"Stop doing exercise you hate!" vs. importance of working out?

[PeanutYYZ]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster.

 

I'm struggling with one of the themes of Steve's latest post and would love to hear what other people think about this. In his latest post, Steve urged us to stop doing exercises that we hate doing. How do you balance that against the importance of working out, though?

 

About six months ago I started doing some simple bodyweight workouts, like the beginner bodyweight workout featured right here on NF. Before this all of my exercise came from walking and playing badminton, both of which I really enjoy. I read about the importance of lifting heavy things occasionally, and it all made sense, and so I started adding in the bodyweight workouts.

 

I've definitely seen improvements over the months in my ability to do the workouts. For example, when I started, I couldn't do a single "real" pushup, whereas now I can do 3x10 consistently. I've always disliked working out, though! I think of having to work out as a necessary evil, like going to the dentist for regular check-ups. I don't enjoy the workouts while I'm doing them, and I'm always relieved when they're over.

 

This brings me back to Steve's post about not doing exercises you hate. I would love to stop working out and just stick to walking (which I still do, for multiple hours each day) and playing badminton (I play 4-5 days/week for 1-2 hours each time), but I feel like if I did that my overall fitness would suffer.

 

What do you think? When do you need to just suck it up and do exercises that you don't enjoy in order to get in shape or stay in shape?

[moomin]

Interesting. I did think about this when I read the post too. There are some exercises that are important but may not be enjoyed everybody. And what if a person dislikes all forms of exercise? Does that mean that he can stop doing any exercise?

Strength training is important for badminton too. I used to play pretty regularly, and practiced swinging squash rackets to gain strength. Did you notice any improvement in your badminton with your body weight workout?

Personally I think an all round exercise plan including both cardio (badminton counts if it is intense) and strength training should be the best for maintaining fitness, and that's what I aim to do. I dislike running mostly, but it's convenient as a form of cardio -- so I still do it.

What you can do is you can try for other forms of strength building type of exercises that you may enjoy more. Such as rock climbing, or wind surfing, I guess. But for me these are much less convenient forms--having to get to a rock climbing wall and wait my turn. Bit too troublesome for my taste, but definitely more fun!

[JPrev]

I'd rather I didn't need to take my car to the shop every now and then in order to keep driving it as much as I do.  I'd rather I didn't need to work so hard to get the money I use for the bills I pay.  But these are facts of life: unless you live a pampered existence and are a genetic freak, things aren't given to you.  Some good things are found, but many others are earned.

 

I workout not because I always have the motivation to, but because I believe in what it will do for me.  I've found a set of exercises I really like and make me more excited to go feel like death.  However, I still have days when I'd rather just stay in and lazily play guitar all day.  It'd be nice if the lights and gas and rent kept paying for themselves, too.

 

Ultimately though, that's why I like working out so much.  It's a statement to myself that I'm choosing to do the harder thing rather than live the life that seems easier today, but won't ever get me to the tomorrow I'm dreaming about.

[El Exorcisto]

It's all about your goals. If you are happy with where you are, then continue what you are doing. If you want to do less, then accept the consequences of those inactions. Comfortable feels good for a while, but eventually you stagnate or regress. I personally find the more uncomfortable I can make myself a few times a week the better I feel. My goals are certainly very different than yours though.

[Basement Cat]

Interesting,

 

I'll agree with El Exorcisto and say that it depends on your goals. if you just want to be healthy then go ahead and stick to walking and badminton. If you want to get stronger however, then strength training is necessary. (I know, Captain obvious.) If you really walk and play badminton as much as you do, that's plenty of exercise to be fit.

 

As Steve said: Diet is 80% of your success either way.

 

Don't like strength training? Don't do it. Love playing badminton and walking? Stick to that!

[Kaylya]

The #1 most important thing is that you're getting out and moving around regularly- which you are with the walking & badminton. The next thing is to have some balance of things that work your muscles and things that work your cardiovascular system.

 

If you find you aren't liking the body weight strength, here are some ideas for things that also work your muscles that you could try:

- Climbing

- Yoga

- Pilates

- Shovelglove

- Group boot camp or body pump type classes

- It's possible that you might like barbell work of progressive loading more than body weight.

- Maybe adding some fun music and doing some silly dancing around between sets would make you enjoy the body weight exercises more

 

Now, I don't think it's a terrible thing if some of your exercise is something that you feel that you have to do, though it is good to feel like you want to do something.

 

I enjoy getting out and playing Ultimate Frisbee (and the drinks after ). In order to maintain a level of fitness where I can do that, I need to do some other exercise, particularly during the ~7 months of the year when I'm not doing ultimate. So I run. Do I enjoy running? Every once in a while, I have a run (usually on a trail), where maybe I say I enjoyed it, but for the most part, I'm just trying to make it something I do.

[El Exorcisto]

This is also the difference between exercising and training. Exercising is doing it for the hear and now, to feel good about "doing something." Training is doing it, X times a week, every week of the year, because you have grander goals than just "doing something." This could be wanting to hit a PR at a meet, or to get on stage at your first BB comp. It could also just be that you are sick and tired of being fat and weak and you would do anything to end it. There is nothing wrong with exercising if you just want to feel good that you did something. If you have serious goals revolving around your body, be it functional or aesthetic, then you will need to start training to make those goals happen.

[I-Jo]

It's all about your goals. If you are happy with where you are, then continue what you are doing. If you want to do less, then accept the consequences of those inactions. Comfortable feels good for a while, but eventually you stagnate or regress. I personally find the more uncomfortable I can make myself a few times a week the better I feel. My goals are certainly very different than yours though.

 

 

Interesting,

 

I'll agree with El Exorcisto and say that it depends on your goals. if you just want to be healthy then go ahead and stick to walking and badminton. If you want to get stronger however, then strength training is necessary. (I know, Captain obvious.) If you really walk and play badminton as much as you do, that's plenty of exercise to be fit.

 

As Steve said: Diet is 80% of your success either way.

 

Don't like strength training? Don't do it. Love playing badminton and walking? Stick to that!

 

 

This is also the difference between exercising and training. Exercising is doing it for the hear and now, to feel good about "doing something." Training is doing it, X times a week, every week of the year, because you have grander goals than just "doing something." This could be wanting to hit a PR at a meet, or to get on stage at your first BB comp. It could also just be that you are sick and tired of being fat and weak and you would do anything to end it. There is nothing wrong with exercising if you just want to feel good that you did something. If you have serious goals revolving around your body, be it functional or aesthetic, then you will need to start training to make those goals happen.

all these things are spot on.

 

Weight is a function of your diet. So exercise is stuff that makes you feel good- and allows you to live your life the way you want to.   (I need be fit- i'm an athelete not just a desk job so it's important- it's also important for my mental well being) 

 

but if you do not like training- or hard exercise- and you are completely satisfied with walking- and whatever else- do those things and just don't over eat.  boom- problem solved.

[Vella]

This is also the difference between exercising and training. Exercising is doing it for the hear and now, to feel good about "doing something." Training is doing it, X times a week, every week of the year, because you have grander goals than just "doing something."

 

Absolutely spot on.  Took the words right out of my mouth.  And similar such sentiments.

 

I think it's important to be happy with what you're doing.  Does this mean absolutely enjoying every single exercise every single time?  Well, no, I go to the gym when I'd much rather be sleeping, a lot of the time.

What it means is picking something that you're going to stick with.  If you hate strength training and can't see a goo dreason to do it, then you're less likely to stick to it and keep going.

If you're looking for a specific goal, then you're more likely to stick with an exercise you don't find fun (say, strength training exercises like push ups) in order to reach that goal.

 

So, yes, it's important to do exercise - the point of the 'enjoyment' rule is to make sure it's something that you're going to change in the long-term (even if that change is to keep trying things for however long until you find something you like).  For example, I could never be a runner.  I find it very tedious.  But I'd still like to do some cardio-based training, so I chose to take up parkour, and go hiking more often.  Hiking is nice, and parkour makes running more interesting, so I'd actually stick to doing those.

Parkour is a great example, too, because it's going to involve me doing a heck of a lot of box jumps, which I dislike, but am willing to do to get better at parkour.

 

I think the lesson is, 'when given the choice between two or more exercises, pick the one you'll enjoy most', rather than 'you must enjoy every single thing about exercise or it's not worth it.

[Machete]

Like with most things though, the more skilled we become at it, the more enjoyment we tend to derive from the activity. Of course you would hate the thing that you suck at, you'd want to stick with what you're good at and get recognition from it.

 

"In-shape" and "fitness" is subjective, and really depends on what "shape" you want to be in and what you want to be fit for. For example, if you would want to be a better walker, you could work on walking efficiency, and increasing your cardiovascular output by progressive training.

[Horsedog]

I think the overall message is to find the activity that aligns with your goals, and not get stuck in a dogmatically-oriented routine that you don't like.  There are lots of ways to strengthen your legs (or arms, or chest, or whatever), so find the activity that you like (or maybe, for those who really don't like any such activity, dislike the least).  That sentiment has to be balanced with the reality, though, that you do have to do SOMETHING that poses enough of a stress to your body to elicit the desired response (be that getting stronger, leaner, faster, whatever).  

 

By all means, don't squat if you hate squatting.  Don't bench if you hate benching.  But if your alternative is to do nothing, then you'll reap exactly that - nothing.  So, for the OP, if your preferred activities (walking, badminton) are provoking the responses necessary to achieve your goals, why would you choose to do something else?  If, though, they don't align with your goals, then you HAVE to do something else.  For example, walking and badminton are absolutely not going to stress the body in such a way as to increase strength (beyond the strength levels necessary to do those specific things).  So, if you want to get stronger, you have to find another activity that will create that response.

 

Again, the message isn't to do nothing.  The message is to identify the strategy that you will enjoy the most (or dislike the least), while still making progress towards your goal(s).

[Elastigirl]

Do you enjoy hiking as well as walking? Maybe try upping your fitness level with some challenges like long hikes, or steep hikes. Or carrying bricks in your pack while hiking. Or training for a Go-ruck.  Some people on the board have challenges like hiking part of a long trail. Training for this usually involves some strength training too. By making a big goal of some long hikes or steep hikes, then strength training may be more enjoyable because it is a means to an end of doing what you enjoy, walking. 

[RisenPhoenix]

Not much to add to what people have said here.

 

What I will say, though, is don't discount an activity because you *think* you won't like it.  At least give it a shot or two.  I'm in the camp who thinks things need to be experienced at least twice to get a good gauge on how they are - the first time you're usually overly amped or really nervous, which is going to alter how you think it actually was.  My neighbor kept telling me he wanted to find something that he enjoyed doing to get healthy, and every idea I threw out he countered with either he didn't think he liked it, that he had done it once and it wasn't for him*, or that he didn't have time.  I get wanting to enjoy the workouts, but I also think that if you're going to start seriously working out that there is hump you have to get over before you start enjoying things, especially if you're starting truly as square zero and haven't started anything before.  I *hated* the beginner BW workout Steve has on NF when I Started.  It hurt, I couldn't do everything, and by circuit 2 I was almost dead.  But getting to the point where I made it through the first cycle and I wasn't dying?  Pure awesomeness and a huge motivational jolt.  Sometimes working through the hate is a good thing, as long as you know you can push through a bit longer.  But maybe it's a personality-type thing.

 

Short version - like what you do, but don't not try something because you think you won't like it, and try it at least twice before giving up on it.

 

 

 

*I didn't have the heart to tell him that particular experience was all his own fault.  I had a friend coming over to train me, and my neighbor thought it was a socialization workout.  No, I was training for a Spartan, and giving everything I had to get ready for this thing.  When it came to my neighbor's turn to be resting while I was going, he was getting frustrated/bored that no one would talk/joke with him.... because I was too busy trying not to die while my friend was making sure my form wasn't failing.  Apparently my friend thought we were training too hard and should have just been chatting the entire time...

[Da_Nuke]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster.

 

I'm struggling with one of the themes of Steve's latest post and would love to hear what other people think about this. In his latest post, Steve urged us to stop doing exercises that we hate doing. How do you balance that against the importance of working out, though?

 

About six months ago I started doing some simple bodyweight workouts, like the beginner bodyweight workout featured right here on NF. Before this all of my exercise came from walking and playing badminton, both of which I really enjoy. I read about the importance of lifting heavy things occasionally, and it all made sense, and so I started adding in the bodyweight workouts.

 

I've definitely seen improvements over the months in my ability to do the workouts. For example, when I started, I couldn't do a single "real" pushup, whereas now I can do 3x10 consistently. I've always disliked working out, though! I think of having to work out as a necessary evil, like going to the dentist for regular check-ups. I don't enjoy the workouts while I'm doing them, and I'm always relieved when they're over.

 

I'm a firm defender of doing whatever you actually enjoy and doing it right. If you enjoy competitive outdoor sports, by all means do them and train them to your fullest. They train your endurance like mad.

 

Just to clarify: the reason why the internet seems to be so focused on weight lifting and strength training is because it casually happens to be cut for your average internet dweller. If you like being indoors (in front of a computer or in a gym), like doing stuff on your own (posting on an online forum or doing your routine) and can single-mindedly focus on one single task for a long time (carrying bot on LOL or squatting 2 plates ass to grass), you're basically cut for lifting.

[Waldo]

Don't forget though, enjoying exercise is an acquired taste. You can't expect to love it, or even enjoy it, at first.

It took me a solid 4 months of running until it didn't feel like torture every moment of it, from the very beginnings of Cto5K to the point where I decided to take a break on increasing my 5K time. From there it probably took another 6 months to get to where I didn't dread the point when the going gets tough each run, even though most of it wasn't bad at all. Nowadays, well over 2 years since first starting to run I rather enjoy running and look forward to it. Some days I really feel like going for it and pushing my limits, other days I like to chill, take it easy, and zone out for a while. Some times I treat it more meditatively and mentally relax, other days I get some quality thinkin done.

[hfurm]

My 2 cents, which may or may not be a reiteration of what's already been stated:

 

Some days I don't look forward to getting in my gym and working hard. But, what I remind myself of is that the effect of that work means I feel strong and empowered on a day-to-day basis. And since I really enjoy feeling strong and empowered, I'll make it through my workouts. Typically, my natural endorphin high post-workout also makes the effort worth it, too.