. Only that im leveling my own character instead of an imaginary character (but love Diablo too!)

Number go up, weight get heavier, me happy.

No. I just like how I feel afterwards.

EDIT: Wait... I do enjoy cycling and jogging. I just don't enjoy working out athe gym. For jogging I enjoy listening to music and having my heart pump harder for an hour. For cycling I enjoy the scenery.

I make workout my me time: my music, my time, my body.

Viewing working out as something that is good for me instead of a chore also does help. Concentrating on my body, really feeling the muscles contract is kind of a meditation to me.

I feel like if you feel like you need to cultivate a mindset for a particular activity, you are probably better off finding another activity. Unless you have extremely specific goals that really demand a particular exercise, it is better to simply be moderately active doing something you enjoy doing.

I've tried running/jogging, I am actually not bad at it. I freaking hate actually doing it though, I would rather be doing almost anything else. Which makes it a terrible exercise for me to do, because I will find any excuse to not do it. Same for lifting weights. I enjoy swimming but dislike public pools, in my current country nobody has private pools, even the rich.

For me I have always enjoyed martial arts, particularly sparring. I can't necessarily find people to do that with regularly where I live now, but I can still practice forms and the like by myself. I get a not insignificant workout from regular Beat Saber sessions too, honestly.

When you pump large amounts of iron in rapid succession at the gym, it makes you feel unstoppable, like you could take on the world. It's an absolutely wonderful feeling to have, and I think it can be chalked up to the testosterone boost. The way to cultivate this mindset is

1. Simply work out. The body releases the "unstoppable" chemical when you do Chad shit.
2. Have more faith in your own capabilities. This will naturally happen if you surround yourself with positive reinforcement and if you do step 1.

I walk, a lot. Everywhere. Always have done.

It keeps me nice and slim, and is my way of dealing with stress and any thoughts I may have swishing around in my head. I live in an area that allows me to walk anywhere I want (ie. not America) and I don't need a car at all, luckily.

And I do push it a bit. I walked 36km which is around 21 miles on Sunday, and 32km on Saturday. My legs were starting to hurt like hell nearing the end of it but I always keep going. It feels good to push past what I thought was my limit and keep going. I don't think there's any real conscious thought behind it, it's just how I am. And as I'm in the office today, I'll be walking there and back too (5 miles each way), no bother at all.

Running and weight lifting though? Not my thing. Too much rushing around for the former and not enough moving around for the latter!

Edit: realised my conversion to miles is off. It's early. Turns out according to Google maps I walked 21 miles Sunday...! Took just under 5 hours. And I did get a bit sunburnt, but otherwise fine as usual

Cardio is awesome, the runners high is real, but you have to be well conditioned so it's tough for beginners.

Sometimes, I also like to do workouts because it makes me feel productive while not being as mentally taxing as my 'job' of being a full time college student :/

I do. I do it every day, at a public gym/pool. It was originally a way to maintain or regain "ability" (don't call it "fitness", I'm still old and fat). After a while, you start feeling better, and some time after that, start noticing things are getting worse if you don't do it.

For me, doing something fun, out of the house with others, helps a lot. Spin class, circuit training, water aerobics, having others around doing the same thing is motivating. I worked with a trainer for a while, they helped come up with things I like, for example, one of my favorites is tossing a medicine ball. Don't ask me why, but I like that.

If you don't enjoy it, try something else.

I don’t enjoy motivating myself to go workout. Everything up until the point of the actual workout isn’t enjoyable. But the workout and post-workout I do enjoy. There is a high associated with it. And that feeling of accomplishment, and visible progress is extremely enjoyable.

The only advice I can give is to give it adequate time. It’s easy to get discouraged. Just keep this in mind: You spent a lot of time doing damage to your body, you’re going to need to put in some effort to reverse that damage. Give it some time before getting discouraged.

I've been going to the gym 2-4 times per week for about a year now. It's a massive chore every single time and I don't enjoy doing it but I do it for health benefits.

Ever bitten into a spicy pepper and enjoyed the burn? That’s what it feels like! Different strokes for different folks, but for me, every drop of sweat is a medal of honor. It’s tough to describe, but it’s about the journey of getting stronger, faster, better. Embrace the grind, my friend, and you might just find that elusive gym rat bliss.

I don't. I think post workout endorphins are a myth spread to make maintenance on our meat mechs seem more palatable. I "like" to swim, in so much as the water continuously washes the sweat off while I work out.

I have a little limitation on my leg because of a work accident, so every time I exercise it makes me feel "normal", like a boost of confidence despite the limitation, I even feel happier when I'm tired, like I needed to expel that extra energy out of me.

I dislike it, so I joined a gym with a social aspect to it which keeps me accountable. And I love how I look now that I work out a lot, being comfortable shirtless in public like at a pool or beach and feeling confident in my body combined with the social aspect is enough to not mind dreading the workouts.

I've tried for years to go to the gym regularly. I despise going to the gym. Putting on workout clothes, mindlessly trudging on a treadmill or whatnot before slogging through a bunch of machines then shower and going home. I loathe the idea of sacrificing 1+ hour of my precious free time just to feel miserable and accomplishing fuck all... Everyone claiming "just stick with it and you'll start to enjoy it" lies. There's no other way to say this. Lies. If you love it, good for you, but it definitely isn't a universal thing.

Walks around town I do kinda enjoy but not enough to make me want to do it. But point me someplace new or nice to hike and I'm off to the races. I love being out in nature, taking in the sights and I don't care whatsoever if I need to work for it.

The last few weeks I've also started to go swimming with my girlfriend. I've not been a fan of swimming as a child and basically never did it anymore since then. So I'm pathetic at it but to my huge surprise I do quite like it.

So my recommendation to you is: try loads of different things. Chances are you'll like doing certain things way more than others. Ideally you'll find something you love. Or at least you should be able to find something you don't hate.

It takes some time to build a routine, getting to that point requires effort. Once you're comfortable and know your limits I personally get a lot of satisfaction from pushing my body to get faster, stronger, more agile and so on. You might feel exhausted but you know you can keep going and your body will respond.

Together with all other health benefits you get from it makes you feel good about yourself after a workout which translates to better confidence, mood and more.

I am not a fan of other workouts but I LOVE cycling. Wind in my face, sightseeing, ability to push harder or just cruise to catch my breath makes it really enjoyable IMO.

The feel of your muscles tightening. It sure makes you feel that you're doing something great and you're achieving something good.

Thats how I feel.

I enjoy it in that I find it helps me disconnect from work. Not even consciously, I just find after running for 40 minutes any lingering mental hangover from my office job are gone. It's similar to what happens when doing volunteering or community work.

I am a bit surprised about the diversity of opinions. For me, well organized muscle movement, both cardio and weightlifting, is quite enjoyable simply physiologically. Plus other things like resting the mind, enjoying the scenere, etc.

I have a blast playing Beat Saber every day 🤷

I just played this map like half an hour ago:

https://replay.beatleader.xyz/?scoreId=7902656

Note: I'm 45 and blind in one eye yet I still enjoy this game so much that I've lost 15 lbs and have vastly more stamina than I used to 👍

I like the way I feel after a workout. That's enough motivation for me to do cardio and lift.

I hate exercise for the sake of it. I'd gladly ride my bike all day, but put me on an exercise bike for ten minutes and I'm bored out of my skull.

Unrelated: I'm really fat.

I've always found myself having trouble getting to work out if I didn't have some sort of tangible goal to achieve in the process. Like with walking, I need a destination to reach, like maybe going to pick up lunch or groceries. Same for other forms of body work outs, I've found vr games can be handy for giving me something to get lost in while still working out, like this one squatting game called hotsquats, or some of those rhythm games

Just doing a treadmill while staring at a tv doesn't keep my brain as engaged.

Lifting weights is fun and feels pleasurable. Cardio feels like I'm trying to get somewhere but I'll never arrive. It's frustrating. I think it's because I have ADHD and, well, most monotonous activities are hella hard to keep up for any period of time. Doesn't help that I've been off my meds for a year since developing high blood pressure.

For cardio, I've tried different things to trick myself into doing it. Some worked better than others. I used to do long and hard warmups before lifting weights. Of course it had a negative effect on the weightlifting itself, but it was good for my health. To increase effort, I just added 5 minutes each session. Started off cycling 15 minutes at a leisurely pace on the stationary bike, and towards the end I was doing 45 at a much harder pace. Watching the average power climb up each week was fun, it was like a game to me. And the weightlifting at the end of it was the reward to make my monkeybrain accept the annoyance that is cardio.

Of course, then I had surgery (nothing major, a scheduled quality of life surgery, septoplasty to be specific, but I was told to lay off any exercise for 2+ weeks) and then a month later I injured myself. So now it's been over a year again. Not because my injury was very serious, but because it's incredibly hard to start, maintain, or re-start healthy habits with ADHD. Incredibly easy to start, maintain and re-start bad ones though -.-

Another thing is, pick a podcast (preferably something funny or informative, not depressing), put it on, and go on a walk. Not the same as running, but on a physical activity for your health scale, if being sedentary is 0% and running is 100%, walking is at least 80% if you ask me. Way closer to running than to doing nothing.

I understand the last bit is difficult for people living in unwalkable cities, but for those who can do it, it feels way better than most other forms of exercise, because you're getting dosed with happy hormones while you're walking thanks to the podcast.

There’s a certain immensely satisfying feeling I get during weightlifting or cardio knowing that it’s one of the single most productive/beneficial things I could be doing for my life in that moment

I'm a podcast listener, can't do music.. Wish I could but It makes workouts drag for me.

But I absolutely love mt biking. I'm not good or fast, but it's zen for me.

I'm addicted to my bike, I love riding on my bike and its super addicting to go fast and almost getting hit by cars.

No. Never. I think I'm very different because I am never motivated, nor feel good during/after exercise. No, my testosterone is fine.

No, I hate it. I listen to podcasts while working out. It's the only thing that makes it bearable.

I genuinely enjoy it. Especially cardio. Running cycling, doesn't matter. I almost always love the feelint

Yes, I feel pleasure when lifting weights. It's good to feel powerful, and it's good to feel like I'm getting stronger. I also get pleasure from knowing I can do it and that I'm dedicated and can keep up the routine. So I suppose it's mostly mental pleasure, but physically having that feeling of power is great at the very least.

It takes a while. A long while. But once you develop a habit, a day will feel empty without your routine exercise, and doing it will feel real good.

The important thing is to find what works for you and do that. I bounced off many gym programs and could not keep up with them. Then I hurt my leg and decided to talk to a physical therapist. He developed a program for me that's easy to stick to, yet challenging enough.

Not everyone's into jogging and lifting. Look and ask around. Good luck!

For me it was a process of finding a certain sport that does that for me. Try out as many sports that you can. I hate running. I find cycling ok. I love climbing. Sometimes I like lifting. Music and enough sleep make a huge difference for me, I hate working out when I am tired.

I enjoy working out. I look at it as “me time”, listening to a podcast, doing sets. Also the community at my local gym is great - nice people.

I had to drag myself out of the house for strength training once a week at first. It took a while but I actually started enjoying it to the point that I go to the gym almost every day now. I think it helps a lot that the gym is like a 2 minute walk though.