Hating exercise isnt the same as being lazy.
Heres how to finally start working out, no matter how much you might hate it.
But of course, people arent micePeter Pettigrewaside.
There plenty of reasons exercise may bore you.
Still, its hard to discount the fact that genetics play a role.
More importantly: hating exerciseisnt a moral failure, as many would have you believe.
But asIve said before, culpability and responsibility are not the same thing.
You cant help your innate feelings or preferences, but youre damn well responsible for doing something about it.
So get yourself in the correct mental headspace, and move forward with the following plan.
I need to lose weight…I should start running!
I need to improve my flexibility and back issues…I should join a marathon!
Man, this rashstillisnt going away…I bet theres a treadmill sale somewhere!
There are natural reasons that running is the default exercise of choice.
But this is the wrong mindset.
Translation: you obviously werent tough enough to do something so simple.
This is not to say that running is bad.
Those who are overweight and sedentary will benefit from starting off by walking instead.
But make no mistake, activation is important because it makes exercise sticky.
Its not enough to just feel good that you did something.
Dont trick yourself into thinking thatyoull eventually love it one day.
Hell, even I still dont.
Activate and Improve
Once youve figured out your metric for activation, measure your baseline.
see to it that you use a reasonable amount of effort.
Next, embark on a well-vetted beginners program, rather than going off on your own.
For strength training, I suggestStarting Strength, Lifehackersbody weight program, or theMinimum Viable Fitness programthat I wrote.
For running, Ive heard many great things aboutCouch to 5k.
Reddits/r/fitnesssubsectionhas a good selection of beginners programs.
check that that the program that you select incorporates your metric and exercise for activation.
After a week, measure against the baseline that you set, using the exact same conditions.
This as a concrete win…you improved.
This didnt take weeks or months, but close to a single week.
check that to celebrate and appreciate that as a newbie, youll continue to make week-to-week improvements.
Title image remixed fromFrans Dono(Shutterstock).
