How can I get to like cardio?

[Da_Nuke]

When I was a kid I developed an intense dislike for PE class, due in part to being stiff, klutzy and having a very hard time at anything that demands the slightest amount of physical coordination. I have since never been able to enjoy any physical activity that reminds me even slightly about it. Up until a few years ago I was big into weight lifting, because it was 100% unlike my middle and high school PE classes. But now I need to lose some weight and work on my physical resistance, and I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't even walk for more than 3 minutes without feeling like quitting already.

 

I tried getting into more "stunt-like" activities like team sports, pilates, yoga, dancing and rope skipping, but whenever I do them I end up remembering how much of a klutz I was in PE class, and I end up quitting. It really doesn't help that I legit have a hard time doing these activities, as in, it took me 2 entire days of hour-long practice and carefully studying proper form online to figure out how to skip a rope. It goes without saying that whenever I play a team sport I end up remembering how bad I am at sports and end up wanting to quit within a few minutes.

 

What can I do?

[Wobbegong]

Hey there Nuke! You're describing a pretty tough situation, but I can think of a few answers. I'll start by addressing your stated goals: 

5 hours ago, Da_Nuke said:

now I need to lose some weight and work on my physical resistance

 

First, keep in mind that the calories in a single candy bar can reverse all the effort you've gone to in a workout session, and it probably takes a lot longer to do your whole workout than to eat the candy bar. That is to say, your calories in (how much you're eating) is going to affect your weight a lot more than your calories out (how much you're exercising). So if your goal is to lose weight, the first place you should be looking is at your diet, not necessarily your cardio routine. 

 

Second, if you've been weight lifting, you've been resistance training. Your physical resistance is your ability to move against things that resist moving -- heavy weights, body weight, the tension in a coil, etc. So cardio may not be the right place to start work on that skillset, either. If by resistance you meant endurance, you still have options other than cardio. For example, you can lower the weight in your program and increase your reps to work on muscular endurance. 

 

If you're not sure why you listed those goals and really you just absolutely want to get into cardio, you still have options. I don't want to make any assumptions or ask you to talk about something personal if you don't want to, but try examining what it is about the activities you've tried that makes you remember PE class.

• Is it that you remember doing that activity before and disliking it? [Do something else, like your weight lifting routine from a few years ago.] 
• Is it that you've decided you're going to dislike an activity before you try it just because you think it will remind you of PE (even though it might not)? [Try being aware of that and asking yourself to be more generous next time you try something new. You might be surprised.]
• Is it that there are other people around to witness your perceived failure? [Do cardio by yourself, out of sight.]
• Are the bad feelings triggered by you actually doing something clumsy? [You might have low proprioception. There are other exercises, such as crawling, that are good for improving your awareness of where your body is in space and can help you reduce clumsiness.]
• Do you have PTSD? [Social anxiety can be bad enough to make otherwise innocuous interactions count as trauma. If your experiences in PE are still negatively impacting your ability to live your life, you might be a good candidate for therapy. Do some research online first to see if this might be right for you. Help is out there.]
• Are you focusing too much on the task at hand and letting the mental aspect distract you from your goals? [Do something that has distraction built into it, like Zombie Run or Pokemon Go. Don't walk off a cliff.]

Of course cardio provides great health benefits, but keep in mind you don't have to do it. Around here we live by the wisdom that the best exercise routine is the one you stick to, so if cardio makes you want to quit after three minutes, it may not be right for you. 

 

Good luck! 

[Da_Nuke]

I'm interested in exercises that can improve my proprioception. What can I do and how do I do that crawling thing? The internet says I might be able to train it with a balance board.

 

Also, playing Pokémon Go sounds like a good idea to have some distraction. I might give it a chance.

[Da_Nuke]

OK, so I have a restriction: fitness-based games must be able to run on a rooted phone (installing Magisk Manager is going to take at least 2 days while I backup everything on my phone, factory reset it, download a clean stock ROM, install Magisk, reinstall all my apps and restore my files). That means no Pokémon Go.

 

Any other running game I can use apart from Zombies Run?

[Elastigirl]

I hear you on hating PE as a kid. Losing weight is mainly about food, so in theory you could do it without exercise if you choose.  I really like the stuff from GMB. It  does have skills and bodyweight, but it is with progressions, so I actually feel like I am learning  proprioception. Their Elements program teaches Bear Crawling and Monkey.

https://gmb.io/programs/

[fitnessgurl]

I used to be like that...but with running. I absolutely hated it.

Now I love it! How did that happen? I started doing it. Was I self-conscious about it? YES! I told those inner voices to shut up, you're not stopping me so go away! I also have a rewards system in place for when I reach certain goals. Maybe a rewards system would work for you?

[Da_Nuke]

Got an update on this topic.

 

I checked GMB, but I'm balking at how expensive it is. It's too much for my Mexican income. Also, Pokémon Go on second thought is unfortunately not going to be a good idea, because Mexico is a dangerous country where crime is rampant even in the poshest neighborhoods. So yeah, I guess I'm going to have to end up going to a psychologist to leave behind those memories of high school PE.

 

And yes, by "resistance" I mean resistencia, that is, endurance. False friends 

[GeekWingChun]

Let's say you want to do a 30-minute cardio routine. Here is what I would do:

 

Do a Google search for something like "top 10 best cardio moves to do at home" or something of that nature.

 

Find 10-15 exercises that you like.

 

If you find 15, do each one for 2 minutes. If you find 10, do them each for 3 minutes. Heck, you could even grab 30 and do them for 1 minute each. The only person who can limit you on that is you. :-)

[fitnessgurl]

YouTube has some videos on animal crawls. Search agility exercises, bear crawl, or bodyweight exercises.

Hope this helps!

[Elastigirl]

A free tutorial from GMB

https://gmb.io/balance-training/

[Xena]

Have you tried looking at Darebee? (darebee.com) There are all different kinds of programs. Some of them have fun themes.

 

For cardio...what do you hate the least? You should start there. Anything you sort of like that's available to you...biking, skating, running, cardio machines, dancing, swimming.

 

If you are interested in running, I can give some ideas why people hate running. They have a picture in their head of how they "should" be able to run, and it's probably not realistic. Most of us need to slow down and mix in some walking. Perhaps lots of walking.

 

If you are worried about what other people think, I have one trick that helps. If you saw another person who was exercising but looked kind of out-of-shape...maybe overweight, maybe sweating, maybe wearing unflattering clothing, what would you think?? I'm guessing you might think what I tend to think..."wow, that person is working really hard. cool"

 

Also, I take a lot of yoga classes. You might wonder what I think of the other people in the class. Short answer, I usually don't. If someone is a lot better than me, I think "wow, that's cool. I want to watch and see how he/she did that." Usually I'm thinking about myself focused on keeping my own sh*t together. Very rarely I notice someone else making a mistake or having trouble with a pose. I think "Thank g*d, it's not just me!"  I don't know for sure, but I think a lot of people have similar thought processes during group exercise.