How to stop hating exercise and start enjoying it

By Sarah Petty

Movement, exercise, training…it all counts! But even when you have all the resources, plenty of time and energy, and direct support from a coach, movement can feel like the last thing you want to do. Some of the reasons you might not enjoy exercise include:

It’s unfamiliar

• you’ve never done this kind of movement before, or

• it’s been 1,5, or 10+ years since you did something like this

When babies learn to move, they wobble, stumble, fall down, and cry a LOT. It’s normal for you to experience the same when you are doing something unfamiliar! Your body needs lots of practice to adapt to new skills. This process is called neuromuscular adaptation, and it’s the reason why they say “practice makes perfect” and why many strength training programs have you do the same/similar move week after week after week.

Solution:

Minimize the unfamiliar! Choose super simple movement options, and do them weekly for at least six weeks before you change anything else.

Here’s a few ideas:

• walking - in your house, down the block, at the park, in the mall, or at the gym

• straightforward strength training - goblet squat, box squat, seated overhead press, floor chest press, vertical row, bicep curl, etc. Pick 3 to work on for now and optimize variety later.

• swimming - if you have access to the pool and like swimming, try committing to 1-2 times a week of whatever amount feels good (be sure to use sunscreen if you are outside!)

• yoga - find an short video on YouTube (bonus points if it’s created by an inclusive instructor!) and do it every week until you can predict what’s coming next and it feels physically easy

• dance - set a timer for 20 minutes and play music that inspires you to move, then see what happens!

Most of the time when I’m working with a new strength training client, they are quite apprehensive about doing the movements. Within a few weeks though, they’ve built enough confidence through repetition that they are ready for variety! This is how it can be for you too - you just have to be willing to go through the messy middle first.

Sensory overload

• joints are getting intense feedback (hypermobility, arthritis)

• lights, sounds, temperature, or humidity level is intolerable (autism, ADHD, certain medications)

• all the steps before/after the workout are overwhelming or exhausting (executive disfunction, chronic illness, disability)

• you do too much, too soon (common experience)

This is a situation where your expectations of your performance exceed your capacity.

• You think you should be able to do a 15 minute walk because it’s “easy,” but your body is telling another story.

• You think you should be able to get up and go to the gym before work, but the figurative steps to get there feel insurmountable.

• You think you should be able to follow a popular exercise plan, but you are chronically sore and achy and your sleep is starting to suffer.

• You think you should be able to handle the gym environment for 45 minutes, but you are stressed out just walking in there (and that’s before the workout even started)

There are so many reasons why a workout may feel accessible, but it’s actually not for you. This requires a bit of experimentation and developing a tailored approach to movement, and it can be super helpful to have a coach who understands and has helped other people with similar challenges find options that work for them.

Solutions:

• address your hypermobility and/or arthritis medically, by getting a proper diagnosis and treatment, going to PT (and doing your PT at home!), and taking over the counter anti-inflammatories

• avoid sudden, intense movements that cause pain or intense discomfort. you’re at the stage where you need as much ease as possible, and you can build more tolerance for discomfort later

• find a gym that has a low-stim space, create your own gym at home, or choose movement that you can do outside when the weather is good

• get a workout buddy who is already consistent with working out, to remind you to consistently show up.

• choose workouts you can do on low-energy days (you can workout in bed if you want!)

• choose intentional rest/off days so you get used to movement and rest going hand in hand

• redefine consistency: it is not doing every workout perfectly, but rather the process of adapting to your situation and coming back every time after you take a break

Bad experience last time you did it

• PE or sports at school with mean coaches

• injury from sports, overexercise, hypermobility, etc.

• parents forcing you to move

• compulsive workouts due to stress, eating disorder, etc.

It makes so much sense that you associate movement with unpleasant emotions and/or physical sensations. It’s natural to avoid movement (or a specific type of movement) after that experience. The good news is, you never have to do that kind of movement again if you don’t want to. However, if you’d like to explore that type of movement on your own terms and with a safety plan in place, you may find that over time you’re able to enjoy it quite a bit (or at least feel less bothered by it).

Solution:

It’s very important that you are choosing to move now because it’s related to a core value. If you are doing it for someone else, or because you feel ashamed of your body for whatever reason, you will quickly lose motivation and build resentment toward yourself and/or the other person. This is not a sustainable way to move!

You need full autonomy in your movement type, frequency, intensity, and duration. It may be helpful to do a personal values quiz online or work with a mental health professional to identify the underlying reason(s) why movement is actually something you want to do. The answer will be intrinsically motivating, even when it becomes challenging or when life gets hard.

Likewise, if you are pushing yourself physically to the point of injury or excessive fatigue, it is not sustainable and you may be doing irreparable harm to yourself. It’s common to feel like whatever you’re doing isn’t “enough,” but if that means your efforts get you put on the sidelines constantly, you’ll do even less in the long run.

Instead, think about your most stressful, busy week or month, and identify what type, quantity, and location of movement would easily fit into it. That is your “bare minimum” that you should start with. You can add more in the future, but you need to establish a baseline capacity first. Do that amount for a full month consistently before you try adding more.

A few examples:

• 5 minutes of stretching in bed before you sleep or after you wake up, every day

• 10 minute walk during your lunch break or long calls, every day

• 15 minutes of strength training between meetings or before you go to work, M/W/F

Remember, these aren’t your final stop, but your starting point.

There are so many barriers to movement, but you reduce many of them by changing how you think about movement, your body, and what “counts.” Once you build safety, familiarity, and consistency, you’ll be in a better place to challenge yourself in new ways!

A dedicated coach can help you figure all of this out with a lot less headache. At PowerUP, we specialize in making movement feel more accessible for folks with chronic illness, disability, size accessibility concerns, ADHD, autism, hypermobility, and a host of other challenges. We can create a customized program for you to implement on your own, or guide you in real time through virtual one-on-one personal training sessions. Click here to learn more about how we can support you.