Buzz
Disliking exercise doesn’t equate to laziness. Motivation to work out is a nuanced issue, but if getting up and moving is the toughest part for you, we have tips to help. Here’s how to finally begin exercising, regardless of how much you despise it.
Research suggests that your natural inclination towards exercise might be influenced by your genes. Recent studies published in The Journal of Physiology selectively bred mice based on their exercise tendencies. Over several generations, brain activity revealed that one group of mice enjoyed exercise and willingly exercised more, while the other group did not.
Of course, humans aren’t mice—except maybe Peter Pettigrew. There are many reasons why exercise can feel tedious. Still, it’s difficult to ignore that genetics could be a factor. For those unlucky individuals, the challenge grows harder if weight gain accompanies the dislike of exercise—this creates a vicious cycle of avoiding exercise and gaining weight, which only makes it tougher to start.
It’s crucial to remember that disliking exercise isn’t a moral failure, contrary to popular belief. In fact, the treadmill was once invented as a tool for torture, so you’re no more to blame for hating it than you are for disliking any other form of torment.
As I’ve mentioned before, accountability and responsibility are distinct concepts. While you can’t control your inherent preferences or feelings, you absolutely have control over what you do about them. I’ve discovered that if there is a form of laziness that hinders exercise, it’s not physical, but mental. It’s the laziness of accepting the simple explanation of “laziness” instead of exploring alternative reasons, showing yourself some compassion, and then committing to a concrete plan.
So, get into the right mental mindset, and move forward with the plan outlined below.
Choose the Right Exercise Routine for Your Objectives
This is where most people go wrong. The default approach for any health-related goal is to start running or sign up for an event like a marathon. "I need to lose weight... I should start running!" "I need to work on my flexibility and back pain... I should sign up for a marathon!" "This rash still isn’t going away... I’ll bet there’s a treadmill sale somewhere!"
There are understandable reasons why running is often the go-to choice for exercise. It’s incredibly accessible, and society promotes a “just do it” attitude, which suggests that you should “tough it out” and get started. But this mindset is flawed. It oversimplifies the process of sticking to your exercise plan and, if you fail, it implies you simply “weren’t strong enough” to do something so straightforward.
In reality, because many people begin exercising with weight loss as their primary goal, running might actually be one of the least effective options. It can be a painful pursuit for those who are significantly overweight and—along with other forms of exercise that focus on burning calories—often provides a poor return on your investment.
This isn’t to say that running is inherently bad. If you genuinely enjoy it (or can envision yourself learning to love it), if weight loss isn’t your main objective, or if you specifically want to enhance your endurance, go ahead and run. However, if weight loss is your primary goal or you simply despise running, consider exploring other types of exercise. Overweight and inactive individuals may find walking to be a better starting point. Even better, if possible, consider dedicating some time to strength training in the gym (if your budget allows) or using bodyweight exercises at home.
Identify the Key Metric for Building Your Habit
Thinking of exercise as something that sticks will greatly improve your consistency, and fortunately, the same principles can be applied to fitness.
When choosing your preferred exercise—whether it’s yoga, running, strength training, boxing, or another activity—focus on the one improvement that will motivate you the most. For strength training, this could mean increasing the number of pushups you can do in one set or improving your favorite move, such as the dumbbell shoulder press. For running, this might be achieving a faster one-mile time or a quicker sprint. If you’re struggling to come up with a measurable goal, try using “perceived exertion” on a scale of one to ten. For instance, if you’re walking more, measure the total time spent walking at a brisk pace until you hit a 7/10 on the fatigue scale.
The idea of activation explains why many group fitness classes, despite their overwhelming popularity, fail to produce long-term results when it comes to consistency. It’s difficult to find your own personal sense of “activation” in cookie-cutter classes like SoulCycle, where you’re compelled to follow the pace of the group rather than your own.
No matter what form of “activation” you choose, understand that improvements may be tiny at first—maybe an additional push-up rep or shaving off a few seconds from your mile time. However, activation is crucial because it makes exercise stick. Feeling good after a workout is great at first, but this won’t sustain you, especially for those who naturally dislike exercise. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you’ll one day fall in love with it. Even I haven’t.
Activate and Progress
Once you’ve identified your activation metric, assess your starting point. This means testing how many push-ups you can complete in one set or timing your mile run. Be sure to put in a reasonable effort.
Next, follow a well-established beginner’s program rather than attempting to create your own. For strength training, I recommend Starting Strength, Mytour’s body weight program, or the Minimum Viable Fitness program I designed. If running is your focus, Couch to 5k has received high praise. Reddit’s /r/fitness subsection offers a solid selection of beginner programs as well. Be sure the program you choose includes your activation metric and exercises. Even better, select a program that already has an activation metric built in if possible.
After one week, compare your results to the baseline you established, ensuring you measure under the same conditions. Chances are, you’ll notice progress. If not, treat the situation like a problem to solve—figure out where things went wrong. Think of this as a clear win... you made progress. It didn’t take months, just about a week. Take a moment to celebrate this milestone and recognize that, as a beginner, you’ll keep improving week by week. Eventually, you’ll realize that success isn’t about mindless mantras like 'just do it,' but about pushing past that mindset.
Title image remixed from Frans Dono (Shutterstock).
