What if you don't love exercise

Exercise isn’t the destination. Your life is the destination, and exercise helps keep your body able to participate in your life.

I love to exercise. I enjoy a little run, bike ride, lifting weights, and walking. I like how exercise feels when I’m doing it, and I love how I feel afterwards. Exercise is part of my life and most of the time I don't need to convince myself to do it. In fact, sometimes I need to convince myself not to exercise!

But, I wasn't always into fitness.  I wasn't a sporty kid, I didn't grow up in a household that was big into exercise and sports. 

It wasn't until my 20's that I started going to aerobics classes and took up running.  For me running kept my head in a good place - still does.

So please don't assume I'm where I am because I've always been into fitness.  That it's easy for me - it's not.  I've worked  hard to get where I am.  I've made mistakes, but have also learned so much along the way.

Now, I know many of you are not like me - you don't  exercise and find it hard to make time to exercise or stay motivated. 

If this sounds like you, please read on. 

You know exercise is good for you.  You know that strength matters, especially as we get older.

You know cardio fitness matters.  Jumping matters for your bones.  You know you need to move to maintain muscle, bone health, balance, power, independence.  You know remaining active is one of the most powerful things you can do to influence how well (or not) you age.

You know all of this - we all do.

But..... you just don't particularly like exercising!  I get it.  

But as someone who knows all the above AND loves exercise, I want to try to help you learn to at least tolerate exercise.

You don't need to become an "I love exercise person".  You don’t need to fall in love with the gym, become excited about your workouts, adopt a 5.30am routine, track every metric, or organise your holidays around whether the hotel has a gym (seriously, some of us do this!)

You can exercise because you’ve decided the outcome matters. 

Think about your life - you do plenty of things without loving the process. Do you brush your teeth everyday because you are passionate about dental hygiene? Do you save for retirement because transferring money into an investment account is exhilarating?  No!  We do these things because we understand the consequences of repeatedly doing them - or repeatedly not doing them.

What if you treated exercise the same?  You don't have to love it.  You just need to find a way to do enough of it, often enough, for long enough.

Hmm Beks, now that might just be manageable.  Remember exercise isn't the goal.  Your life is the goal, and exercise helps keep your body able to participate in your life

So, how can you make exercise easier when you're ot an exercise lover?

#1 Make it easier to show up.  You don't need an hour, proper clothes, you don't need to sweat buckets, you don't have to do 3 sets of everything.  Don't keep waiting for the perfect conditions.

How about 10 minutes for a quick workout; a brisk walk; a couple of sets of squats and some push-ups.  Only got time for a 30 min session at the gym?  Go for it   Remember, none of your individual sessions will change your life - but showing up regularly will.

If 30 mins still sounds too much, do 20 mins.  The goal is to accumulate movement over the days, weeks, months of your life.  

#2 Stop waiting to feel motivated!  You might never feel like exercising, and that's ok.  Motivation is great when it shows up, but it's pretty unreliable.  Again, think of those things you do because they simply need to be done - washing, changing the sheets, cleaning the bathroom, making dinner, washing the dog.  Our days are full of these kinds of things - we just get on with them.  Exercise is the same.  Sometimes you've just got to do it.

#3 Planning and scheduling your exercises can be incredibly useful if you don't naturally gravitate towards exercise.  Plan it - put it in the diary - do it.

7am Mon, Wed, Fri  - walk the dog for 30 mins.

Tues and Thurs 5.30pm - gym workout.

Sat 9am - yoga class.

The decision has been made and you don't spend time negotiating with yourself about whether you feel sufficiently motivated.

#4 Whenever possible make exercise serve another purpose - walk with your spouse or kids; bike ride with friends; join a class where people expect to see you every week.

There are many ways to train strength, cardio fitness, balance, power - experiment and find the movements that you dislike the least.

Basically, find something you don't mind doing and keep doing it.

And please go easy on yourself.  Don't turn a missed workout into Failure.

You will miss workouts; your job will get super busy; you or someone at home will get sick; you’ll travel, or you’ll sleep badly. 

This is okay.  You didn’t fail, you haven’t suddenly become lazy, and you certainly haven’t “fallen off the wagon.” There is no wagon. You simply didn’t exercise on Monday… but Tuesday and Wednesday still exist.

Consistency means returning. The people who remain active for decades aren’t necessarily the people who never stop. They’re often the people who became very good at starting again. That’s a much more forgiving skill, and it’s one worth developing. Getting back to activities after an injury, illness, or prolonged holiday isn’t always easy… but if you’ve built a habit, you will get back into the swing of things if you allow yourself to try. 

Be honest with yourself.  Have you let your training sessions slip?  Why not spend a little time right now and plan your week ahead - pop your workouts, walks, bike ride, yoga class, into your diary.