If I had a dollar for everytime I’ve heard someone say they hate exercising, I’d be a bajillionaire. (In scientific terms, that translates to too many zeroes to even count – more than Bezos, Musk, Arnault, Gates and ole McZuckyface combined).

I’d be rolling in the dough.

But the reality is all the social media snippets of grunting and sweating and coaches screaming about more burpees has given exercise a bad name.

I know I can’t change the name of the game, but for the purposes of this blog post, let’s think of moving your body and exercise as the same thing, deal?

Okay, deal.

How Many Things Do You Do That You Hate?

A serious question that I want you to pause and take a minute to think about, especially in adulthood:

How many things do you do in your life that you hate?

And of those things, how many are necessary for life to carry on as you know it/to take care of the people around you?

STOP: let me stop you right there before your brain jumps to the conclusion that I’m going to tell you exercise is just one of those necessary things.

It is not.

But not for the reason you think.

I DO think exercise is a necessary thing to live a healthy life. However, I do NOT think you have to hate it.

To my very core, I believe there is some type of movement that you can enjoy. And I say “can” because there are several forms of exercise/moving your body that you won’t like at first because you’re not good at them.

You’re human – which means you don’t like doing things you’re not good at. But as you get better, you may find them more enjoyable. So for those things it requires sticking to them long enough for them to become enjoyable.

Then there are things that you will just hate doing, no matter how good at them you get, or how easy they are for other people… you’ll just hate doing them as exercise.

AND THAT’S FINE!!!

You don’t have to like them all, in fact you don’t even have to like many.

But if you can find the ONE that you enjoy and will actually stick to it, then you’ve found gold.

We’re Taught To Suck It Up

As adults, and even as kids, we’re taught to suck it up when we don’t like something. It’s just a part of life. 

Admittedly, I have mixed feelings about this sentiment.

I do think there’s a time and a place to suck it up – for example, if you have a goal of running a marathon, you WILL have to suck it up on some training days that you don’t want to train if you still want to accomplish your goal.

However, if you’re looking to lead a healthier lifestyle and find your way into an exercise routine, I definitely don’t think you have to suck it up and do something you hate everyday.

Mostly because you won’t keep doing it.

If you hate it and it doesn’t feel good and it’s a struggle every time you have to lace up your sneakers, you’re not going to stick to it.

Well, when you don’t stick to it, the end result is that it’s not an effective exercise routine.

So if you find yourself hating [insert exercise] and it’s not just because you’re not good at it yet, then try something else!

In fact, try something that’s fun!!

Dance around the kitchen, play catch with your kid, shoot hoops with the neighbor, pull the old jump rope or roller skates out… whatever sounds FUN to you. Do that instead.

Because when you make moving your body something to look forward to and something that’s fun, you’re SOOO much more likely to do it and stick to it. And that, my friend, is an effective exercise routine.

As you’re looking to get started – whether for 5 minutes or a full blown lifestyle change – remember to keep it fun!